615. Industrial Disability
Statement
Employees who are unable to work due to an injury that arises out of and in the course of their employment may be entitled to benefits and leave under the California Worker’s Compensation Act. All employees have the right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation. Santa Clara University expressly prohibits retaliation for reporting a work-related injury or illness.
Procedure
Employee Eligibility
Santa Clara University will grant a worker's compensation disability leave to all employees with occupational illnesses or injuries in accordance with state law. Leave taken under the worker's compensation disability policy runs concurrently with family and medical leave under both federal and state law. In the event a recovering employee is released under "limited duty", a "workplace needs assessment" will be performed to ascertain whether or not the employee may return to work. Any change to the job limitations will trigger an additional "workplace needs assessment."
Leave Availability
Any regular, fixed-term or on-call employee who is receiving temporary disability payments under the Worker's Compensation Act shall be entitled to an industrial leave of absence. Fixed-term employees' leaves will not continue beyond the end of the assignment. When the employee is deemed "permanent and stationary", the University may terminate the worker if the worker and his/her treating physician cannot provide reasonable assurance that the employee can return to work with or without reasonable accommodation in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Compensation During Leave
Worker's compensation disability leaves are without pay. However, employees may utilize accrued sick or vacation pay during the leave. All such payments will be coordinated with any worker's compensation payments. At no time shall an employee receive a greater total payment than the employee's regular net pay. While on an industrial leave of absence the employee shall accrue service credit (seniority) for the purposes of vacation accruals and retirement vesting only.
Notification and Certification Requirements
Employees must report all accidents, injuries and illnesses no matter how small to their immediate supervisor. In addition, an injured worker who is deemed unable to work by the treating physician, must keep his/her supervisor informed of changes in his/her status within a reasonable time. A release to return to work from the treating physician must be provided to the Supervisor within a reasonable time prior to returning to work. The release must include the capacity in which the individual can return to work.
Responsibility
It is the employee's responsibility to coordinate all leave time with the supervisor or department head. It is the responsibility of the department head or supervisor to administer the leave provisions detailed in this policy.
Resource
Please refer to the Family and Medical (614), Short Term Disability (603) and Injury on the Job (701) policies for procedures related to specific leave applications. Contact Human Resources for questions or more information regarding this benefit.
Policy Approved: June 2013
Policy Updated: August 2017
Last Reviewed: June 30 2022
Maintainer: Human Resources