Time and Absence

Faculty time off and leaves

Last updated: May 1, 2026

This web page applies to University faculty and provides a general overview of leaves and time offs.

Employee rights and procedures

Notifying your chair, director or campus dean

For foreseeable absences, faculty should provide notice at least ten days in advance of the absence, or as early as possible following your unit’s time off and leave request procedure.

Documenting absences

For leave and time off balances that are recorded in Workday, contact hrhelp@uw.edu or your unit’s Academic Partner if you need assistance submitting leave or time off requests and viewing absence records.

Maintaining benefits while on leave

To avoid interruption of benefits, faculty on a leave of absence can arrange to self-pay their insurance premiums if needed. Learn more on the Self-pay: Continue your insurance web page or contact benefits@uw.edu with questions.

Promotion and Tenure Clock Extensions

Faculty in clock-managed ranks are subject to mandatory reviews for promotion. To learn more about how leaves may affect mandatory review periods, visit the Promotion and Tenure Clock Extension web page.

Paid sick, medical or family leave

Faculty may be eligible for up to 90 calendar days of paid sick leave in accordance with UW Faculty Code Section 51-1. Paid sick leave covers:

  • Your own illness or disability.
  • Maternity-related disability (temporary disability due to pregnancy, childbirth, or recovery therefrom).
  • Care of a family member with a serious health condition as defined by the Washington Family Care Act

See the Faculty paid sick, medical or family leave web page for additional guidance.

Faculty parental leave

Consistent with the University’s commitment to support faculty in balancing their academic and family responsibilities, and UW Faculty Code Section 51-1, eligible faculty members may use paid sick leave in the form of Paid Parental Leave for birth and non-birth parents to bond with:

  • their newborn or baby born by surrogacy,
  • their newly adopted child under the age of 18, or
  • a child under the age of 18 for whom legal guardianship has been newly appointed.

See Faculty Paid Parental Leave webpage for more information.

Unpaid leave of absence

An unpaid leave of absence (LOA) is a temporary non-pay status and absence from duty, which is sometimes termed “LWOP” or “unpaid leave.” An unpaid LOA may be full or partial, with the individual’s pay temporarily reduced commensurate with the duration and percentage of approved leave. Compensation shall align with the employee’s adjusted full-time equivalent (FTE), including in cases where FTE is reduced as a disability accommodation due to an inability to perform an essential function.

Faculty may take an unpaid LOA for a variety of reasons, including:

  • Personal reasons (e.g., family obligations or pursuing interests relevant to job duties and responsibilities)
  • Parental leave, including adoption and foster placement in circumstances where FMLA is not applicable
  • Family care leave in circumstances where FMLA is not applicable
  • When state or federal leave entitlements are not applicable or have been exhausted and faculty member needs continued leave
  • Paid sick time off allotment has been exhausted
  • Medical condition does not qualify for paid sick leave use
  • As a form of disability accommodation, determined and approved through the interactive process with the faculty member, Disability Services Office (DSO), and the faculty member’s unit
  • Outside Professional Work as approved by the department and the Office of Research to perform work outside University duties if engaging in professional activities for compensation. In addition to receiving an approval, employees are required to comply with EO No. 57, Outside Professional Work through the UW Office of Research.

See Faculty leave without pay web page for more information.

Sabbatical

Faculty may be considered for sabbatical or “professional leave” consistent with EO No. 33. See the Office for Academic Personnel & Faculty’s web page on Sabbatical Leave for more information.

Vacation

Faculty with a 12-month appointment are paid in 24 installments for 11 months of service over a 12-month period from July 1 through June 30. One month is available for paid time off and can be utilized as vacation and for unplanned short-term absences. Vacation leave for 12-month faculty is not accrued and cannot be transferred to future years. Faculty with 9-month service periods are paid for 9 months of service and expected to use summer for time off.
For 9-month faculty, the three-month period away from work that is not part of the employee’s service period does not apply to Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave (“PFML”) supplemental benefits.

Other University leave policies

Faculty may be eligible for leave in accordance with:

Applicable Workday User Guides