As announced in CU Boulder Today, CIRES employees impacted by the Marshall Fire have additional administrative leave options. Information on the types and amounts of leave available is below. Impacted employees should consult with CIRES HR as needed, and be sure to inform their supervisors of their leave needs and schedule.
Campus leadership and officials are working very hard on behalf of our impacted employees. We are grateful to them for authorizing this emergency leave so quickly to support your most immediate needs.
As previously noted, impacted individuals are eligible for initial disaster leave:
- 1 day of admin leave for pre-evacuees
- 2 days of admin leave for evacuees
- 5 days of admin leave for loss of residence
Timesheet Instructions: To take the above leave, employees can select “Administrative Leave” from the drop-down options in MyLeave. No prior approval or paperwork is necessary to log the 1, 2, or 5 days as noted above. Employees can use this leave as of January 3, 2022.
Emergency Administrative Leave (New)
In response to the Marshall Fire, the campus has also authorized Emergency Administrative Leave to support impacted employees who need time for dealing with personal situations. Campus is granting up to 160 hours (4 weeks) of leave to impacted individuals who are in need. This leave can be used for immediate needs following the catastrophic event, such as securing shelter, food, clothing, or dependent care, and addressing disaster recovery issues (e.g., working with FEMA, insurance companies, and emergency mitigation services). Once the individual safely returns to their home, they will have 40 hours of remaining administrative leave (within the overall 160 hours) to stabilize and coordinate personal needs. More details on that leave are available here.
Things to know about Emergency Administrative Leave:
- Eligibility: All regular employees who were impacted by the fires are eligible for this leave regardless of their start date.
- Temporary staff, retirees, and students, and GRAs are not eligible at this time, and CIRES will notify you if this changes. We ask that supervisors of these employees be as flexible as possible with regard to schedules.
- Leave Expiration and Usage: This leave does not expire and employees can use it intermittently or in block periods of time as needed.
- Leave Request Form: Employees in need of this leave should complete the Marshall Fire Leave Request form and submit as instructed to leave@colorado.edu. Completion of this form allows CIRES and campus to be aware of impacted individuals, guide them on leave usage and available resources, and track leave usage over time. These forms will be submitted to CU HR and then referred to CIRES HR, who will guide employees and supervisors on leave usage as needed.
- Timesheet Guidance & Reminder: Employees using Emergency Administrative Leave will record this time as “Administrative Leave” from the drop-down options, and should write “Emergency Leave” in the Comments section. Reminder: Timesheets for January are not due until early February, so employees have time to determine their leave needs based on their personal situation, and in consultation with CIRES HR.
- Funding for Emergency Admin. Leave: To help minimize the potential financial impact on our sponsored awards, CIRES is looking at ways to offset expenses in hardship situations. Additional guidance will be forthcoming.
Order of Leave Usage
Impacted employees should plan to take the available leave in the following order based on personal circumstances:
- Disaster Leave: Employees should take the 1, 2, or 5 days first as indicated above.
- Emergency Admin Leave: Employees can then take up to 160 hours, following the guidance cited above.
- Vacation Leave: Personal vacation leave should be used once all available Emergency Admin Leave has been exhausted.
- Leave Sharing: If an employee has exhausted the above leave options and needs additional time, they can apply to CU Boulder’s leave sharing program. Please reach out to CIRES HR for guidance.
Inquiries & Help
Please contact CIRES HR (cireshr@colorado.edu) first, with any questions about fire-related leave and resources for yourself or your supervisees. We will be the main point of contact and will connect employees as needed with central CU Boulder resources.
Other Resources
CU Boulder has posted here excellent information on resources available to employees impacted by the fires. For example, there are Faculty/Staff and Student Emergency Funds available for rapid-turnaround needs (eg, for those who have insurance but need stopgap help before insurance payments arrive). We encourage you to apply if you have need.
