Purpose

An unpaid personal leave of absence may be granted upon request to regular full-time and part-time employees for important pressing personal needs, at the discretion of the department director and ownership. 

Provisions

• Individuals employed by Autotroph for a minimum of 365 days are eligible to apply for an unpaid personal leave of absence.
• Unpaid personal leave may only be requested after all other appropriate leave balances have been exhausted.
• Autotroph will attempt to hold an employee’s position open for the period of unpaid personal leave if such leave is 12 weeks or less. If leave is greater than 12 weeks, the employee, if qualified, will be entitled to the first reemployment opportunity available over the next six months.
• Employee health benefits will be continued in the same manner as received prior to the leave if the leave is for 12 weeks or less, and the employee will be expected to remit payment for the employee’s portion of the health insurance premium prior to departing for unpaid personal leave, and in an amount equivalent to the expected period of absence. If an employee requests leave which will extend beyond the 12-week period, the employee will be advised of COBRA continuation rights.
• Unpaid personal leaves are limited to one per year.
• Accepting employment elsewhere is not a qualified reason for unpaid leave under this policy and may result in termination of employment at Autotroph.

Procedure for applying for unpaid personal leave

Requests for unpaid personal leave must be made through a Request for Leave of Absence Form to Autotroph and should indicate the reason, and the length of leave requested.

Autotroph shall review and act upon a request for unpaid personal leave in consideration of the following factors:

• The purpose for which the leave is requested.
• The length of time the employee will be away.
• The effect the leave will have on the ability of the department to carry out its responsibilities.
• The quality of the employee’s performance before the submission of the request.

All unpaid personal leaves must be approved by the department director and ownership at Autotroph. 

Procedure for returning from unpaid personal leave

An employee who has been granted an unpaid personal leave of absence shall give reasonable notice of the intent to return to work at least two weeks before the return date.

Upon receiving notification of the employee’s availability, Autotroph will arrange to have the employee reinstated to the employee’s previous position, if available. If the previous position is no longer available, the employee may be considered for other open positions for which the employee is qualified as they become available.

If no position exists, the employee will remain on unpaid leave status until a suitable opening develops. If such an opening does not occur within a 60-day period, any obligation to reinstate the employee is discontinued and the employee’s leave status is changed to a voluntary termination. Future reemployment would be as a rehire with only legally required reinstatement of applicable benefits.