Absence from Duty

Any absence from normal duties requires approval and documentation. All requests for an Absence from Duty or Leave of Absence must be made online at After signing in, select the reason for the absence (University Business, like conference travel, is on the menu bar at the top. Other reasons can be found under “Leave Type” in the middle of the page).

All faculty and staff must provide reasonable advance notice when the need for the leave or absence is foreseeable, that is, if medical treatments or other events are planned or known in advance.If the leave of absence is not foreseeable, the employee must provide notice to his or her immediate supervisor as soon as practicable.

There are some additional considerations for those faculty and staff who are teaching:

  1. Anytime you are going to miss a class, for whatever reason, an Application for Leave form must be submitted.Enough lead time is required to allow administrative review, unless the absence is due to sudden illness or a clear emergency. You must include under "Additional Information" a brief statement explaining how the missed class or classes will be covered.
  2. Absences due to sudden illness orclear emergenciesmust be reported to the Dean's office as soon as possible and an Application for Leave form filed online as soon as you return to work.You should provide an explanation of how the missed class time will be covered, either by using the “additional information” box on the online form or by emailing the associate dean.If you know in advancethat you will miss classes because of a conference, medical appointment, or some other approved absence, you must make every effort to cover the class.The suggested methods of covering such classes include, but are not limited to: videotaping a lecture in advance, asking a colleague to teach the class, arranging for a guest speaker who will talk on a topic relevant to the course material, showing a relevant video, or engaging in a project or discussion via Carmen.It isnotsufficient to merely assign extra work or extra reading in lieu of the class time; some kind of interaction with a faculty member should be involved.
  3. Please remember the arrangements for covering classes are your responsibility.Unless there is an extraordinary circumstance, the Administration will not search for substitute instructors or make other arrangements on your behalf.
  4. If your absence involves approved travel and you file a travel form and you will not miss any classes, then an Application for Leave form is not required.
  5. If you are making routine trips around the area, and you are neither missing classes nor seeking travel reimbursement, then no forms are required.However, you should know that there is some ambiguity within the University as to how well covered you will be by your insurance or by workers' compensation should you be injured or even die, if no form was filed. If your duties require a number of short trips, you may wish to file a form requesting blanket approval for a semester. Use your own judgment here.Extended absences such as those covered by Family and Medical Leave will require additional documentation. Please contact the Ohio State Human Resources Office for complete information.

This document is kept current by the Associate Dean.

Revised 2/15/2016