12.1 Eligibility. All members of the fiscal faculty and exempt staff who are employed in a status position of at least 50% time are eligible for vacation/personal time. Vacation/personal time is earned from the first day of employment and may be used after it is earned. Vacation/personal time is taken at a time mutually agreeable to the faculty or staff member and the supervisor.
12.1.1 Faculty. Vacations and holidays for faculty members with academic year appointments are determined by the academic year calendar. Those faculty members appointed on a fiscal year basis (12 months) reference USY V.A.12.2.1 for accrual rate.
12.2 Accrual Rate
12.2.1 The accrual rate for eligible Exempt Staff is two (2) days per month.
12.2.2 Non-exempt staff who were not required to participate in the Earned Time Program continue to earn vacation time based on hours worked up to those hours budgeted for the status position (non-status hours worked and supplemental compensation such as overtime are excluded) and on years of service to the University System based on the chart below.
Years of Service Rate Earned Per
Hour of ServiceApprox. Total Days
Earned in One YearAt Least Up to 0 3 .0462 12 3 6 .0577 15 6 9 .0692 18 9 14 .0808 21 14 or more .0962 25 For the purpose of this policy, years of service are defined as calendar years of employment, i.e., 12 consecutive months from the date of hire equals one calendar year.
12.3 Flex Year Appointments. Staff members with flex year status appointments of at least a 50% time earn vacation on a prorated basis.
12.4 Maximum Accumulation. The maximum accumulation is 35 days per year but the days accumulated over 30 days will have no cash value. The maximum number of days for payout at termination will be 30 days.
12.4.1 Staff members promoted or transferred into a new employee classification, i.e., Operating staff, PAT staff or Faculty are entitled to carry their accumulated vacation leave with them to the new position. In the event an employee is promoted or transferred into a position that does not accumulate vacation, i.e., an academic year faculty position, the employee will be paid off for their accumulated vacation/Earned Time prior to reporting to the new position.
12.5 Vacation/Personal Leave Use. Exempt staff members may use vacation leave in increments of one-half day or more. Planned use of vacation/personal leave must have the approval of the supervisor prior to taking the leave. Vacation/personal leave time may be used without prior approval when personal emergencies prevent prior approval. In such cases, the staff member is responsible for notifying the supervisor of the absence due to a personal emergency. If the staff member's vacation/personal time includes an approved holiday, he/she will receive holiday pay, and the time will not be charged as vacation/personal leave.
12.5.1 Minimum usage. Staff members are required to take, and supervisors are required to grant, a minimum of 12 days of vacation/personal leave per year at times mutually agreeable. Minimum usage is calculated on a fiscal year basis, July 1 through June 30. If the minimum usage requirement has not been met by the end of the fiscal year, remaining minimum usage days will be subtracted from the staff member's vacation/personal leave balance prior to its being carried forward into the new fiscal year.
12.5.1.1 New staff members hired prior to January 1 will be required to satisfy the minimum usage requirement by June 30 of the end of their first partial year of employment. The minimum usage amount is calculated by counting one day of minimum usage for each month of employment prior to June 30. For the purpose of calculating minimum usage, a month is counted as a full month of employment if the staff member's date of hire is on or before the 15th of the month, or if the staff member terminates on or after the 16th of the month. If the minimum usage requirement has not been met by June 30, remaining minimum usage days will be subtracted from the staff member's vacation/personal leave balance prior to its being carried forward into the new fiscal year.
For example, a new staff member hired October 2 would need to use a minimum of 9 days by the following June 30. An employee hired July 5 would need to use a minimum of 12 days of vacation/personal leave. If the minimum usage requirement has not been met by June 30, remaining minimum usage days will be subtracted from the staff member's vacation/personal leave balance prior to its being carried forward into the new fiscal year. If the staff member hired October 2 used 7 days as of June 30, two days would be subtracted from the carry-forward leave balance into the next fiscal year.
Note: Employees with six months or less of service are exempt from minimum usage requirements for the fiscal year in which they were hired.
12.5.1.2 The minimum usage requirement is prorated for percent time staff members.
12.5.1.3 For the purpose of calculating the amount of vacation payoff at termination, minimum usage will be prorated through the date of termination, and any remaining minimum usage days will be subtracted from the staff member's vacation/personal leave balance.
12.5.3 Exempt staff members are encouraged to use vacation leave in increments of one-half day or more. Non-exempt staff shall use vacation in increments of one hour or more.
12.5.4 Vacation/Personal time may be used without prior approval when personal emergencies prevent prior approval. However, the employee is responsible for notifying the supervisor of the absence due to a personal emergency and any planned vacation time must be approved.
12.5.5 If the staff member's vacation/personal time includes an approved holiday, he/she will receive holiday pay and the time will not be charged as vacation/personal or Earned Time.
12.6 Vacation Payoff at Termination. In no instance shall vacation time be used to extend employment beyond the last day of work. All unused vacation time up to thirty days will be paid to the staff member or fiscal year faculty member (or his/her estate in the case of the individual's death) at the time of termination or retirement, if the termination occurs under normal circumstances and does not involve an act that demonstrates unfitness for continued employment within the University System, such as theft or immoral conduct.
12.7 Vacation at Layoff or Leave. Staff members may leave accumulated vacation intact pending recall if the nature of their absence from employment is layoff. In cases of unpaid leaves of absence, unused vacation will be carried forward through the period of the leave. If the staff member does not return to work any unused vacation will be paid at termination.
12.8 Conversion from vacation/personal and sick time to Earned Time. When a staff member transfers, is promoted or reclassified into a non-exempt position, vacation and sick leave are converted using the following procedure:
- Vacation/personal leave: Ratio 1 full-time day to 8 hours of Earned Time
- Sick leave (conversion pro-rated depending on years of service)
12.8.1 Conversion Table for Transfer of Existing Sick Leave into Earned Time/Sick Pool Days
Accumulated Sick Leave Years of Full-Time Service 0-6 6-12 12-18 18+ Yrs. 0-50 days 1 day/8 hrs .75/8 hrs .50/8 hrs .25/8 hrs 51-99 days 1 day/8 hrs* .80/8 hrs .65/8 hrs .55/8 hrs 100+ days --- 1 day/8 hrs 1/8 hrs 1/8 hrs *A special appeal will be allowed for employees whose sick leave converts at less than the 1:1 ratio. Where medical evidence exists to support high usage of sick leave, the 1:1 conversion may be authorized by the Campus Human Resources Director.
12.8.2 If the vacation/personal leave conversion exceeds 480 Earned Time hours, the additional hours will be automatically converted to Sick Pool hours. The maximum Sick Pool time is the equivalent of 150 days (1,125 hours for staff on a 37.5 hour work week and 1,200 hours for those on a 40-hour work week).Thus, if a staff member has a total conversion of 110 days or more, the staff member will begin the Earned Time program with 480 Earned Time hours and either 1,125 or 1,200 Sick Pool hours.
12.8.3 Prior to converting vacation/personal days to Earned Time hours, an exempt staff member may cash out up to five (5) vacation/personal days at the pre-conversion salary rate to bridge the gap between exempt and non-exempt pay schedules.
12.9 Record Keeping. It is the responsibility of each department to maintain accurate records that verify the usage and current vacation/sick time balances of each staff member. That information will be sent to the campus Human Resources department on a regular basis.