The following is provided as clarification regarding vacation and sick leave accumulation:
- Accumulated vacation time is considered a financial liability against the University's financial stability. Because the University must budget for vacation time that is on the books, it must be a manageable amount. A vacation maximum is standard in organizations. Therefore, the following applies:
- Employees cannot earn vacation beyond the maximum accumulation allowed by the applicable policy; for staff employees, reference policy HR34, Employment Conditions for Staff Employees; for technical-service employees, reference Article 24 of the University/Teamsters Agreement; and for faculty employees, reference UL-HR07, Vacation Accumulation for Libraries' Faculty. Two exceptions to this stipulation are outlined below (both of which require prior approval of the supervisor, LHR, and the appropriate AD by completing a Request to Exceed Vacation Maximum form):
- An employee is preparing for a major life event such as the birth or adoption of a child, finishing a degree, etc., and may need more paid time off than provided by policy. In such event, the employee may request a temporary exception to the maximum accumulation limit.
- An unexpected work-related situation (e.g., another employee quits) may cause an employee to miss or delay using vacation days, resulting in a vacation balance that exceeds the maximum stated above. In such event, the employee may request a temporary exception to the maximum accumulation limit. The days accumulated in excess of the maximums stated above must be used within the next 12 months. The intent of this exception is to deal with situations where an employee has vacation scheduled and subsequently is unable to take the vacation for the reasons mentioned above.
- During any month that an employee reaches the maximum accumulation and the employee does not use enough days to take them below the maximum by the end of that month, they will lose the days earned and will start the next month at the maximum.
- Example: At the beginning of January, Jane Doe has a total vacation accumulation of 240 hours, which is the maximum she can accumulate. Jane does not take any vacation on or before January 31st to take her below the maximum; therefore, she loses the 2 days she would have earned for January and starts off her February balance at 240 hours, not 256 hours.)
- Vacation maximums for employees in HR-88 positions (less than 100%) are pro-rated according to their FTE percentage.
- Accumulated compensatory time (earned as a result of a holiday or weather-related closedown) must be used prior to the use of vacation, per Policy HR-34.
- Vacation and sick leave may not be taken until it is earned. Each is earned once an employee has been paid for ½ of the normally scheduled work days in the month (normally 11 days). Please note: It is inappropriate for a supervisor to counter University or University Libraries policy by approving an attendance record that has not been completed in accordance with the above policy stipulations. This could leave the University and University Libraries open to legal questions.
- A staff or technical-service employee may use up to 40 hours of their accumulated sick leave per calendar year to care for a sick family member, per Policy HR-34 for staff or Section 26.2 of the University/Teamsters Agreement for technical-service.
- If a staff or technical-service employee is charging sick leave and the employee's vacation accumulation reaches the maximum, the employee can charge vacation accumulation instead of sick leave, so that vacation earnings are not lost.
- Exempt staff are required to work a minimum of 40 hours/week and many assignments may require longer weekly work schedules than the established minimum. In any week that the 40 hour minimum is not met, the time missed must either be made up through the use of flexible work hours/schedules and/or accounted for by charging accumulated vacation or sick leave, as appropriate.
