Policy 4.102
Vacation Leave for Principal Employees
Responsible Official: VP for Human Resources
Administering Division/Department: Leave Policies
Effective Date: April 17, 2007
Last Revision: September 11, 2009
Policy Sections:
Emory, concerned about the well-being of employees, views vacation leave as a benefit that enhances the employee's work and personal life balance. Supervisors are encouraged to manage vacation leave as a means of increasing productivity and employee morale.
Regular principal (exempt) employees who work at least 20 or more hours per workweek are eligible for vacation leave benefits. Temporary employees, except rehired retirees, are not credited with vacation leave.
PROVISIONS
Principal employees will be credited with vacation days on a per monthly accrual basis (refer to Vacation Leave Chart for Principal Employees). The maximum number of days that can be carried forward from one year to the next is 40 days. Once an employee reaches the maximum allotment of 40 days, no further days will be accrued.
Principal employees who are hired or changed to a status eligible for vacation leave, or become eligible for a change to a higher rate, will be credited with leave as follows:
If the calendar date for the effective employment, status change, or accrual change eligibility is on or before the 15th of the month, the principal employee will be credited with a prorated amount of leave effective the last calendar day of that month.
If the calendar date for the effective employment, status change, or accrual change eligibility is on or after the 16th of the month, the principal employee will be credited with a prorated amount of leave effective the last calendar day of the following month.REQUESTING LEAVE
Requests for vacation leave should be submitted to the appropriate supervisor as far in advance as possible to allow adequate time for the supervisor to assess the staffing and scheduling needs of the department. Consideration shall be given to all requests for vacation leave. However, vacation schedules should be consistent with the needs of the department and the university.
Vacation leave may be granted for unanticipated absences where it has not been possible for an employee to plan in advance.
Where there are competitive requests for the same vacation schedules, length of service within the department should be considered if all other factors are equal.
GENERAL
Vacation leave shall not be accrued during a leave of absence without pay.
Employees who are members of the Armed Forces Reserve or the National Guard must request in writing for vacation leave to be used for periods in which the employees are engaged in weekly drills, weekend drills, annual training duty or other active duty for training.
Periods of employment in an ineligible status [i.e., temporary (other than rehired retirees), regular for less than half time, student status, or leaves of absence without pay] are not counted toward length of service for vacation leave, except for individuals on an approved seasonal leave. All periods of eligible employment prior to a break in service are counted toward length of service for vacation leave purposes.
The vacation leave balance of a principal employee will be charged if the employee is absent from work for 4 or more hours in a workday. Vacation leave balances may be charged in full day (8 hour) or half day (4 hour) increments.Examples:
- If a principal employee works for 4 or more hours, then takes the rest of the day off as vacation leave, his or her leave balance will not be charged.
- If a principal employee works 1 or 2 hours and takes the rest of the day as vacation leave, the employee's leave balance will be charged 4 hours.
- If the employee takes the entire day off as vacation leave, the employee's leave balance will be charged 8 hours.
- For part-time employees, proportional leave deductions would apply based on the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work. For employees who work flexible schedules, Human Resources will work with managers to implement the change to fit the facts of the schedule.
If a principal employee is on Family and Medical Leave of Absence (FMLA), the employee will be paid for actual hours worked on a reduced or intermittent leave. Hours not worked on an intermittent or reduced leave will be charged against an employee’s vacation leave balance, other applicable leave or will be leave without pay. Thus, the supervisor can 'dock' the pay of otherwise-exempt, salaried employees for FMLA leave taken for partial day absences.
The total amount of vacation leave that may be granted to an employee shall not exceed the employee’s vacation leave balance.
VACATION LEAVE FOR RE-HIRED/TRANSFERRED EMPLOYEES
Employees who are re-hired or transferred, including retirees, shall accrue vacation leave according to the total length of service and the number of regularly scheduled hours worked per pay period.
This will include former employees of Emory University Hospital or Crawford Long Hospital with service prior to January 1, 2003.
COMPENSATION FOR CREDITED LEAVE UPON SEPARATION
A principal employee with a minimum of 6 months of consecutive service in a benefits eligible position who separates from employment will be paid his/her regular rate of pay up to 240 accumulated unused hours (equivalent to 30 days).
Employees who have completed less than 6 consecutive months of service in a leave eligible status will not be compensated for unused vacation leave at separation.
In the event of the death of an employee, any unused vacation leave hours will be paid to the estate of the deceased employee in the same manner as above.
All unused vacation leave hours shall be paid to the employee in one lump sum payment after separation.
RECORDKEEPING
The department shall have the responsibility for administration and record keeping of the vacation leave for the employees within the department. Human Resources can provide advice regarding administration and interpretation of this policy.
The employee leave balances must be transferred to the new department in the university upon the effective date of transfer.VACATION LEAVE CHART
FOR PRINCIPAL EMPLOYEES
RATE OF ACCRUAL
AVERAGE
HRS. WORKED
PER WEEKLess than 5
total years
of active
employment
HRS. PER MO.5 but less than
10 total years
of active
employment
HRS. PER MO.10 but less than
20 total years
of active
employment
HRS. PER MO.20 or more
total years
of active
employment
HRS. PER MO.20
6.666667
7.333333
8.0
8.333333
21
7.0
7.7
8.4
8.75
22
7.333333
8.066667
8.8
9.166667
23
7.666667
8.433333
9.2
9.583333
24
8.0
8.8
9.6
10.0
25
8.333333
9.166667
10.0
10.416667
26
8.666667
9.533333
10.4
10.833333
27
9.0
9.9
10.8
11.25
28
9.333333
10.266667
11.2
11.666667
29
9.666667
10.633333
11.6
12.083333
30
10.0
11.0
12.0
12.5
31
10.333333
11.366667
12.4
12.916667
32
10.666667
11.733333
12.8
13.333333
33
11.0
12.1
13.2
13.75
34
11.333333
12.466667
13.6
14.166667
35
11.666667
12.833333
14.0
14.583333
36
12.0
13.2
14.4
15.0
37
12.333333
13.566667
14.8
15.416667
38
12.666667
13.933333
15.2
15.833333
39
13.0
14.3
15.6
16.25
40
13.333333
14.666667
16.0
16.666667
MAXIMUM
ACCUMU-
LATION320
320
320
320
NOTE: “Total years of active service” is the number of years of active Emory employment in a regular status of at least half-time, regardless of breaks in employment.
The maximum number of unused vacation hours that will be paid upon separation is 240 hours.
- Current Version of This Policy: http://policies.emory.edu/4.102
- http://policies.emory.edu/4.102 (http://)
Subject Contact Phone Divisional Director, Organizational Development/Employee Relations Jeanne D. Thigpen 404-727-7644 persjdt@emory.edu
Revision History
- Version Published on: Sep 11, 2009
- Version Published on: Sep 01, 2009
- Version Published on: Apr 17, 2007 (Amended 5/08/07)