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: June 07, 2007
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 annual vacation days each September 1 (refer to Vacation Leave Chart for Principal Employees). 40 days (equivalent to 320 hours) is the maximum number of days that can be carried forward. Once an employee reaches the maximum allotment of 40 days, no further days will be credited until the next September 1 and only then if the employee's balance is less than 40 days.
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. For a Leave Request Form, please see http://emory.hr.emory.edu/forms.nsf.
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 credited during a leave of absence without pay. However, a principal employee shall be credited vacation leave on September 1 if he/she is in a paid status.
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 shall not be charged unless the employee is absent from work for the entire workday. However, 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 be credited with 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).
To determine the number of days to be paid, refer to the Terminal Vacation Leave Chart for Principal Employees:
- determine the employee’s years of service;
- determine the prorated number of leave days based on month of separation;
- add the number of prorated days to the number of unused leave days. The employee should not be paid for more than 30 days total.
Example: An employee has 5 but less than 10 years of service and separates on March 31. As of that date, he/she has 8 days of unused leave plus 12 days of leave on a prorated basis (according to the chart) for a total of 20 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 Policy 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
CURRENTLY EMPLOYED, HIRED, OR CHANGED
TO PRINCIPAL STATUS ON OR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1
Current principal employees, and employees who are hired or changed to principal status, will be credited with the appropriate leave days indicated below.
September October November December January February March April May June July August
NOTE: “Total years of active employment” is the number of years of active Emory employment in a regular status of at least half-time, regardless of breaks in employment.TERMINAL VACATION LEAVE CHART
FOR PRINCIPAL EMPLOYEES
September October November December January February March April May June July August
The maximum number of unused vacation days that will be paid upon separation is 30 days.
- Current Version of This Policy: http://policies.emory.edu/4.102
- http://emory.hr.emory.edu/forms.nsf. (http://forms and brochures home page)
Subject Contact Phone Human Resources 404-727-7625
Revision History
No previous versions of this policy were found.