Policy 345: Vacation Leave

Category: Human Resources
Subcategory: Benefits
Covered Individuals: Benefit-Eligible Staff and Fiscal Year Faculty
Responsible Executive: Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services
Policy Custodian: Office of Human Resources, Associate Vice President of Human Resources
Last Revised: 2022/10/14
Previous USU Policy Number: N/A
Download the PDF File for Policy 345

345.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE

Utah State University (USU) provides paid vacation leave to benefit-eligible employees and fiscal year faculty to allow employees paid time off to handle personal issues, revitalize, relax, maintain morale, minimize burnout, and return to work refreshed.

345.2 POLICY

2.1 Eligibility

Employees with a fiscal year base appointment at 50% time or greater accrue vacation leave.

Employees with an academic year base appointment (e.g., 9-month faculty) do not accrue vacation leave.

Fiscal year faculty do not accrue vacation leave during sabbatical leave (USU Policy 365: Sabbatical Leave).

Coaches do not accrue vacation leave.

2.2 Accrual

Vacation leave is accrued and accounted for on a calendar-year basis. Vacation leave accruals begin on the effective date of the employee's university appointment and will be pro-rated for the first and last month of employment. Employees do not accrue vacation leave during leaves of absence without pay. Recognized university holidays that occur during a period of vacation leave will not be charged against vacation leave.

Full-time (100% FTE) fiscal year faculty and exempt employees accrue vacation leave at the rate of 14.67 hours per month of service. For each 12 months of employment, 22 days of vacation leave are accrued. Benefit-eligible employees with less than 100% FTE, but more than 50% FTE, accrue vacation leave on a prorated basis.

Fiscal year non-exempt employees accrue vacation leave according to the following schedule based on years of eligible service:

Service Years	Leave Accrued
Less than 5 years	12 days/year
5 to 10 years	18 days/year
More than 10 years	22 days/year

Non-exempt employees who have previously worked in a benefit-eligible position at USU, or another state of Utah higher education institution, will receive credit for the number of years of prior service when calculating vacation leave allowances.

2.3 Carryover of Vacation Leave

A maximum of 30 days (240 hours) of accrued vacation leave may be carried over from one calendar year to the next. Any vacation leave over 30 days which has not been used by the end of a calendar year will not be carried over and will be forfeited.

A department head or director may approve the exception of leave carryover into the next calendar year when circumstances did not permit the employee to take leave during the calendar year. The department head or director must notify the Office of Human Resources of the exception by January 15 and provide a plan for the employee to take the time off to bring the leave balance below maximum carryover.

2.4 Payment When Employment Changes or Ends

If an employee’s status changes from a fiscal year base (eligible for accrual) to an academic year base (not eligible for accrual), the department will pay out accrued vacation leave up to a maximum of 30 days (240 hours) at the time of status change. Supervisors may require employees to use accrued vacation leave before their employment status changes, if sufficient time is available.

When an employee transfers to another university department, the leave follows the employee to the new department. If significant funding issues occur, such as accepting the leave obligation on a contract/grant, the two administrators will negotiate the disposition of the leave obligation. In cases where the leave balance cannot be transferred to the new department, the employee may be required to take unused vacation leave before the transfer, or the current department may transfer funds to the new department to cover the obligation of the unused vacation leave. No leave payout will be given when transferring between departments.

When employment ends, employees are entitled to receive a lump-sum payment for unused vacation leave up to a maximum of 30 days (240 hours). Supervisors may require employees to use accrued vacation leave before their employment ends, if sufficient time is available. Compensation for unused vacation leave will be based on the employee's current hourly rate.

Leave accrued during a contract/grant funding period must be used during the contract/grant period. Employees hired in positions funded by contracts/grants are to be informed in writing of this requirement at the time of employment by their department head or director. Before a contract/grant ends, employees paid from that contract/grant will be given documented notification by their department of their current leave balance and the time period available for using the leave. When employees are given sufficient notice and opportunity to use their accrued leave, they are required to do so, and the leave obligation on those funds will be zeroed and cannot be carried over to other funds. When employees do not receive sufficient notice, the department will be obligated to pay the employees for their unused leave balances, up to the maximum amount specified in this policy.

2.5 Application for Leave

All eligible employees (fiscal year faculty and staff) must report all vacation leave used.

USU supervisors are responsible for coordinating, reviewing, approving/denying, and ensuring the vacation leave of staff and fiscal year faculty, in their respective units, is properly recorded. All vacation leave, except for emergencies, must be authorized in advance and will be used at times when it will have the least interference with the employee's professional services at USU. The individual applying for vacation leave and the immediate supervisor approving the leave, will endeavor to arrange for the use of vacation leave during the calendar year in which it is accrued.

Vacation leave taken by non-exempt employees should be reported in 15-minute increments.

Vacation leave taken by fiscal year faculty and exempt employees should be reported in either half-day (four (4) hour) or full-day (eight (8) hour) increments (Part-time exempt employees should report vacation leave on an equivalent prorated basis). If the amount of vacation leave taken is less than half a day, it should not be reported.

345.3 RESPONSIBILITIES

3.1 Immediate Supervisors

Coordinate, review, approve or deny, and ensure the vacation leave of staff and eligible faculty within their departments is properly recorded.

3.2 Employees

Request leave from their supervisor in advance and report leave taken using the university authorized processes in a timely manner.

3.3 Office of Human Resources

Maintain vacation leave balances based on accruals and approved vacation leave requests. Process vacation leave carryover.

345.4 REFERENCES

345.5 RELATED USU POLICIES

USU Policy 365: Sabbatical Leave

345.6 DEFINITIONS

Information below is not included as part of the contents of the official policy. It is provided only as a convenience for readers/users and may be changed at any time by persons authorized by the President, subject to review by the USU Policy Committee.

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POLICY HISTORY

Original issue date: 1997/01/24
Last review date: 2022/10/14
Next scheduled review date:
Previous revision dates: 1997/07/01, 2010/04/01, 2018/01/12, 2022/10/14