Policy Highlight: Annual Leave

Concise insights into the policies that impact our workplace and empower our employees.

Each month, the Office of Human Resources will highlight a policy, enhancing awareness and ensuring leaders are well-informed. This will provide education and clarification to supervisors on policies relevant to to managing employees at the University. Additionally, this series of articles will enhance awareness and understanding of key institutional policies for our supervisors.

August’s Highlight: Annual Leave

Annual Leave allows staff the opportunity to take paid time away from work in lieu of their regularly scheduled work hours. Per UND’s Staff Handbook and NDUS HR Policy Manual Section 6: Annual Leave, staff members accrue and are allowed to use annual leave (with prior approval from their supervisors) throughout the year.

Policy Statement

Annual leave with pay is earned by benefited staff employees. Upon approval, annual leave may only be used in place of regularly scheduled work hours and shall not cause overtime.

Accrual Rate

Annual leave with pay for benefited full-time employees accrues based on rate per hour and is earned on the basis of continuous service from date of employment as follows:

• 1 – 3 years: ~12 days per year or 8 hours per month
• 4 – 7 years: ~15 days per year or 10 hours per month
• 8 – 12 years: ~18 days per year or 12 hours per month
• 13 – 18 years: ~21 days per year or 14 hours per month
• 18+ years: ~24 days per year or 16 hours per month

Summary

Carryover

Staff members may carry over a limited amount of unused annual leave each year. The maximum annual carryover is 240 hours. Any accrued leave over an employee’s maximum carryover will be forfeited if not used by December 31. Leave accrual/carryover and paid holidays are pro-rated for part-time benefited employees based on hours worked per week. A benefited part-time employee scheduled for 30 hours per week would have a maximum carryover limit of 180 hours.

Use or Lose

Amounts over the carryover limit and the required 40 hours of annual leave usage are often referred to as “use-or-lose”. Except for their calendar year of hire, employees must use 40 hours of annual leave each calendar year. This is to encourage and allow staff members the opportunity to disconnect from work.

Using Leave Prior to Accrual

At the discretion of the department head, an employee may be granted up to 40 hours annual leave in advance of the accumulation thereof. If approved, the employee must complete the Leave Authorization/Payroll Deduction Agreement. The completed form must be submitted to the Office of Human Resources.

Termination

When a staff member leaves employment with the University they will be paid out any remaining accrued annual leave, the pay period after their final check. If a terminating employee has a negative annual leave balance, the outstanding balance will be deducted from their final paycheck.

This is done automatically by the the Office of Human Resources Payroll team, and no action is needed from an employee or supervisor to initiate it.

Implementing in the Workplace

Approving Annual Leave

Employees must visit with their supervisor to discuss their request for annual leave. The supervisor should consider these factors after receiving the request:

• Is there adequate coverage for the employee’s work while out on leave?
• Does the employee have adequate accrued annual leave to cover the time requested?

If approved, the staff member must submit leave in the Time and Labor system (TLAB) in a timely manner after it has been taken. The supervisor will then approve the request in TLAB.

Annual in lieu of sick leave

Occasionally, an employee may run out of sick leave, but still need time away from work to recover from an illness. Supervisors have the discretion to allow an employee to take annual leave in lieu of sick leave. With prior approval, the staff member must submit annual leave in TLAB in a timely manner after it was taken in place of sick leave. The supervisor will then approve the request in TLAB.

Questions?

For questions regarding annual leave policy, please contact your divisional area HR manager.

For questions regarding leave approval, please contact Joanne Barstad.