Office of Administration > Policy Office > Policy Library > INT148

UT System Administration Policy Library -- Policy INT148 Vacation Leave

 

Responsible Officer: Associate Vice Chancellor for Employee Benefits and Services
Sponsoring Office: Office of Employee Services
Effective Date: August 1, 2006
Last Reviewed: July 27, 2007                 
Next Scheduled Review: July 1, 2009
Errors or changes to: policyoffice@utsystem.edu

CONTENTS

 

Policy Statement
Rationale
Scope
Website Address For This Policy
Related Statutes, Policies, Requirements Or Standards
Contacts
Definitions
Responsibilities
Procedures

Forms Tools/Online Processes

Appendix

POLICY STATEMENT

 

Eligibility

Employees of The University of Texas System who are appointed twenty hours per week or more and for four and one-half months or more earn vacation leave beginning on the first day of eligible employment, regardless of whether they are paid on a monthly or hourly basis. Faculty members who have nine-month basis rather than twelve-month basis appointments and employees appointed to positions which require student status as a condition of employment do not earn vacation time.  

RATIONALE

 

This policy provides for administration of employee vacation leave.

SCOPE

 

All Offices of UT System Administration

WEBSITE ADDRESS FOR THIS POLICY

 

http://www.utsystem.edu/policy/policies/int148.html

RELATED STATUTES, POLICIES, REQUIREMENTS OR STANDARDS

 

 

CONTACTS

 

 

If you have any questions about UT System Administration Policy INT 148, Vacation Leave, contact the following offices:

 

Subject	Office Name	Telephone Number	Email/URL
Human Resources/ Employee Benefits	Office of Employee Services	512-499-4587	esc@utsystem.edu

DEFINITIONS  

 

 
None

RESPONSIBILITIES 

 

 
Employee

• Requests vacation leave in advance.
• Shows the time away from work as “Vacation” or “Vacation-FML” on Time Reports and records.

Supervisor

• Approves leave requests

Receiving Agency

• Contacts the employee’s prior agency or institution to obtain information on leave accruals, when an employee transfers to another state agency or institution.

PROCEDURES  

 

1.1 Leave Accrual and Carry Over
Full-time employees accrue vacation leave and may carry it forward from one fiscal year to the next in accordance with a schedule set by state statute.

An eligible part-time employee, i.e., one who works 21-39 hours per week, accrues vacation leave on a proportionate basis. The maximum amount of vacation leave a part-time employee may carry forward from one fiscal year to the next is also on a proportionate basis. 

                                    Please see Appendix for Schedule

Employees are encouraged to use vacation time during the fiscal year in which it is accrued. If this is not possible, employees are entitled to carry forward from one fiscal year to the next the balance of unused accumulated vacation leave that does not exceed the maximum number of hours allowed by law, as indicated above. All unused accumulated vacation leave that may not be carried forward at the end of a fiscal year will be credited to the employee’s sick leave balance effective on the first day of the next fiscal year.

Credit for vacation leave accrual will be given on the employee’s first day of employment and on the first day of each succeeding month thereafter. An employee who works for any part of a calendar month accrues vacation leave for the entire month.

An employee does not earn vacation leave when in an ineligible status, including when on leave without pay for an entire calendar month. If an individual’s state employment anniversary date occurs on the first calendar day of a month, the employee begins to accrue vacation leave at a higher rate as indicated on the above chart on the first calendar day of the month. Otherwise, the higher rate of accrual begins of the first calendar day of the month following the anniversary date.

If an employee is on any type of paid leave which extends into the next month, any vacation accrual for the next month will not be credited until the date the employee returns to duty.

An employee who goes on paid leave following his or her last day of duty then subsequently separates from employment is not entitled to leave accruals while on such paid leave for any calendar month(s) following the month in which the last day of duty occurs.

1.2 Entitlement to Vacation Leave
Employees may not take vacation leave until they have been continuously employed with the state for six months, although vacation hours will be accrued during that period. Continuous employment means that the employee is paid a regular state salary for the period. Continuity of employment is not interrupted if the employee is placed on leave without pay for less that one calendar month; but a full calendar month of leave without pay does not count toward state service or vacation accrual.

An employee who has completed six months or more of continuous state employment and then leaves state employment is entitled to take vacation leave as it is earned upon reemployment in an eligible position.

1.3 Payment or Transfer of Vacation Leave When an Employee Separates from Employment
An employee who at any time worked for the state for at least six continuous months and who separates from state employment for any reason is entitled to be paid for the balance of accrued vacation leave as of the date of separation, under the following conditions:

a) the employee separates from a position at The University of Texas System in which vacation time is granted.

b) the employee moves from a position within The University of Texas System that accrues vacation leave to another internal position that does not accrue vacation leave. The University of Texas System may agree to pay the employee for the accrued vacation balance; normally, such payments will be made only under unusual circumstances where the payment is deemed to be in the best interest of System. A holiday that falls after the date of separation from the position that is vacation leave-eligible is not paid to the employee. When an employee moves to an ineligible position and is not paid vacation leave, the accrued time is frozen until the employee becomes eligible again or terminates employment.

c) the employee moves from a position at a state agency that accrues vacation time to a position at another state agency that does not accrue vacation time. Payment must be made by the exit employer if the receiving employer refuses to credit the employee for the balance of the employee’s vacation time as of the date of the move. A holiday that falls after the date of separation from the position that is vacation leave-eligible is not paid to the employee; or

d) the employee holds two or more positions and separates from one that accrues vacation time.

An employee may, with the agreement of The University of Texas System, be allowed to remain on the payroll after the last day worked to utilize vacation leave in lieu of being paid in a lump sum. In this circumstance, the employee will continue to receive all compensation and benefits that the employee was receiving on the last day of duty, including paid holidays, longevity, and/or hazardous duty pay.

An employee who is paid for vacation leave upon separation will be credited for any holiday that falls within the period after the date of separation and the last date of the period in which the employee would have used the time had the employee remained on the payroll.

Lump sum payments to employees will be computed based on the rate of compensation on the last date of employment. An employee who transfers from an eligible to an ineligible position and then terminates employment will be paid based on the rate of compensation in the eligible position.

Lump sum vacation payments will not include hazardous duty or longevity pay; but will include any emoluments received in lieu of pay, such as car or housing allowances.

An employee transferring from one state agency to another without a break in service will have his or her accrued but unused vacation leave balance transferred.

If an individual separates from one state agency and is reemployed by a state agency in a position that accrues vacation leave within thirty days after the individual’s date of separation, the individual is entitled to reinstatement of the unused balance of the previously accrued vacation leave.

In the case of the death of an employee who has an accrued vacation leave balance after six months of continuous employment, his or her estate will be paid for all of the accumulated vacation leave. The payment shall be calculated at the rate of compensation being paid the employee at the time of death.

 

1.4 Negative Leave Balances
Negative leave balances cannot be carried over from one calendar month to the next; the employee must be placed on leave without pay for any unearned leave taken. Upon separation, any unearned vacation leave taken by the employee will be deducted from the final paycheck. The employee will be placed on leave without pay at the end of employment in order to have deductions made for overdrafts of vacation.

1.5 Return To Work Retirees
A state employee who retired from state employment before 6/1/2005 and returned to state employment before 9/1/2005 will continue to accrue vacation leave at the same rate the employee was entitled to receive immediately before 9/1/2005.

A state employee who retired from state employment before 6/1/2005 and returned to state employment on or after 9/1/2005 will accrue vacation leave based on the length of state service since the return to work.

A state employee who retired from and returned to state employment on or after 9/1/2005 will accrue vacation leave based on the length of state service since the return to work.

 

2. PROCEDURES

2.1 Employees should make requests for vacation leave in advance.

 

2.2 Leave requests must be approved by the supervisor with consideration for staffing requirements in the department.

 

2.3 Employees should show the time away from work as “Vacation” or “Vacation-FML” on Time Reports and records.

 

2.4 An employee who transfers from a position that was eligible for vacation leave accrued to one that is ineligible and then subsequently terminates employment will be paid for vacation leave based on the last salary rate that was in effect in the eligible position.

 

2.5 When an employee transfers to another state agency or institution, the receiving agency or institution is responsible for contacting the employee’s prior agency or institution to obtain information on leave accruals.     

FORMS AND TOOLS / ONLINE PROCESSES

 

 
None

APPENDIX

 

 

Hours Accrued Allowable Length of State Service Per Month Carry-over