Personal and Vacation Leave Information

David Colburn, Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs and Larry T. Ellis, Director, Division of Human Resources

In preparation for the holiday season and leave requests, we are happy to provide you with this year’s policy information on personal and vacation leave.

Four Personal Leave Days Available to TEAMS and Academic Personnel (who accrue vacation leave)
TEAMS employees and Academic Personnel are eligible to use four personal leave days in proportion to their FTEs for the period of 12/27 to 12/30. These days offer University of Florida departments the flexibility to close or significantly reduce staffing during the holiday season as decided by the appropriate vice presidents working with deans, directors, and department chairs in their areas. These days off from work typically should be provided in full-day increments (eight hours per day for a full-time employee/four hours per day for a half-time employee). Personal leave days are entered into PeopleSoft (through Weekly Elapsed) using the Time Reporting Code of “270-December Personal Leave-DPL” and do not affect eligible employees’ vacation leave balances.

TEAMS and Academic Personnel who are required to work during the 12/27 to 12/30 period will be considered “essential personnel” and as a result will be eligible to use their four personal leave days, in any increment, from December 2, 2004, through the end of the 2004-2005 fiscal year (6/30/05). Each vice president shall decide the criteria to be used in designating essential personnel.

USPS employees are not eligible for these four personal leave days, but they may be required to use vacation leave during the 12/27 to 12/30 period if a department chooses to close or upon supervisory request. In the event a USPS employee does not have vacation leave to cover the period, he or she may request that vacation leave be advanced to cover that absence, in which case the department is obligated to provide it. (The “holiday season,” as designated by the Office of Finance and Administration, is the only period in which vacation leave may be advanced.) USPS employees also may use leave without pay, in keeping with University of Florida policy, during this time.

For planning purposes, we recommend deciding now whether or to what extent departments will be closed, who will be designated “essential,” and whether USPS employees will be required to take time off during this period. We also recommend sharing this information with employees in your area.

Vacation Leave Payment
This December, TEAMS employees also are eligible to receive cash payment for up to 16 hours of their accrued vacation leave provided their remaining vacation leave balances total at least 40 hours.

The certification for this cash out is scheduled for the 11/19/04 to 12/02/04 pay period, with payment provided with the 12/10/04 paycheck. An employee who wishes to participate will need to report the amount of leave to be cashed out (up to 16 hours) through Weekly Elapsed Time (by 5:00 P.M. on 12/2/04) by using the “280-December Vacation Leave-DLC” time reporting code. For example, if an employee wishes to cash out 10 hours of his or her vacation leave, the employee would add a line in Weekly Elapsed, enter the hours within the 11/19/04 – 12/02/04 pay period, and select “280-December Vacation Leave-DLC” time reporting code.

Please note: The employee should report the desired hours to be cashed out on a day where it will not cause the employee to go over 24 hours in that particular day. If an employee works 16 hours on a Tuesday, and the employee also enters 10 hours on Tuesday for the cash out, the employee will receive an “exceed 24 hours in a day” error. A good practice, therefore, is to enter the “280-December Vacation Leave-DLC” time reporting code on a non-work day for the employee.

It is up to the employee’s department to verify employee eligibility for the leave payment and to ensure the cash out will not cause the employee’s vacation leave balance to go below 40 hours.

Vacation Leave Conversion
Faculty, USPS, and TEAMS employees with vacation leave in excess of their year-end maximums (USPS: 240; Faculty and TEAMS: 480) will have vacation leave hours exceeding the maximum converted to sick leave hours as of January 13, 2005.

TEAMS and USPS employees should contact John Sun of Central Leave Administration at 392-5732 (SC 622-5732) or central-leave@ufl.edu, and Academic Personnel should contact Janet Malphurs of Academic Personnel at 392-1251 or jmmalph@ufl.edu with questions.