Leave Programs
for
Staff
and
Leave-Earning Faculty

Sick Leave
Annual Leave
Paid Holidays
Family and Medical Leave
Family Illness Leave
Leave without Pay
Shared Leave
Community Service Leave
Other Types of Leave

 

Paid Leave in Brief
Sick Leave (PIM #11 at www.hr.uncc.edu/Policies/PIM11.htm)

All SPA and EPA staff members earn paid leave.  If you are a permanent, full-time employee, you will earn 8 hours of Sick Leave each month.  Your Sick Leave balance has no maximum accrual ceiling.  It’s a good idea to conserve Sick Leave because if you retire from the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System within 5 years of  “permanent” State employment, you can add your unused Sick Leave to your contributing service.

Annual Leave (PIM #11 at www.hr.uncc.edu/Policies/PIM11.htm)

For SPA employees, your vacation leave (called "Annual" Leave) is based on your length of service.  You can accrue up to 240 hours of Annual Leave.  Any balance over 240 hours will be swept into your Sick Leave balance at year-end.

For EPA employees, you are eligible for 24 days of annual leave.  If you are employed for less than 24 months, then your annual leave payout is limited to one day for each month employed less the number of days taken during the employment period.

SPA/EPA has nothing to do with whether you are required to complete weekly time sheets.  (SPA denotes classified positions Subject to the State Personnel Act, and EPA denotes At-Will Positions Exempt from the Personnel Act.)  Time sheet completion is determined by whether your position is subject to or exempt from the Federal Wage and Hour provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Please consult your supervisor for details.

Paid Holidays http://www.hr.uncc.edu/Policies/PIM13_2007.htm

In addition to your vacation and necessary sick leave, UNC Charlotte staff members* have 11 or 12 paid holidays per year (whether 11 or 12 holidays are paid is determined by the weekday of Christmas). 

Holiday schedules are posted in PIM 13 found at www.hr.uncc.edu/policies/pims.htm

* FLSA exempt employees need not submit leave slips for holiday leave.   Non-exempt employees will record holiday leave on the weekly time sheet.

Planning Your Paid Leave

Generally, it is best to discuss any extended absence with your supervisor in advance of taking leave.  However, emergencies do occur, and substantial advance notice is not always possible.  For scheduling and coverage purposes, staff members are strongly encouraged to discuss with their department heads, at the beginning of the employment relationship, how much advance notice is required   Please see Family and Medical Leave below for extended sick leave.

Leave Accounting   

Regardless of the type of leave, please do not forget to complete a leave slip (Form P-1).  Even “exempt” employees must complete leave slips when they use leave.  Completion instructions appear on the form, which should be sent to the Payroll Office concurrent with the week of the leave.  It is best to complete the slip prior to taking leave and include it with your department’s regular payroll reporting documents.

Family and Medical Leave www.hr.uncc.edu/Policies/PIM09.htm

Certain reasons for leave fall within the protection of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.  If you are a full-time permanent employee and have worked for the University or another State Agency for at least one year in which you have accrued at least 1,040 hours, you may be eligible for Family and Medical Leave.  You may take Family and Medical Leave for the following reasons:

1.         Care for your own newborn child, or an adopted or foster child recently* placed in your home.

 (* within first year) 

2.         Care for family member** with a serious health condition.

 (**Child, Spouse or your own Parent/Guardian)

3.         Care for your own serious health condition, which prevents you from performing the essential functions of your own position.

Family and Medical Leave is available to eligible employees for the reasons stated above when the absence is going to be at least 3 consecutive workdays or more.  Medical certification is required.  When you believe you have a qualifying need for leave, please consult the Benefits Office (Rm. 225, King Bldg.) immediately.  Family and Medical Leave, in itself, is all unpaid leave.  However, you may use your Sick Leave, and/or Annual leave to “overlay” the Family and Medical Leave period.  You may also use Shared Leave to cover any unpaid portion (please see below).  Family and Medical Leave coverage includes job protection (your position is protected for up to 12 weeks within a coverage period) and health insurance protection (your health insurance will not be canceled while you are on Family and Medical Leave).  For specific information about eligibility, definitions, coverage periods, etc., please consult PIM #9.

Family Illness Leave  www.hr.uncc.edu/Policies/PIM09.htm

Family Illness Leave provides the opportunity for an employee to care for an employee's child, parent, or spouse when that child, parent, or spouse has a serious health condition.  Family Illness Leave is not provided for the employee's own illness.  EPA or SPA probationary or permanent fulltime or part-time (1/2 time or more) employees who have been employed with North Carolina State government for 12 cumulative months and who have worked at least 1040 hours in the previous 12 months are entitled to 52 weeks of unpaid leave during a 5-year period to care for the employee's child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition.  (While on unpaid leave, you may use available vacation, sick or bonus leave.)  An employee may choose whether to use Family Illness Leave or Family and Medical Leave.

Unpaid Leave in Brief  www.hr.uncc.edu/Policies/PIM05.htm

On occasion, you may need to take a leave of absence for which you do not have enough paid leave.  Your supervisor may be willing to grant you leave without pay.  Whether you may return to the exact same position will depend upon the duration of the leave as well as other factors.

Please note that leave without pay provides no guaranteed benefit protection.  Should you decide to continue your health and other insurance benefits during the leave without pay, you will be responsible for paying the full cost of those benefits under provisions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA).  Creditable service in the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System will be suspended since you will not be making contributions through your paycheck.  Once you return to work, come by the Benefits Office, 225 King, and your benefits can be reinstated.

Shared Leave www.hr.uncc.edu/Policies/PIM29.htm

This program often coordinates with Family and Medical Leave. Whether a contributor or a recipient, participants in the Shared Leave Program, must be permanent, leave-earning employees.  Shared Leave  is generally used by employees with serious, long-term (at least 20 consecutive work days) health conditions affecting themselves or a family member.  Unlike Family and Medical Leave, in-law relationships are recognized as eligible for Shared Leave usage.

Employees interested in using Shared Leave must apply for the program.  Due to budget considerations,  the application must be approved by the employee’s Department/Office Head and the Director of Human Resources.  The application includes the same Certification by Medical Practitioner that is used for Family and Medical Leave and the same standard of confidentiality is applied to this application unless you choose to waive that right in order to elicit donations.  While there is no guarantee any employee who has applied for Shared Leave will receive any leave, the recipient is eligible to collect up to the amount of leave without pay plust 40 hours to be banked in to the recipient's sick leave balance.  You may receive Annual Leave donations from any leave-earning employee of the University.  You may receive Sick Leave donations from any family member employed by the State of North Carolina.  For complete details, please refer to the publications stated above. 

Community Service Leave www.hr.uncc.edu/Policies/PIM46.htm

You may take up to 24 hours of paid child involvement/community service leave each calendar year to:

• Meet with a teacher or administrator of any elementary, middle or high school or day care center with regard to your child.
• Attend any non-athletic function that is part of the school’s academic or artistic program in which your child is participating.
• Perform school or other community volunteer work, such as mentoring, regardless of parental status.

The 24 hours of leave is prorated for part-time staff.  New full-time staff are credited at the rate of two hours per month for the remainder of time in the calendar year when you begin employment.  Any such leave not taken in the calendar year is forfeited.

Other Types of Leave