Leave and Holidays

• Permanent, probationary and trainees are entitled to civil leave when serving on a jury or when subpoenaed as witnesses. Civil leave is provided with pay without charge to the employee’s leave record. Employees are responsible for informing management when jury duty is scheduled and the expected duration of duty. Employees are also responsible for reporting back to work when jury duty is complete if more than half the work day remains.
• You are expected to notify your supervisor as soon as you are aware you must attend court. When you are on civil leave, you are expected to keep your supervisor informed of your status, especially if you may be out for an extended period.
• For more information: Civil Leave Policy

• You may take up to twenty-four (24) hours of paid community service leave each calendar year for:
  1. Meeting with a teacher or administrator concerning the employee’s child.
  2. Attending any function sponsored by the school in which the employee’s child is participating. This provision shall only be utilized in conjunction with nonathletic programs that are a part or supplement to the school’s academic or artistic program.
  3. Performing school-approved volunteer work approved by a teacher, school administrator, or program administrator.
  4. Performing a service for a community service organization.
  5. Performing volunteer work for a public university that is approved by a university administrator or other authorized university official.
  6. Performing volunteer work for a community college that is approved by a community college administrator or other authorized community college official.
  7. Performing volunteer work for a State agency that is approved by the agency head or his/her designee.
• The twenty-four (24) hours of leave is prorated for part-time staff. New full-time staff are credited at the rate of two (2) hours per month of community service leave for the remaining time in the calendar year when you begin your employment with the University. Any such leave not taken in the calendar year is forfeited.
• For more information: Community Service Leave

• Employees who have been employed with the State for at least one (1) year and worked at least one thousand forty (1,040) hours during the preceding twelve (12) months are entitled to a maximum of twelve (12) weeks of family and medical leave during any twelve-month period, in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).
• The leave may be paid, unpaid, or a combination of paid and unpaid, and you may request family and medical leave for one (1) or more of the following reasons:
  1. To care for a newborn, or newly placed foster or adopted child.
  2. To care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.
  3. Your own serious health condition.
  4. Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on active duty in support of a contingency operation (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty).
  5. To care for a covered service member who has a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty on active duty for which he or she is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy.
• If both you and your spouse are employed by the University, each of you may have a total of twelve (12) weeks leave. If you both take six (6) weeks of leave for the birth of your child, each of you could later take an additional six (6) weeks because of a personal illness or to care for a sick child.
• The University will pay the employer cost of individual medical coverage while the employee is on FML whether it is paid or unpaid leave. The employee is still responsible for the portion of premium that he/she would normally pay while working. If an employee does not return to work at the end of the leave period, the University will initiate action to recover its portion of the health insurance premiums paid on behalf of the employee unless the failure to return to work is due to the continuation, recurrence, or onset of a serious health condition or other circumstances beyond the employee’s control.
• Leave beyond the twelve (12) week period (with no sick or vacation leave balances available) is administered as leave without pay, and you are required to pay for total health premiums during such periods. Requests for leave without pay must be made in writing and approved by your supervisor and the Benefits Office.
• Forms for requesting family and medical leave are available from the Human Resources, or you may contact the Benefits Office at 336-334-7862.

• Leave without pay may be granted for illness, education purposes, vacation, or for any other reasons deemed justified by the agency head. Requests for leave without pay must be made in writing and approved by your supervisor and the Benefits Office. Unless an extension is requested and approved, failure to report for work at the expiration of a leave of absence may be treated as a voluntary resignation or unavailability.

• Employees in positions covered by these regulations shall be subject to the same policies concerning sick leave, family and medical leave, family illness leave, civil leave, military leave, community service leave, and special annual leave bonus (awarded to employees in leave earning status on 9/30/02) as may be prescribed for employees subject to the State Personnel Act. However, with respect to sick leave, subject to institutional policy and approval by the employee’s supervisor, an employee may be advanced the amount of sick leave that can be accrued during the remainder of the year or during a twelve-month period.

• If you are a full-time staff member, you will receive twelve (12) paid holidays each year. The following are the University holidays:
  1. New Year's Day
  2. Martin Luther King's Birthday
  3. Independence Day
  4. Labor Day
  5. Thanksgiving (two days)
  6. Winter Break
• The University follows an alternate holiday schedule to better meet the needs of the academic calendar and university operations. The University is open on Veterans’ Day and uses this holiday during winter breaker. A holiday schedule is provided for all employees by the Division of Human Resources. Your supervisor can answer any questions you may have about holidays as they affect your department. If you are requesting leave to observe a religious holiday, you are encouraged to request an accommodation which may involve using a leave day or working a flexible schedule.
• Permanent part-time staff receive paid holidays based on an average of the daily hours they work in a week. Temporary staff members are not eligible for paid holidays.
• For more information: Holiday Pay Policy

• EHRA non-faculty employees shall be subject to the same number of days as given to employees subject to the State Personnel Act.

• Leave with pay for up to one hundred twenty (120) hours each Federal fiscal year (October 1 through September 30) shall be granted to members of the uniformed services for active duty training and inactive duty training. Vacation/bonus leave or leave without pay may also be used for reserve functions. Leave should always be coordinated in advance with supervisors, when possible.
• Reserves ordered to State or Federal active duty shall receive up to thirty (30) calendar days of pay based on your current annual State salary. After the thirty (30) day period, you shall receive differential pay for any period of involuntary service when the military base pay is less than the employee’s annual State salary. When called to Federal active duty, the State will continue to pay your portion of medical coverage in the State Health Plan for at least thirty (30) days from the date of the active service. You may continue medical benefits after the 30 days by paying the full premium (employer and employee, if any) yourself. Military leave without pay is granted for one (1) enlistment period of service, not to exceed four (4) years. If reinstatement is applied for within ninety (90) days from the date of discharge, accumulated sick leave is reactivated. Any mandated salary increases that would have been necessary become effective when you return to work. Leave benefits are not accumulated during military leave without pay. You will receive credit from the retirement system while you are away from your jobs, provided you return to State employment within two (2) years of your discharge date.
• For more information: Military Leave Policy for SHRA and EHRA Non-faculty Employees

• A full-time employee earns sick leave at the rate of eight (8) hours per month. Part-time employees earn leave on a prorated basis according to the number of scheduled work hours each week. All vacation leave (hours and minutes) above the maximum carry-over amount is automatically converted to sick leave effective January 1, if employment status is maintained through at least December 31. Sick leave may be used by an employee to recover from personal illness, injury, or disability which prevents performance of usual duties. Other uses of sick leave include absence due to:
  1. Adoption (limited to a maximum of 240 hours for each parent) or the temporary disability associated with childbirth.
  2. Medical or dental appointments for the employee or members of the immediate family.
  3. Illness or injury of a member of an employee’s immediate family and also other dependents living in the household.
  4. Donations to a member of the immediate family who is approved to receive Voluntary Shared Leave.
  5. Death of a member of an employee’s family or of other dependents who lived in the employee’s household.
• Should you not be able to report for work for any reason, it is expected you will notify your supervisor (normally by phone but other methods, such as email, may be used if your supervisor approves), prior to the beginning of your work day. If you know in advance that you will be absent and requesting sick leave, you are expected to notify your supervisor as soon as possible (such as absences for medical appointments).
• If you leave the University, you are not paid for any unused sick leave, but the leave may be reinstated to your account if you return to State employment within five (5) years.
• Sick leave is also subject to supervisory approval. Your supervisor may ask for documentation relating to sick leave.
• For more information: Sick Leave Policy

• Annual leave is accrued at a monthly rate and is adjusted proportionately for a part-time employee who works 75% time or more (0.75 - 0.99 FTE). The monthly earnings amount is equal to one-twelfth of the annual rate for each month the employee works or is on approved leave with pay. Monthly leave is earned when an employee works or is on approved leave with pay at least half the working days of a month. Scheduling of an employee’s annual leave shall be subject to the approval of the employee’s supervisor. The maximum number of unused days of annual leave that an EPA employee may accrue and carry forward from one calendar year to the next shall be thirty (30) days. Annual leave in excess of thirty (30) days will be automatically converted to sick leave at the end of the calendar year. Annual Leave may not be advanced beyond the amount the employee will earn in the month of the request for advancement. If an employee separates from the University and has taken more annual leave than has been accrued, then the University will determine the amount of leave the employee must repay to the University and make all deductions from the employee's final salary check accordingly. An employee who has accrued unused annual leave upon discontinuation of employment from the University and who either does not request or is not eligible to transfer such accrued leave to another State or local governmental agency, shall be paid for such unused annual leave. The amount paid to an employee who has been employed an aggregate of twenty-four (24) months or less by one or more State or local governmental agencies is equal to one day for each month worked less the number of days of annual leave taken during the employment period. An employee who has been employed for more than twenty-four (24) months shall be paid subject to a maximum of thirty (30) such days. If an employee changes contract status from twelve (12) months to nine (9) months, then the employee's annual leave balance as of the effective date of the contract change will be paid out at the time of the appointment conversion. An employee who transfers inside the University to another leave-earning EPA or SPA position shall have the annual leave balance transferred to that position. The university will not accept transfer of annual leave or bonus leave from another UNC constituent institution or State or local agency. Any exception to this provision must be approved by the Chancellor.
• For more information: Employment Policies for EHRA Non-Faculty

As a full-time permanent or probationary SHRA staff member, you earn vacation leave according to the following schedule:

• Permanent and probationary part-time SHRA staff (twenty (20) or more hours a week) are granted leave based on an average of the daily hours they work in a week.
• Vacation leave can be used for personal reasons requiring your absence from work and must be approved in advance by your supervisor. To earn leave for the month, you must be in paid status for one- half or more of the working days in the month. Vacation leave can be accumulated without any applicable maximum until December 31 in each calendar year. On December 31, if you have more than two hundred forty (240) hours of accumulated leave, the excess is converted to sick leave, and only two hundred forty (240) hours are carried forward to January 1 of the following year.
• If you leave the University, you are paid for any unused vacation, up to a maximum of two hundred forty (240) hours. You may consider donating any excess balance of vacation leave to an approved participant in the Shared Leave Program.
• For more information: Vacation Leave

• Permanent full-time EHRA non-faculty employees accrue 24 days of annual leave per year. Annual leave is accrued at a monthly rate and is adjusted proportionately for permanent part-time employees who work halftime or more.
• The scheduling of an employee's annual leave is subject to the approval of his or her supervisor. The maximum number of unused days of annual leave that may be accrued and carried forward from one year to the next shall be 30 workdays (prorated for part-time employees). Annual leave in excess of 30 days will be automatically converted to sick leave at the end of the year.

• This program allows any leave-earning employee the opportunity to donate vacation and/or sick leave to a co-worker who has run out of personal accrued time due to a serious medical condition, for themselves or an immediate family member, that requires the employee’s absence for a prolonged period (defined as twenty (20) consecutive workdays or more there are rare exceptions). To qualify, you must be in a permanent, probationary, or trainee appointment and in leave-earning status.
• To participate in the shared leave program, an Application for Shared Leave must be submitted to the Benefits Office and approved by the employee’s supervisor and the Benefits Office. A doctor’s statement to support the reason for excessive absenteeism is mandatory for consideration of participation.
• The minimum amount that may be donated is four (4) hours and cannot exceed the donor’s annual accrual rate. Donation must be made to a specific person who has been approved for participation in the program. The University does not permit leave “banking” – time donated is used for purposes supported by the doctor’s note only or returned to the donor.
• For more information: Voluntary Shared Leave

• A permanent EHRA non-faculty employee shall be subject to the same provisions concerning shared leave as are applicable to employees subject to the State Personnel Act with the exception that the donation and acceptance of such leave shall be computed on the basis of days rather than hours.
• For more information: Employment Policies for EHRA Non-Faculty