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Regulations & Policies

Human Resources

I. OBJECTIVE & PURPOSE

This policy explains several forms of leave that are available to eligible employees. This Policy is intended to complement applicable collective bargaining agreements; however, to the extent this Policy conflicts with the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement, that agreement’s terms will control.

Under Florida law, OPS employees are not eligible for any form of paid leave described in this Policy.

II. STATEMENT OF POLICY

In recognition of its employees’ contributions, the University makes several forms of leave available to its employees.  It expects all employees to accurately record the amount of leave taken.

III. PAID LEAVE (Not Applicable to OPS Positions)

A. Sick Leave

Employees accrue paid sick leave as shown in the below chart, which assumes a 40-hour workweek each week of the pay period.  If an employee is in pay status less than 40 hours per week during the pay period, their accrual will be pro-rated accordingly.

1. An employee must accrue sick leave prior to using it. If an employee has insufficient accrued sick leave but is a member of the University’s Sick Leave Pool, they may apply for use of pooled leave. Applications are then reviewed by the Sick Leave Pool Committee.  For more information, refer to Sick Leave Pool Policy 4.0130P.
2.  There is no maximum on the amount of sick leave that can be accrued.
3. Sick leave is authorized for the following purposes:
   1. The employee’s personal illness, injury, exposure to a contagious disease, a disability where the employee is unable to perform assigned duties, or appointments with health care providers.
   2. The illness, injury, or appointments with health care providers for a member of the employee’s family. Leave for the death of a member of the employee’s family is addressed in Section F below regarding Bereavement Leave.
4. An employee may be required to provide medical documentation to support the use of sick leave.
5. An employee who qualifies to use sick leave must give as much advance notice as is practicable under the circumstances using the notice practice of the supervisor or department (phone call, e-mail, etc.).
6. If an employee has accrued sick leave from employment with another State University System university in Florida, then the University will accept a transfer of up to eighty (80) hours of accrued sick leave so long as (a) the employee has not received payout from the prior entity for those sick leave hours, and (b) no more than 31 days have elapsed between employments.
7. If an employee was previously employed by ³ÉÈË´óƬand then becomes reemployed by ³ÉÈË´óƬafter a separation of no more than 60 days, sick leave will be restored so long as it has not previously been paid out. If the separation was due to a layoff and the employee becomes reemployed by ³ÉÈË´óƬwithin one year, the unpaid sick leave will be restored so long as it has not previously been paid out.
8. Upon separation, an employee with 10 or more years of State service shall be paid the value of one-fourth of unused sick leave, up to a total of 480 hours. All hours used in the one-fourth payout calculation are considered used and cannot be restored or transferred out to another agency.

B. Annual Leave

1. Employees accrue paid annual leave as shown in the below chart, which assumes a 40-hour workweek each week of the pay period.  If an employee is in pay status less than 40 hours per week during the pay period, their accrual will be pro-rated accordingly. Academic year employees (39 weeks or nine-month faculty) and any other employees appointed for less than 9 months do not accrue annual leave.
2.  

   Hours Accrued During Pay Period
   	Biweekly	Year-End Maximum	Maximum Payout	Maximum Transferrable
   12-Month Faculty	6.769	352	352	352
   Staff	6.769	352	352	352
   Executive Staff	9.195	480	480	480

3. Annual leave must be accrued prior to use; no annual leave hours may be “borrowed” from an employee’s expected future annual leave accruals.
4. Employees may accrue annual leave in excess of the year-end maximum during a calendar year. Employees with accrued annual leave in excess of the year-end maximum as of December 31 shall have any excess converted to sick leave (using the rules applicable after October 1, 1973) on an hour-for-hour basis effective January 1 of each year. An employee may retain hours in excess of the year-end maximum with the approval of Human Resources leadership.
5. No annual leave accrued while employed by another Florida university, another state agency, or under any other state plan may transfer to the employee’s annual leave bank at the ³ÉÈË´óƬ.
6. An employee who separates from employment shall be paid for their accrued, unused annual leave hours up to the maximum payout amount for their employee appointment type. If the employee becomes reemployed by the University within 60 days (one year if the separation was due to layoff), all annual leave shall be restored so long as it has not previously been paid out. If previously paid out, annual leave may be restored upon the employee’s repayment for those hours.
7. Upon entering the Deferred Retirement Optional Program (DROP), employees may elect to be paid up to the maximum payout amount of their accrued, unused annual leave.
8. If an employee transfers from a position that accrues annual leave to a position that does not, then the University will pay the employee for their unused, accrued annual leave up to the maximum payout amount and reduce the balance to zero.
9. Upon the death of an employee, payment for all accrued, unused annual leave up to the maximum payout amount shall be paid to the employee’s beneficiary, estate, or as provided by law. Employees participating in DROP at the time of their death may have certain legal restrictions apply on the payment of accrued, unused annual leave.

C. Holiday Leave

The University provides employees with paid leave for designated University holidays. In order to receive pay for a University holiday, an employee must work or use a full day’s paid leave the workday prior to the holiday. If an employee neither works the prior workday nor uses paid leave for that day, the employee will not be paid for the University holiday. Employees receive holiday pay equal to the number of hours they are normally scheduled for the day on which the holiday falls. For full-time (1.0 FTE) budgeted employees, holiday pay shall not be less than 8 hours per day.  If an employee has an alternate schedule such that the holiday falls during a time when they are not scheduled to work, the employee should be provided an equivalent number of holiday hours to use on another date. An eligible non-exempt employee who works on an authorized holiday will be compensated both for the holiday and for all hours worked on that holiday.  Holiday hours are not included in the calculation of overtime.

D. Paid Administrative Leave

The University provides paid administrative leave in certain circumstances described below. Administrative leave is not accrued.

1. JURY DUTY
   1. The University provides paid administrative leave for jury duty. The amount of paid leave each day may not exceed the number of hours in the employee’s normal workday. If jury duty does not require absence for the entire workday, the employee must return to work immediately upon release by the court. If the jury duty does not coincide with the regular work schedule, the employee will be granted administrative leave based on the total hours served on jury duty and the leave will be applied to the next scheduled work shift. Employees may also keep any jury duty pay received from the court for their service.
   2.  
   3. In order to obtain leave for jury duty, an employee must notify their supervisor and Human Resources as soon as practicable prior to the absence. After the absence, the employee must provide official documentation from the court with proof of the jury service. This documentation must be provided as soon as practicable. If the employee does not provide the necessary pre-absence notice or post-absence documentation in a timely manner, the requested jury duty leave will be denied and the amount of the absence will be deducted from the employee’s accrued, unused compensatory time or annual leave balance.
2. SUMMONS AS WITNESS

   1. If an employee is summoned as a witness in a civil or criminal hearing in which they do not have personal interests, the University will provide the employee with paid administrative leave. Administrative leave shall not be provided to an employee serving as an expert witness. Employees may keep any witness pay received for their service.

      In order to obtain paid administrative leave when summoned as a witness, the employee must notify their supervisor and Human Resources as soon as practicable prior to the absence. After the absence, the employee must provide the subpoena to Human Resources. This documentation must be provided as soon as practicable. If the employee does not provide the necessary pre-absence notice or post-absence documentation in a timely manner, the requested leave will be denied and the amount of the absence will be deducted from the employee’s accrued, unused compensatory time or annual leave balance.
3. ATHLETIC COMPETITION
   1. Pursuant to Florida Statute § 110.118, the University will provide paid administrative leave to any employee who qualifies as a member of the U.S. team for athletic competition on the world, Pan American, or Olympic level in a sport contested in either Pan American or Olympic competition. This leave has certain maximum durations set forth in the statute. In order to obtain this leave, an employee must notify their supervisor and Human Resources as soon as practicable prior to the absence.
4. OFFICIAL CLOSING OF THE UNIVERSITY

   1. When the University is officially closed for an emergency reason and the employee is unable to work remotely, the employee will receive paid administrative leave for the duration of the official closing according to the hours they would have been scheduled to work had the University been open. For example, an employee scheduled Monday through Friday for 40 hours per week would receive 40 hours of paid leave if the University was closed for a week. If the University were only closed Thursday and Friday, that employee would receive 16 hours of paid leave. If the University were only closed Thursday and Friday and the employee was only scheduled Mondays and Fridays for 6 hours a day, then the employee would receive 6 hours of paid leave. In addition to receiving paid administrative leave during a closure, a budgeted, non-exempt employee who is also designated to work during an emergency closure shall have the time actually worked during the official closing paid at the overtime rate. 

      Holiday breaks and intersession periods are not considered official closings of the University for purposes of this section. If an individual would not be scheduled to work due to a layoff or other separation of employment, then that individual is not eligible for paid leave under this section. The University also reserves the right to reduce scheduled hours in the event of a closure.

      As with other subsections of this Policy, OPS employees are not eligible for this form of paid leave.
5. FLORIDA DISASTER VOLUNTEERS
   1. The University President may provide paid administrative leave for Florida Disaster Volunteers pursuant to Florida Statute § 110.120. In order to obtain this leave, an employee must notify their supervisor and Human Resources as soon as practicable prior to the absence.
6. CIVIL DISORDER
   1. The University President may grant administrative leave for civil disorder or disaster for an employee who is a member of a volunteer emergency response team. In order to obtain this leave, an employee must notify their supervisor and Human Resources as soon as practicable prior to the absence.
7. VOTING IN PUBLIC ELECTIONS
   1. Up to two hours of administrative leave may be provided for voting in public elections, whether at an early voting site or on election day. In order to obtain this leave, an employee must notify their supervisor and Human Resources as soon as practicable prior to the absence.
8. PAID LEAVE PENDING AN INVESTIGATION
   1. The University may place an employee on paid leave during an investigation while the investigation is pending.
9. PAID LEAVE DURING DISCIPLINARY NOTICE
   1. If the University is obligated to provide notice prior to implementing discipline such as reduction in pay, suspension, or dismissal, the University may place an employee on paid administrative leave until the effective date of such action.
10.  BEST INTEREST OF THE UNIVERSITY
    1. The University may place an employee on paid administrative leave when the employee’s presence in the workplace may result in damage to property, injury to the employee or others, or it has been determined that it is in the best interest of the University to do so.
11. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
    1. The University President, may, at their discretion, designate additional administrative leave days with pay.

E. Pay During Worker's Compensation Waiting Period

If an employee is eligible for wage replacement benefits under Workers’ Compensation, ordinarily such payments are not made by the State of Florida Workers Compensation program until a seven-day waiting period expires. The University provides employees full pay for a period up to a maximum of forty (40) hours to bridge this waiting period, without requiring employees to use accrued leave credits. If the employee later receives wage replacement benefits, then the employee shall reimburse the University the amount of the benefits. Such reimbursement shall only apply to wage replacement benefits and shall not include payments for expenses related to medical, surgical, hospital, or nursing treatment or payments of disability losses.

For additional information on Workers’ Compensation, please see the Workers’ Compensation Policy, 4.0310P.

F. Bereavement

The University provides up to three (3) days of bereavement leave to employees upon the death of a family member or relative, in addition to other forms of leave that may be available to the employee. For purpose of bereavement leave, a family member includes the following:

To obtain bereavement leave, the employee must submit a completed Bereavement Leave Approval Request with supporting documentation such as an obituary, copy of the funeral program, etc. Although the request need not be submitted in advance of taking the leave, if the request and documentation is not provided in a timely manner, the requested bereavement leave will be denied and the amount of the absence will be deducted from the employee’s accrued, unused compensatory time or annual leave balance.

G. Domestic Violence Leave

The University will provide eligible employees up to three (3) days of paid leave for use for qualifying purposes in a 12-month period if the employee or a family or household member is a victim of domestic violence. Eligibility requirements and qualifying purposes for such leave are set forth in Florida Statute § 741.313. If you have questions regarding your eligibility for domestic violence leave, please contact Human Resources.

H. Outside Activity While on Paid Leave

While on paid leave, an employee may not be employed elsewhere unless the employee has submitted a Conflict of Interest form as described in the Conflicts of Interest Regulation, 4.0170R, and been approved for such outside activity or employment.

IV. UNPAID LEAVE

A. Contacting Human Resources for Continuity of Benefits

Employees who may face the need to be on an unpaid leave for one pay period or more must meet with the Benefits Staff in the Office of Human Resources prior to going into an unpaid status whenever possible. If it is not possible for the employee to meet, the employee should designate a representative to meet on the employee's behalf in order to ensure arrangements are made to provide for continued insurance coverage.

B. Family Medical Leave

For details on Family Medical Leave, please see the Family and Medical Leave Act Policy, 4.0300P.

C. Parental Leave

The University provides eligible employees with up to six (6) months of unpaid parental leave per year. Parental leave must be used within twelve (12) months of the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of the child. An employee may begin to use parental leave up to two weeks before the expected date of arrival of the child, upon arrival of the child, or within twelve (12) months of the arrival of the child. The Human Resources leadership may approve an earlier start to parental leave for good cause upon request.

Parental leave may be used for the birth of a child or the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care. Parental leave runs concurrently with Family Medical Leave if the request was based upon the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child. Parental leave and Family Medical Leave for this purpose cannot be taken consecutively if the employee is approved for FMLA. During parental leave, an employee must use their accrued paid leave.  Any remaining parental leave will be unpaid.

As with Family Medical Leave taken for birth or placement of a child, if both parents are University employees, then the employees collectively may take up to six (6) months of parental leave between the two of them. For example, if the first spouse takes 4 months of parental leave, the second spouse could take up to 2 months of parental leave.

Parental leave that does not qualify as Family Medical Leave may only be taken in a continuous block of time, not intermittently. An employee must provide notice to their supervisor and Human Resources of taking parental leave as soon as practicable under the circumstances.

To be eligible to take parental leave, an employee must have been employed with the University for at least 12 months in a budgeted position and worked at least 1,250 hours in the rolling 12-month period prior to the leave. The 1,250 hours include only those hours actually worked; hours provided through paid leave and unpaid leave are not included.

D. Disciplinary Leave

The University may suspend an employee without pay as discipline for a violation of workplace conduct rules. For salaried exempt employees, such suspensions will only be made in full-day increments.

E. Outside Activity While on Unpaid Leave

While on unpaid leave, an employee may not be employed elsewhere unless the employee has submitted a Conflict of Interest form as described in the Conflicts of Interest Regulation, 4.0170R, and has been approved for such outside activity or employment.

F. Military Leave

In addition to the military-related leaves provided under the University’s FMLA policy, the University provides military leave and reemployment rights to employees consistent with Federal and State laws such as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). “Uniformed Service” for the purposes of this section means service pursuant to orders for active duty, Reserve or National Guard duty, training, examination for fitness for duty for service, funeral honors, and certain disaster response duties.

1. Notice Prior to Leave
   To be entitled to reemployment, the employee must have given reasonable advance notice of their leave for Uniformed Service, generally must have 5 years or less of cumulative military leave taken while employed with ³ÉÈË´óƬand must return to work or reapply for their position within a timely manner, as defined by USERRA.
2. Status as Paid or Unpaid Leave
   1. The paid leave provisions of this section do not apply to OPS employees.
   2. A salaried employee who works a partial week prior to performing Uniformed Service will be paid for the entire week without being required to use any accrued leave.
   3. Employees in the Reserves or Florida National Guard are provided paid military leave when ordered to training, up to a maximum of 240 hours per year. They also are provided full pay for the first 30 days of active duty in or out of the state.
   4. Employees in the Reserves who are called to active duty also receive the pay differential between their base military pay and their University pay after the first 30 days on active duty.
   5. An employee who has been rated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor to have incurred a military-service-connected disability and has been scheduled by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to be reexamined or treated for the disability shall be granted administrative leave for such reexamination or treatment without loss of pay or benefits. The leave will be paid for up to 48 hours per calendar year.   A statement from the treating physician that the medical visit is related to a military-service-connected disability should accompany the request for administrative leave.
3. Accrual and Use of Leave
   1. The paid leave provisions of this section do not apply to OPS employees.
   2. Leave continues to accrue for employees on military leave and they continue to qualify for holiday pay. An employee may, but is not required to, substitute accrued and unused compensatory time or annual leave during military leave to supplement their income up to full pay. Sick leave may not be used unless it is for a qualifying reason for sick leave.
4. Continuation of Health Benefit Coverage
   While on military leave, the University continues employer contributions for health benefit coverage for all employees in Uniformed Service. The employee must continue to make their employee contributions.
5. Reemployment Rights
   1. Generally, employees who take leave for Uniformed Service are entitled to be reemployed at the end of their service in the position they would have occupied with reasonable certainty if they had not taken military leave. An exception applies if the position the employee held was for a brief, nonrecurrent period and there is no reasonable expectation that the employment would have continued indefinitely or for a significant period.
   2. To be reemployed, the employee must have been honorably discharged, must still be qualified for the position, and must timely reapply. Depending upon the specific circumstances, the University may have the option, or be required, to reemploy the employee in a position other than the position that they would have occupied with reasonable certainty if they had not taken military leave. Upon return to employment, the employee shall enjoy the pay, benefits, seniority, and other job perquisites that they would have attained if not for the period of service.
6. Continuation of Years of Service
   Time spent in Uniformed Service after becoming a University employee is considered continuous employment for calculations of length of employment with the University, so long as the employee timely returns to employment following the end of Uniformed Service
7. Documentation
   For all forms of military leave, the University may request supporting documentation, which the employee must provide in order to receive the leave benefits described in this section.

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