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Employee Handbook Index

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Employee Handbook - Leave plans

Annual leave

Annual leave allows you to take vacations and conduct personal business without losing pay. It may be used in blocks of hours or days, and you must obtain your supervisor's approval before using annual leave. Benefits-eligible employees receive annual leave in a lump sum allotment each July 1 according to the following schedules and provisions.  Prior to this, on June 30, employee balances are zeroed out, save carryover hours of up to 24 maximum.

Note: Lump sum allotments of annual leave are prorated based upon FTE. For example, the full fiscal year amount for a newly hired non-exempt employee at .75 FTE is 72 annual leave hours (96 x .75 = 72).

Note: Lump sum allotments of annual leave are prorated based upon FTE. For example, the full fiscal year amount for a newly hired exempt employee at .75 FTE is 120 annual leave hours (160 x .75 = 120).

On the payroll

An employee must be on the payroll on July 1 to receive the lump sum allotment of annual leave.  An employee on unpaid leave on July 1 receives a prorated lump sum allotment upon return to the payroll, if applicable.  Proration is based on portion of the year remaining.

Proration

For fiscal year appointment periods, proration of the annual leave lump sum allotment is on a fiscal year basis as of the effective date of the event, taking into account existing annual leave balance and annual leave hours used, if applicable.  Proration for less than fiscal year appointment periods is proportional.

New hires

A new hire midyear receives a prorated lump sum allotment of annual leave based on the portion of the year remaining as of the date of hire.

Service anniversary milestones

Credit for service anniversary milestones within a fiscal year are included in the lump sum allotment of annual leave for that fiscal year.

FTE changes and job transfers

Changes in FTE result in a proportionate increase or reduction, as applicable, to the lump sum allotment of annual leave on a prorated basis as of the effective date of change.  Portion of the year remaining, existing annual leave balance, and annual leave hours used to date are taken into account. Similarly, an employee who transfers between benefits-eligible jobs receives an adjustment to the lump sum allotment of annual leave in the event different lump sum allotment schedules apply. Proration is based on portion of the year remaining, existing annual leave balance, and annual leave hours used to date.

Usage

Usage of annual leave counts first against carryover hours, if any, and then against the lump sum allotment.

Emergency usage

Employees may be granted annual leave pay without the normal prior supervisory approval, provided the supervisor agrees that the absence was due to a bona fide emergency.

Religious holidays

Employees may use annual leave to celebrate religious holidays on days when the University operates under normal business hours.

Separation and retirement

Upon discharge, termination, resignation, or retirement, unused carryover hours of annual leave, if any, are paid off in full as a contribution by the University to a 403(b) special pay plan account established on the employee’s behalf, to the extent allowable by plan provisions. In these events, the maximum number of lump sum allotment annual leave hours available for payoff, as a contribution to the 403(b) special pay plan as allowable, is based on the portion of the year completed on the date of separation or retirement less hours used (see Proration). In no case shall the total number of annual leave hours paid off between the two sources combined exceed 240. Management reserves the right to schedule the employee to use annual leave prior to the effective date of separation or retirement, depending on operational needs and departmental budget restrictions.

Rehire

Prior service credit may be given to employees who have separated from University employment and are later rehired. Those prior years of service are included to determine the employee's total "Years of Service" on the annual leave lump sum allotment schedule. The employee's lump sum allotment of annual leave will be determined by the schedule in effect at date of rehire.

Death

In the event of employee death, unused annual leave, if any, is paid to the stated beneficiary if living, or otherwise to the estate, in accordance with the annual leave payoff provisions for separation and retirement (see above).

Sick leave—paid

Paid sick leave allows you to take time off from work due to illness without losing pay. The sick leave accrual rate for benefits-eligible employees is four (4) hours per pay period, based on 1.0 FTE or eighty (80) hours per pay period, up to a maximum accrual of one hundred four (104) hours per year.

Pro-rated accruals

Sick leave accruals are pro-rated based on straight-time hours paid for non-exempt (hourly paid) employees and FTE for exempt (salaried) employees.

Approved uses

1. You may use sick leave for illness and doctor or dentist appointments for you or for an immediate family member, provided that family member lives in your household. "Immediate family member" is defined as the:
• Employee's current spouse
• Employee's or employee's current spouse's:
• Children (including foster children and children under legal guardianship)
• Grandchildren
• Parents (including stepmothers and stepfathers)
• Grandparents
• Siblings (including stepsisters and stepbrothers)


2. You may use up to five (5) days of your accrued sick leave per calendar year to care for immediate family members, as defined above, not residing in your household. The five (5) days is based on eighty (80) hours paid per pay period and will be prorated for employees working fewer than eighty (80) hours per pay period.


3. You may use sick leave for up to thirty five (35) days in a rolling year for the following FMLA qualifying events, in addition to the FMLA leave entitlement of up to twelve work weeks of unpaid leave: (a) for the birth of a son or daughter and the care of such newborn child, (b) for the placement of a child for adoption or foster care.

Reporting absences

See "Work schedules - reporting absences"

Documentation

The University reserves the right to request a physician's statement, or placement paperwork in the case of adoption or foster care, certifying any absence for which sick leave pay is requested. The physician's statement must include date and time the employee/family member was examined and length of time it is expected that the employee/family member will be unable to work.

Maximum accrual

Employees can accrue up to 260 days (2080 hours) of paid sick leave.

Overtime

Sick leave does not accrue on overtime hours worked. Sick leave accrues only on straight-time (non-overtime) hours worked.

Exceeding accrual balance prohibited

Sick leave usage can, at no time, exceed an employee's accrual balance. Employees who have used all their accrued sick leave during an absence should contact Human Resources regarding other leave options.

Return from extended sick leave

Upon return from an extended sick leave (a leave lasting one full pay period or longer), the employee must present to his/her supervisor a physician's release to return to work. Under no circumstances is an employee allowed to return to work without providing this statement.

Physical exam

The University reserves the right to require that an employee have a physical examination at the University's Sindecuse Health Center upon return from an illness which may have affected the individual's ability to perform job duties. In such cases, the employee's supervisor is to contact Human Resources to schedule the physical examination.

Resignation

There is no payoff of unused accrued sick leave upon resignation.  Any such remaining sick leave balance is forfeited.

Death

The University provides term life insurance in lieu of sick leave payoff should an employee die while in active payroll or approved leave status, or if the employee has been paying total group premium while on non-pay status. See "Insurance Plans - Life Insurance."

Retirement

Employees with a date of hire prior to September 1, 2010, who qualify as a WMU retiree are eligible upon retirement for a lump-sum payment of 100 percent of unused accrued sick leave, up to a maximum of 1040 hours, at the employee's final rate of pay. This payment is made as a contribution by the University to a 403(b) special pay plan account established on the employee’s behalf, to the extent allowable by plan provisions. Employees with a date of hire on or after September 1, 2010, are not eligible for sick leave payoff.

Rehire

The University does not restore any unused/unpaid sick leave hours to employees who separate from University employment and are later rehired.

 

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