1. Must an employee exhaust PTO before they may use vacation hours?
No. Employees have the flexibility to choose PTO, Vacation, and some other available leaves (e.g., comp time or personal days) for approved absences.
2. If an employee is off due to Workers’ Compensation or approved for Short-Term Disability, is vacation available to supplement pay?
Yes. Employees approved for Workers’ Compensation or Short-Term Disability may use accrued vacation to make up the difference between what is paid by Workers Compensation or Short-Term Disability benefits and the employee's regular pay.
3. Can a supervisor deny the use of vacation hours for unapproved absences?
Yes. Supervisors have the responsibility for managing employee performance and productivity as well as maintaining overall departmental operations. In addition to managing individual employee requests for time off, supervisors may need to schedule coverage well in advance of each week’s activities which occur during and outside of regular business hours. It may be necessary to designate periods where requests for time off would be denied or where flexing the workweek would depend on several factors including the impact on overall continuance of operations, timing of absences during a workweek, etc. For this reason, the use of paid time off may be denied for unapproved absences.
4. How is lump-sum vacation payout calculated?
Payment for a non-exempt (hourly) employee's vacation, is calculated based on the hourly rate of pay in the position held at the time of the action that triggered the payout (e.g., change to a position not eligible for vacation, separation, or scheduled payout) plus applicable shift differential pursuant to HR-213 if the employee is normally scheduled to work an eligible shift.
Payment for an exempt (salaried) employee's vacation is calculated based on the equivalent hourly rate of pay in the position held before the action that triggered the payout. For example, an annual salary of $60,320 is equivalent to $29.00/hour ($60,320 divided by 2080 hours per year).
Date Effective: Posted 10-01-2023 with an effective date of 01-01-2024
Date Revised: 02/09/2024
Reviewed 2024-02-09