Vacation Time

Scope

This policy applies to all Non-Exempt (excluding PAO and PAU) staff.

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Policy Statement

1. Staff employees should be afforded reasonable time-off from workplace demands and to conduct their personal affairs.
2. 100% FTE staff employees earn vacation hours as outlined in the Schedule of Earnings table below. Staff employees with a 50% or greater FTE earn a prorated amount.
3. Vacation hours are earned when the employee is in pay status or absent with benefits accrual. Vacation hours are not accrued during an unpaid leave of absence, while absent without pay, or when on a temporary reduction in force. See HR-05-90, Time Off Accruals during Absences.
4. Unused vacation hours accumulate from year-to-year and are paid out up to specified limits detailed in this policy should the staff member leave IU employment.

*University service credit is defined in HR-02-120, Seniority Dates and Service Credit policy.

** For example, an employee who began working on February 1, 2014, will start earning 5.85 hours of vacation on February 1, 2020.

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Procedures

1. Basic rules and provisions
   1. New employees may use accumulated vacation time after receipt of their first paycheck.
   2. When vacation time is taken, the exact number of hours, including tenths of hours, are reported and subtracted from accumulated earnings.
   3. Vacation cannot be used before it has been earned with one exception:
      1. In the event of a furlough (see HR-10-10, Furlough) due to lack of work, such as during the holiday break, spring break, or summer term, employees may borrow up to 40 hours of vacation time against future accruals under the following conditions:
         1. The employee is expected to return to work after the furlough.
         2. The employee does not have any current corrective action for attendance.
      2. As soon as the employee earns vacation, the accrued time is applied to the negative balance resulting from the borrowed hours.
      3. Employees with a negative vacation balance that separate from IU will have their final paycheck adjusted accordingly.
   4. No employee can expect extra pay instead of vacation.
2. Requests and approvals for the use of vacation.
   1. All vacations must be approved in advance by the supervisor before it can be used. When requested in advance, the employee is not required to provide a reason for the absence.
      1. For Non-Exempt CWA staff, a supervisor may authorize vacation time for an unscheduled absence if the employee does not have sufficient accrued income protection time and the employee has no active formal or informal discipline.
   2. Vacation requests may be denied if the dates requested fall into a peak work period in which non-emergency time off is routinely restricted.
      1. For Non-Exempt AFSCME Police staff and Non-Exempt AFSCME Service staff, units will identify the maximum number of employees under each supervisor’s area of responsibility that can be off at one time and identify peak periods that no one can be off due to unit needs.
   3. For AFSCME Service Staff (Local 832 and Local 1477), requests for vacation time off must be approved or disapproved within three working days of the receipt of the request.
   4. For AFSCME Service staff (Local 1477-01), Requests for a vacation of one week or more submitted by March 1st will be processed—and preference will be given—based on occupational unit seniority. Vacation requests must be submitted at least three working days in advance and will be approved or disapproved within three working days of the request, or the request is automatically approved on the fourth working day. Requests will be honored in the order in which they are received.
   5. For Non-exempt AFSCME Police staff, vacation requests must be submitted at least three working days in advance and will be approved or disapproved within three working days of the request, or the request is automatically approved on the fourth working day. Requests will be honored in the order in which they are received. Vacation requests submitted with less than three working days' notice may still be approved and will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
   6. In the event that multiple requests within a unit are made for the same time off. In that case, preference will be given according to occupational unit seniority.  However, if a supervisor has given prior approval to a less senior employee for the same period, the previous authorization is honored.
      1. For Non-Exempt CWA staff, preference will be given according to university seniority.
3. Requests and approvals for the use of vacation for a lengthy absence
   1. Employees who wish to use accumulated vacation causing a lengthy absence from work should inform their supervisor six months before the planned vacation.
   2. Supervisors are obligated to honor these requests unless:
      1. The request is for time off during an established peak work period in which non-emergency time off is routinely restricted; or
      2. More than one employee requests the same time off. If more than one request is received, preference will be given according to occupational unit seniority.
         1. For Non-Exempt CWA staff, preference will be given according to university seniority.
   3. Supervisors will honor time off requests previously approved for which an employee no longer has vacation accruals to cover when the reason for not having vacation accruals is due to the employee’s family medical leave as provided under HR-05-20, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Rights. The employee will not be subject to discipline for taking unpaid time off in this circumstance.
      1. For example, if an employee had previously scheduled all of their available vacation accruals and then suffers a health condition covered by FMLA, their vacation accruals will run concurrently with the employee’s FMLA. However, the supervisor shall still honor the previously approved time off even if the employee no longer has the accrued vacation time to cover the period.
4. Converting income protection time (see HR-05-40, Income Protection Time (Sick Time)) to vacation
   1. During a specified period in either March or September, eligible employees may, if they choose, convert 80 hours of their accrued income protection time to 40 vacation hours subject to the following limitations and conditions. Employees must:
      1. Have 560 or more hours of accumulated income protection (sick) time as of the first full pay period in either March or September of any qualifying year.
      2. Have at least ten (10) consecutive years in an appointed position.
      3. Work in an appointed position and be in pay status when applying for the conversion and when implemented.
      4. Have not converted any income protection time to vacation time during the previous four years under this policy.
   2. Staff must submit conversion requests according to the established procedures and deadlines. Requests that are submitted are irrevocable.
   3. The conversion of income protection to vacation time does not modify the payment limits for unused accruals at separation under this policy.
5. Employees who encounter a personal emergency may elect to charge time off for personal emergency to unused vacation time. See HR-06-20, Attendance, Absences, and Personal Emergency.
6. Payment for accumulated vacation time.
   1. Employees receive payment for the accrued benefits listed below when separating from the university voluntarily or involuntarily (or when transferring to an academic position) whether or not they give or receive a separation notice. The following table shows the maximum amount an employee receives.
      
      

      Years of university service credit	Maximum payment for unused accruals (hours)
      0 years through 6 years	312
      Start of 7 years through 13*	352
      Start of 14 years	392
      Start of 15 years	432
      Start of 16 years	472
      Start of 17 years	512
      Start of 18 years	552
      Start of 19 years	592
      Start of 20 years	632
      Start of 21 years	672
      Start of 22 years	712
      Start of 23 years	752
      Start of 24 years	792
      Start of 25 years to the end of 29 years	832
      Start of 30 years and beyond	872
      *For example, an employee who began working on February 1, 2014, will have a maximum payment of 352 hours starting on February 1, 2020.

7. When an employee transfers from a Non-Exempt (excluding PAO and PAU) staff position to an Exempt staff position.
   1. The vacation time balance is transferred into a paid time off (PTO). This amount serves as the beginning balance. See HR-05-70, Paid Time Off (PTO) for Exempt staff and Non-Exempt Non-Union PAO and PAU staff.
8. When an employee transfers from an Exempt staff or Non-Exempt PAO and PAU staff to a Non-Exempt (excluding PAO and PAU) staff:
   1. The PTO balance is transferred to vacation time.
   2. The PTO sick leave account balance is transferred to income protection time.
   3. Any previously accrued honorary vacation is transferred to vacation time.
9. When an employee transfers to an academic or part time position, they receive payment for accumulated vacation time as articulated in this policy.

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Sanctions

Managers, supervisors, and employees who violate this policy are subject to corrective action, up to and including separation.

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History

July 2024 
Corrections made to reinstate language specific to AFSCME service.

February 2024
Non-substantive updates made to align with HR-05-70, Paid Time Off (PTO) for Exempt Staff and Non-Exempt Non-Union PAO and PAU Staff.

October 2022
Updates made based on union discussions.

June 2022
Updated "temporary" employee nomenclature to "part time".

January 2022
Removed the maximum vacation time that may be used during the 26 consecutive pay periods beginning with the pay period that January 1 falls.

March 2021
IU HR completed a full and substantive review to assess the ongoing need and effectiveness. Removed the six-month service requirement to be eligible for the separation payment of unused vacation time.

February 2021
Updated the staff employee group terms due to the Job Framework Redesign Project.

July 2019
Updates made to CWA procedures based on union discussions.

April 2018
Updated wording to clarify how full time equivalent (FTE) impacts vacation accruals.

February 2016
Replaces all or most of the following policies:

Replaces parts of the following policies:

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