Vacation Time

Scope

This policy applies to all Support and Service Staff employees.

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Policy Statement

1. It is the policy of Indiana University that Staff employees should be afforded reasonable time away from work to conduct personal affairs and to have a break from the demands of the workplace.
2. 100% FTE Staff employees earn vacation hours as outlined in the following Schedule of Earnings. Staff employees with an FTE of 50% or greater earn a prorated amount.
3. Vacation hours are earned when the employee is in pay status or absent with benefits accrual. Hours are not earned during an unpaid leave of absence, while absent without pay, or when on a temporary reduction in force.
4. Unused vacation hours accumulate from year-to-year and is received up to specified limits detailed in this policy should the staff member leave IU employment.

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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: if a new employee has not earned enough vacation to cover a department’s closing between Christmas and New Year holidays.
   4. No employee can expect extra pay in lieu of vacation.
2. Requests and approvals for use of vacation  
   1. All vacation 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 CWA covered Support Staff a supervisor may authorize the use of 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. Request for vacation may be denied if the dates requested fall into a known peak work period in which non-emergency time off it routinely restricted.
      1. For AFSCME Police and AFSCME Service covered employees, departments will identify the maximum number of employees under each supervisor’s area of responsibility that can be off at any one time and identify any peak periods of time that no one can be off due to departmental needs.
   3. Support and Service Staff except AFSCMEPolice and AFSCME Service at South Bend: Requests for vacation time off must be approved or disapproved within three working days of the receipt of the request.
   4. AFSCMEPolice and AFSCME Service at South Bend: Requests for vacation of one week or more that are submitted by March 1st will be processed—and preference will be given—on the basis of 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. If multiple requests within a department are made for the same vacation period (any period of time for which a person is charged vacation), 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 time period, the prior approval is honored.
      1. For CWA covered Support Staff employees preference will be given according to university seniority.
3. Requests and approvals for use of vacation for lengthy absence
   1. Employees who wish to use accumulated vacation causing a lengthy absence from work should make their intentions known to the supervisor six months prior to the planned vacation period.
   2. Supervisors are obligated to honor these requests unless:
      1. The request is for time off in the unit’s established and known peak work period in which non-emergency time off is routinely restricted; or
      2. More than one employee requests the same time period. If more than one request is received, preference will be given according to occupational unit seniority.
         1. 1. For CWA covered Support Staff employees 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 of Absence (FMLA), as provided under FMLA. In this circumstance, the employee will not be subject to discipline for taking unpaid time off. For example: If an employee had previously scheduled all of his or her available vacation accruals and then suffers a health condition covered by FMLA, that employee’s 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. Maximum vacation time allowed
   1. The maximum vacation hours that may be used during the 26 consecutive pay periods beginning with the pay period in which January 1 falls and continuing through the last full pay period in December (prorated by FTE for part-time employees) are as follows:
      

      Years of university service credit	Maximum vacation hours
      0 through the completion of 13 years	304
      Start of 14 years and above*	784
      * For example, an employee that began work on February 1, 2010 may begin using 784 hours of vacation on February 1, 2023.

      1. Vacation hours used during FMLA do not count toward the maximum annual usage
      2. Accrued time off used during a Reduction in Force or Furlough notice period does not count toward the maximum usage rules for PTO and vacation.
5. Converting Income Protection 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 they submit the application for conversion and when it is 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 following:
      1. The maximum amount of vacation hours that can be used in a year as provided in this policy
      2. The limitations of payment for unused accruals as provided in this policy
6. Employees who encounter a personal emergency may elect to charge time off for personal emergency to unused vacation time. See the policy, Attendance, Absences, and Personal Emergency.
7. Payment for Accumulated Vacation Time
   1. Employees receive the accrued benefits listed below when separating from the University voluntarily or involuntarily (or when transferring to an Academic position) whether or not the employee gives or receives notice of separation. To be eligible to receive payment for unused vacation time, an employee must have six months of university service credit. The following table shows the maximum amount an employee receives.
      

      Years of university service credit	Maximum payment for unused accruals (hours)
      At least six months 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 that began work on February 1, 2014 will have a maximum payment of 352 hours beginning on February 1, 2020.

8. When an employee transfers from a Support and Service Staff position to a Professional Staff position:
   1. The balance of Vacation time is transferred into a PTO account. This amount serves as the beginning balance.
      1. If the balance exceeds the maximum usage amount allowed, the excess time is carried over as PTO, but it must be used or transferred to the PTO Sick Leave account by the end of the following year. The limit on the maximum usage of PTO in a year is waived during this period subject to scheduling with management. The 96 hour maximum amount of PTO that can be transferred to the PTO Sick Leave account is waived at the end of the first year and the end of the following year.
9. When an employee transfers from a Professional Staff position to a Support and Service Staff position:
   1. The PTO balance is transferred to a Vacation time account.
   2. The PTO Sick Leave account balance is transferred to an Income Protection time account.
   3. Any previously accrued Honorary Vacation is transferred to the vacation time account.
10. When an employee transfers to an Academic position s/he receives payment for accumulated Vacation time as presented 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 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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