Leave and Closings FAQ

The following information applies to regular employees and 12-month faculty:

• Employees must be in an active status to accrue annual leave (vacation). Active status does not include any period of unpaid leave of absence or any non-working period for a flex-year employee.
• Employees accrue annual leave on a monthly basis on the first day of each month.
• The amount of annual leave accrued is based on the constructed annual leave date, the work schedule (planned working time) as recorded in IRIS, the employee’s Fair Labor Standards ACT (FLSA) designation of non-employee is eligible to accrue leave.
• An employee with two or more periods of eligible service shall be credited with this service to establish a constructed annual leave date.
• If an absence without pay exceeds ten business days, the department is required to place the employee on leave of absence without pay. Human Resources will revise the constructed annual leave date.
• Employees are not permitted to take annual leave until accruing it, and the University is not permitted to advance annual leave. Leave must be approved in advance by the supervisor. Failure to follow departmental procedure in requesting leave and obtaining approval may result in the use of leave being denied.

Annual accrual rates for full-time employees

Eligible regular full-time exempt staff and 12-month faculty earn and accrue annual leave at the rate of 16 hours per month. A maximum of 336 hours may be carried forward from one calendar year to the next.

Eligible regular non-exempt staff earn and accrue annual leave as follows:

• 8 hours per month worked for the first five years of service. A maximum of 240 hours may be carried forward from one calendar year to the next.
• 12 hours per month worked during the sixth year and through the tenth year of service. A maximum of 288 hours may be carried forward from one calendar year to the next.
• 14 hours per month worked over the eleventh year and through the twentieth year of service. A maximum of 312 hours may be carried forward from one calendar year to the next.
• 16 hours per month worked with more than twenty years of service. A maximum of 336 hours may be carried over from one calendar year to the next.

Annual accrual rates for part-time employees

Eligible regular part-time employees who began employment on or before January 31, 2014 accrue annual leave at a rate pro rata to their planned working time in IRIS, except that an employee who changes his or her planned working time effective on or after January 1, 2018 will be ineligible to accrue annual leave unless the change results in a planned working time of 75% effort or greater. The maximum annual leave hours that may be carried forward from one calendar year to the next is also pro rata to the employee’s percentage of effort as recorded in IRIS.

Regular full-time non-exempt employees who have completed their probationary period accrue 8 hours on the first day of the calendar year OR on the first day of the month immediately following completion of their probationary period

Regular non-exempt part-time employees accrue personal leave at a rate pro rata to their planned working time in IRIS.

Personal leave cannot be carried forward to the next calendar year nor transferred to any other leave. Eligible employees on flex-year appointments must take their personal leave during the months worked. Employees are not eligible to receive payment for unused personal leave upon termination from the university.

The use of personal leave must be approved by the appropriate supervisor.

All regular UT employees in active pay status qualify for holiday pay for the following eight days:

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Friday before Easter
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

The State of Tennessee provides up to four months of leave for pregnancy, childbirth, and adoption for full-time employees who have been employed at least 12 consecutive months. (In the case of an adoption, leave begins at the time the parents receive custody of the child.) This leave runs concurrently with the 12 weeks provided by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

In accordance with federal law, any employee is eligible for FMLA leave if he or she meets both of the following conditions:

• The employee has been employed at least 12 months (based on the date the leave is scheduled to begin). The 12 months of employment need not be consecutive in order to satisfy this eligibility requirement.
• The employee has performed at least 1,250 hours of work during the preceding 12-month period (based on the date the leave is scheduled to begin).
  • Full-time faculty with 12 months of service are presumed to satisfy the 1,250-hour requirement.

The Provost’s website provides additional information pertaining specifically to faculty who need to take leave to care for a child or family member.