R821-1. Purpose: To provide guidelines for employee benefits including vacations, paid holidays, sick leave, emergency leave, military leave, jury and witness service, tuition reduction and sabbatical and administrative leave.
R821-2. References
2.1. Utah Code §53B-2-106 (Duties and Responsibilities of the President – Approval of the Board of Trustees)
2.2. Utah Code §39-3-2 (Government employees in United States armed forces or National Guard – Pay allowance for time spent on duty – Deduction of vacation time prohibited)
R821-3. Policy
3.1. Vacation Policy
3.1.1. Standard Vacation Schedule: All full-time salaried non-exempt personnel on 12 month appointments are entitled to annual vacation benefits between 12 and 22 days based on graduated years of service as determined by institutional policy.
3.1.2. Maximum Accrual: Subject to availability of funding, the maximum accrual, pursuant to the standard vacation schedule, of unused vacation time for which payment is due upon termination of employment shall not exceed 30 days plus the current year’s accrued vacation time.
3.1.3. Transferability of Vacation Benefits: Employees in the System who transfer from one employing unit to another within the System should be deemed to retain their accumulative service credits for the purpose of calculating their accumulating vacation benefits earned while in the new employment situation.
3.2. Paid Holidays
3.2.1. Standard Holiday Schedule: All full-time employees are entitled to the following paid holidays:
New Year’s Day
Martin Luther King/Human Rights Day
President’s Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Pioneer Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
Three additional Days (as declared by the Institutional President)
3.2.2. Variations from Standard Holiday Schedule
3.2.2.1. A holiday falling on Saturday will be observed the previous Friday.
3.2.2.2. A holiday falling on Sunday will be observed the following Monday.
3.2.2.3. The institutions will make reasonable efforts to avoid scheduling regular classes on a scheduled holiday, but in the event classes are so scheduled, the holiday will not be observed by the faculty.
3.3. Sick Leave
3.3.1. All full-time non-exempt salaried personnel shall accumulate sick leave credits at the rate of one day for each month of continuous service, subject to such limitations on maximum accrual as may be imposed by institutional policy.
3.3.2. In exceptional cases after all accrued sick leave and earned vacation have been exhausted, extended sick leave may be authorized by the president pursuant to institutional policy.
3.3.3. Each institution shall have a sick leave conversion policy for all employees covered by 3.3.1. Such institutional policy shall include the following features:
3.3.3.1. The employee may convert a maximum of four (4) days per year of accrued sick leave to vacation;
3.3.3.2. The employee must maintain a minimum level of annual sick leave credits before he or she is allowed to convert excess sick leave above that minimum level to vacation;
3.3.3.3. Usage by the employee of more than specified levels of sick leave days in a given year shall limit that employee’s conversion of sick leave for that year; and
3.3.3.4. Sick leave converted to vacation leave must be included within the maximum accrual of the employee’s unused vacation balance for purposes of payment at termination.
3.4. Emergency Leave: Emergency leave for death in the immediate family may be authorized by institutional policy, but shall not exceed three working days in duration.
3.5. Military Leave: Full-time personnel who are members of any reserve branch of the United States Armed Forces are entitled to leave of absence with full pay for all time not in excess of 15 working days per year spent on duty at annual encampments or other required active duty training. This leave shall be in addition to annual vacation leave with pay. (See Section 39-3-2, Utah Code Annotated (1953).)
3.6. Jury and Witness Service
3.6.1. Employees necessarily absent from work in compliance with an official requirement to appear for jury service or a subpoena to appear as a witness at a trial, deposition, or other official proceeding will continue to receive the equivalent of full pay, provided that the institution will request the employee in a general communication to return the jury or witness fee.
3.6.2. This allowance covers only time lost while actually engaged in jury service or attendance as a witness, and in reasonable travel to and from the place of such service.
3.6.3. This policy does not apply when an individual appears in court on his or her own behalf.
3.6.4. Under the laws of the state of Utah, adult citizens of the United States who are able to read, speak, and understand the English language, and who are not incapacitated by physical or mental disability, are eligible and may be called to render jury service. The law specifies that no qualified prospective juror is exempt from jury service, but that the court may excuse an individual from such service, at the discretion of the judge, upon a showing of undue hardship, extreme inconvenience, or public necessity for any period the court deems necessary.
3.7. Tuition Reduction: The Utah System of Higher Education institutions may provide for reduced tuition and/or fees as an employee benefit for faculty, staff, and emeritus personnel, subject to the limitations prescribed by institutional policy.
3.8. Sabbatical and Administrative Leave: Sabbatical and administrative leaves are not employee benefits, but rather are programs for professional development which benefit the entire educational enterprise and are granted by the institutions in consideration thereof. Because of the differences in academic role of the several institutions, maximum discretion should be allowed each institution to develop its own sabbatical and administrative leave policy.
Adopted July 27, 1977; amended November 22, 1977, November 8, 1991, and January 17, 1992.
