Your Benefits: Time Off Work

PAID LEAVE PLAN-HOURLY EMPLOYEES 4:4-100

Purpose - The Andrews University Paid Leave Plan is available to workers who are of an HH, HP, or HF classification.

The purpose of the plan is to provide a continuity of income during specific periods of absence which includes vacation, personal time, holidays and short-term sick leave and medical/vision/dental appointments.

Accrual Rate - Time begins to accrue on the first day of employment at the following rate, as determined by total denominational employment or relevant work experience: (The leave bank illustration is based on a 40-hour workweek.)

LEAVE BANK ILLUSTRATION

Years of Service	Total Hours	Equivalent Days	Maximum Annual Accrual	Hourly Rate of Accrual
1 – 4	0 - 7,488	26	208 hours	0.1000000
5 – 9	7,489 to 16,848	31	248 hours	0.1192308
10 +	Begin 16,849	36	288 hours	0.1384615

For the purpose of determining the hourly rate of accrual the first 1,820 hours in a calendar year will constitute one year. Less than full-time will be prorated, providing the service was at least 1,000 hours for the year. For denominational employment prior to Andrews University, the years of employment will be determined from the Employee Service Record. The appropriate hours will be added to the paid leave bank after the Record is received.

Except for holidays and sick leave, the paid leave bank may be used at the discretion of the employee upon prior arrangement with the department head. No vacation time will be authorized for periods during required employee training such as the Employee Institute. All employees are expected to attend these events. The employee's paid leave bank must be exhausted before any consideration of taking unpaid leave.

Time in the paid leave bank may be paid only when the employee is off duty during his/her normal working hours, except at the time of termination or retirement. At that time a taxable supplemental pay equivalent to the employer retirement contribution of the paid leave bank balance will also be paid out.

Time in the paid leave bank accrues only on the first 80 hours of paid time in a two-week pay period.

Holiday Time - The University designates holidays when its normal activities are halted. Please see policy # 4:4-125 for a list of the paid holidays. Employees will be expected to take their holidays at those times. Employees required to work on holidays may take equivalent time off at another time acceptable to their department head.
Short-Term Sick Leave - The first three work days of any illness are paid from the paid leave bank. Sick time for any illness of the employee which exceeds three work days may be charged to available time in the long-term sick leave bank. Sick Leave will be paid only if notification of the illness is given at the beginning of the workday on the first day of absence.
Time Limitations - Time may not be charged to the paid leave bank in excess of its balance. For that reason, employees are advised to maintain a reserve for emergencies. Not more than four of the standard or average (whichever is less) workweeks may be charged to this bank at any one time.

The maximum paid leave that can be accumulated during the fiscal year is 320 hours or eight standard or personal average workweeks, whichever is less. When the maximum hours are reached no further hours may be added to the bank.

At the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1) any hours in the paid leave bank which exceed 280 hours or seven of your standard or average workweeks, whichever is less, will be transferred to the long-term sick leave bank, but the hours in that bank may not exceed the maximum permissible. Time which can not be transferred to this long-term sick leave bank will be lost.

The amount of accrued time in both the paid leave and long-term sick leave banks will appear on the pay stub of qualified employees. No more leave time may be claimed than appeared on the most recent past pay stub.

Transition to salary leave: In the event that an employee transitions from an hourly position to a salaried position, there is the potential that the employee may have more paid leave time available in their bank than is allowed for a salaried employee. To facilitate this transition, the employee will be permitted to cash out up to 120 hours from their paid leave bank. However, they may not leave less than 80 hours in their bank to be rolled over into the salaried leave bank.

LONG-TERM SICK LEAVE-HOURLY EMPLOYEES 4:4-105

The long-term sick leave bank provides paid time off for employees who experience an extended illness, are hospitalized/have out-patient surgery requiring a period of recovery, or require time away for medical reason due to a pandemic. This bank accrues at the rate of .0153846 hours for each hour worked up to 80 hours per pay period, which is four of the regular or average workdays, whichever is less, per year. The maximum that may be accrued in this bank is 26 average workweeks, but in no case more than 1,040 hours.

This bank may be used as follows:

Starting with the fourth day of an illness (requires three consecutive workdays of absence due to the illness, to be claimed as short-term sick hours from the paid leave bank; in the absence of sufficient paid leave hours, some or all of the three days may be unpaid), or
Starting with the first day of hospitalization or out-patient surgery where a period of recovery beyond three days is necessary, or when required to quarantine due to a pandemic.

To qualify forlong-term sick leave the first "Application for Long-Term Sick Leave" for each absence must be accompanied by a physician's statement which indicates the nature of the illness, disability or incapacity and should indicate the anticipated period of absence from work. Subsequent applications within that period will not require the physician's statement.

Employees are expected to return to work as soon as they can resume their duties. In some instances this may require reasonable accommodation on the part of the University to a temporary incapacity of the employee. This will be arranged, where possible, by department heads. The date of return to work may be set on the advice of the attending physician whose counsel may be sought at any time with consent of the employee while the long-term sick leave bank is being used. Time may not be charged to this bank after the physician has given approval to return to work.

Long-term sick leave bank may not be used when incarceration is the cause for absence from work.

Payments may not be made out of the long-term sick leave bank after the date of termination of work or transition to salaried classification nor may the credit remaining in the bank be paid in cash at any time. Time in the long-term sick leave bank may not be transferred to the paid leave bank under any circumstances.

VACATION LEAVE-SALARIED STAFF 4:4-108

Purpose
Because we recognize the importance of vacation time in providing the opportunity for rest, recreation and renewal both physically, emotionally and spiritually, Andrews University provides for annual, paid vacations to its fulltime regular and part-time salaried non-faculty employees.

Policy
The University provides for paid days off based on an individual’s length of service in the denomination or relevant work experience:

Years of Service	Annual Vacation Allowances	Bi-weekly Accrual
1 – 4	10 days	0.39 day
5 – 9	15 days	0.58 day
10 +	20 days	0.77 day

Part time salaried employees are eligible based on the percent they are scheduled to work, i.e., a three-quarters time employee would only receive three-quarters of the above schedule annually.

Vacation Usage and Carryover
Because “salaried” employees are expected to put in a minimum of 40 hours per week, the reporting for vacation usage will be based on an eight hour a day usage. Half days may not be reported for Friday. Half days may be used Monday through Thursday.

Newly hired full and part-time regular salaried employees may take vacation as it accrues from month to month. At the end of August, if the employee has unused vacation, up to two weeks of that time will automatically roll over into the next vacation year (September-August).

Holiday Pay
In addition to the above schedule of vacation accrual, holiday pay is granted for each regular full-time and part time salaried employee. Please see policy # 4:4-125 for a list of the paid holidays.

Vacation Scheduling
Vacation scheduling should be approved, by the supervisor, a minimum of one month ahead of time. Though the organization will try to grant all reasonable requests, it is within the supervisor’s discretion to request the employee to take another time because of scheduling needs. No vacation time will be authorized for periods during required employee training such as the Employee Institute. All employees are expected to attend these events.

Vacation Tracking
As the payroll system will be accruing vacation, the responsibility for accounting for its use will be the employee’s. When vacation time is used, it will be the employee’s responsibility to report days used via the employee self-service system website, to be approved by the supervisor. For time taken but not reported, it will be the supervisor’s responsibility to make the needed adjustments to the employee’s reported time taken.

Employees will be permitted to carry a negative balance of up to two weeks (10 days) in the event that sufficient vacation time has not been accrued to take an extended vacation. However, should an employee have a negative balance at the end of their employment relationship, the difference will be reconciled by using the last paycheck(s) to reimburse the University for the advanced vacation pay.

Leave Payout for Terminating Employees
Employees terminating the employment relationship are entitled to all accrued and unused leave time calculated on a pro rata basis based on employee classification. At that time a taxable supplemental pay equivalent to the employer retirement contribution of the leave bank balance will also be paid out.

Administrative Level
Administrative staff that are half-time or more appointment at the level of President, Provost, Vice President, Associate/Assistant Vice President, Dean, and Associate Dean are eligible for an annual four-week vacation. This employee group will not track their vacation time, but are expected to manage their vacation time together with their work responsibilities. Also, a leave payout is not applicable upon transition to (promotion) or termination from this appointment level. To assist employees transitioning from the administrative level to another salaried staff position, two weeks of vacation will be granted as a starting leave balance.

VACATION LEAVE-FACULTY 4:4-109

Each 12-month faculty member is eligible for an annual four-week vacation. Ten-month faculty members may take time during semester breaks and between May 31 – August, no other vacation time is provided for this faculty category. Travel time is counted as a part of the vacation time. A vacation week is equivalent to five working days. Faculty members should work in advance with their chair/supervisor regarding their itinerary and how they may be contacted in an emergency when traveling away from the campus.

Vacation time should be taken annually. This time is not formally tracked by Human Resources, and any remaining unused time does not accumulate and carry forward to future years. Any remaining vacation time at the time of the faculty’s termination of employment will not be paid out. No vacation time will be authorized for periods during required employee training such as the Employee and/or Faculty Institutes. All employees are expected to attend these events.

The number of paid holidays granted in any one year is listed in policy # 4:4-125. Leave beyond the paid holidays is treated as a part of the annual vacation. During the breaks between academic terms (other than paid holidays) faculty not on vacation are to engage in professional work.

SICK LEAVE-SALARIED EMPLOYEES 4:4-110

Purpose
To provide paid leave for its regular half-time and above salaried staff and faculty who become ill while employed by the University. This policy provides definition and application for the administration of this policy. Note: this paid leave is not applicable for those paid under worker's compensation.

Definition
Short-term Sick Leave: occasional short-term illness of less than a week; this time is not counted against the extended sick leave time, however, employee must communicate with their supervisor when time off is needed for a short-term illness.

Extended Sick Leave: a period of paid sick leave time available when the employee is unable to work due to illness for an extended period of time of more than one week, or require time away for medical reason due to a pandemic, up to 90 days per FMLA benefit year. Frequent intermittent time away from the office due to illness should be reviewed by the supervisor and the Office of Human Resources to determine if it falls under this extended sick leave policy.

Extended sick leave could turn into long-term disability depending on the nature of the illness. This 90-day extended sick leave period may also constitute as the elimination period for long-term disability, where the employee must experience a loss of function or salary reduction before the long-term disability benefits would be available.

Long-term Disability Period: a medical event which lasts for more than 90 days. Partial salary may be provided by an external commercial policy, the University, or some combination of these two, as applicable.

Application
An employee is eligible to access the extended sick leave provision of the benefit policy as needed for up to 90 days. No notification is required other than to the chair or supervisor for the first five days. If the event goes beyond five days, the employee must provide medical certification and complete an FMLA form (which will include doctor’s certification of the medical event) with the Office of Human Resources. It will then be considered a formal family medical leave and will be tracked accordingly.

If the medical event has the potential to extend beyond 90 days, the employee is should submit a long-term disability (LTD) application to the LTD provider for possible qualification of long-term disability coverage, by day 60. This will be necessary for continued University partial pay coverage beyond 90 days.

Extended sick leave period (day 1-90): if an FMLA form was received and approved, the employee will be paid 100% of their salary.

Beyond extended sick leave period (day 91-180): if an LTD application was submitted to the provider by day 60, but a determination has not been made by the LTD provider, the employee will receive partial salary continuation from the University of 13 1/3% of their bi-weekly salary until a determination is made. If the application is approved, the partial salary continuation will supplement the provider’s payment of 66 2/3% of bi-weekly salary until day 180, for a total of 80% of salary. If the application was not approved, the University partial salary continuation will cease upon notification from the LTD provider.

Beyond extended sick leave period (after 180 days, if LTD approved): the employee will receive the 66 2/3% payment from the LTD provider; the University partial salary continuation will no longer apply.

GIFT OF TIME 4:4-111

Andrews University recognizes that from time to time employees may have a medical event or be affected by a major disaster, resulting in a need for additional time off in excess of their available applicable leave time. To address this need, eligible employees will be allowed to gift accrued paid leave/vacation time from their unused balance to their eligible co-workers in need of additional paid time off, in accordance with the policy outlined below. This program is strictly voluntary.

Eligibility to Participate
Individuals must be employed by Andrews University in an employee class eligible to accrue leave, in order to be able to gift or receive time. Faculty and administrative salaried staff are not eligible to participate in this program (gift or receive) as their vacation time is not tracked per policy. Non-administrative salaried staff, while eligible to gift time, will not be eligible to receive gifted time for medical events; FMLA events will be fully covered by the extended sick leave policy. In addition, as salaried staff by policy are allowed to overdraw their vacation time by 10 days, gifted time may only be used for major disasters necessitating a negative vacation balance in excess of 10 days.

Eligible Events
Employees who would like to receive gifted leave time from their co-workers must have a situation that meets the following criteria:

Medical event (FMLA), defined as a medical condition covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), whereby the employee or an immediate family member requires a prolonged/extended absence of the employee from work and will result in a substantial loss of income to the employee due to the exhaustion of all leave time available. An immediate family member is defined as a spouse, child or parent.
Major disaster, defined as a disaster that has otherwise not created a medical event, whereby an employee is considered to be adversely affected by the severe hardship to the employee or to an immediate family member of the employee that requires the employee to be absent from work and will result in a substantial loss of income to the employee due to the exhaustion of all paid leave/vacation time available.

Gifting Time Guidelines (Donor)

Gifted time will be withdrawn from the paid leave/vacation bank and not from the long-term sick leave bank.
The gifting and receipt of paid time off is on an hourly basis, converted by taking into account the differences in pay. (For example, one employee earns $20 an hour and gifts one hour of time to an employee that earns $10 an hour. The receiving employee would receive two hours of gifted time.)
The maximum time that an employee may gift in a benefit year (July – June) is 40 hours in total (prorated for less than full-time/100% appointment employees)
At the time that the gift is processed, the withdrawal may not cause the paid-leave/vacation bank to fall below 56 hours.
Employees cannot borrow against future or the accrual on the current pay period’s paid leave/vacation time to gift time.
Employees who are currently on an approved leave of absence cannot gift time.
All prior months’ leave reports, for salaried employees, must be approved.
Gifts of time are received on a first come, first give basis. Gifts will be declined when the receiving employee reaches the lower of the total time necessary to cover the unpaid portion of their time off for the eligible event, or their maximum receipt amount for the benefit year (see below).
Gifted time is not considered charitable contributions for income tax purposes.

Receiving Gifted Time Guidelines (Recipient)

Gifted time will go into a separate leave bank that may not be used until all other appropriate leave banks are exhausted.
Gifted time may only be used for time off related to the approved request and its usage will not accrue additional leave time.
The maximum time that an employee may receive in a benefit year (July – June) is 80 hours in total (prorated for less than full-time/100% appointment employees).
Gifted time can be used either on a continuous or an intermittent basis, as long as it is for the same approved event.
Gifted time cannot be cashed out or converted to other types of leave.
Employees covered by or eligible for long-term disability or worker’s compensation are not eligible to receive gifted time.
Nothing in this policy will be construed to limit or extend the maximum allowable absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

REPORTING OF TIME 4:4-115

Payments for any time to be charged to the Long-Term Sick Leave Bank must be reported on the appropriate forms at the end of the week in which the time is taken.

VACATION 4:4-120

Your vacation is a time intended for rest and relaxation; for this reason you may not receive pay in lieu of vacation. Unused vacation time, with the approval of your supervisor may be carried over to the following year, but not more than six weeks may be taken in any one calendar year or upon termination. Exceptions may be made if your superior has been unable to grant you vacation at the time you reached your maximum. You are encouraged to take the vacation at one or two times per year.

The number of weeks of vacation you are entitled to is determined by your years of denominational employment as shown on your Employee Service Record.

On the basis of your years of denominational employment, as reflected on your service record, you are entitled to the following weeks of vacation each year:

First four years - 2 weeks
Next five years - 3 weeks
After nine years - 4 weeks

HOLIDAYS 4:4-125

The University recognizes nine holidays, two of which are observed for a day-and-a-half for a total of ten paid days annually. The holidays are:

New Year's Day
Martin Luther King's Birthday
Presidents' Day
Memorial Day
Juneteeth
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving (1.5)
Christmas (1.5)

Holidays which fall on a Saturday will normally be celebrated on Friday while holidays which fall on Sunday will be celebrated on Monday. Employees will be expected to take their holidays at those times. Employees required to work on holidays may take equivalent time off at another time acceptable to their department head.

PERSONAL LEAVE 4:4-135

Leaves of absence are to be considered as an exception. A personal leave of absence is authorized time off without pay or benefits. After you have worked as a regular full-time employee for at least one year, a request for a personal leave of absence may be granted upon the recommendation of the department head and the appropriate vice president.

Personal leaves of absence of up to one month for a staff member may be granted by the department head or supervisor, and the appropriate vice president. All leaves of absence must be approved by the above and HR.

You must complete a leave of absence application and submit it to Benefits in the Office of Human Resource, who will determine your eligibility prior to approval, and administer the leave of absence once it has been approved. You should plan to request a personal leave of absence only under very unusual circumstances, and, when possible, four months before the leave is to begin.

University policies regarding a personal leave of absence are as follows:

Wages are not paid during the employee's absence.
Vacation and sick time will not accrue.
No benefits will be available, nor will service credit accrue.
The staff employee may be reinstated to his/her former position if it is available at the time of the reinstatement request. If the employee's department is not able to keep the position available, effort will be made to place the employee in a similar position. The University cannot guarantee the same duties or rate of pay. If no such position is available, or if the employee declines the alternate position or is not selected as the most qualified candidate, then the employee will be subject to dismissal of employment.
Accrued vacation time must be used before a leave of absence begins.
Extensions of a leave of absence must be approved in writing prior to the end of the employee's original leave. These will be granted in the same manner as the original leave. Failure to return after the expiration of the leave of absence will be treated as a resignation.

FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FLMA) 4:4-140

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours during that 12-month period. Under the Act, the leave period will be up to 12 weeks per year or up to 26 weeks for Military Caregiver. The Act may entitle you to take the leave for the following reasons:

The birth and care of your child;
The placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care;
The care of your spouse, child, or parent suffering from a "serious health condition";
Your inability to perform the functions of your job duties because of your serious health condition.
For qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on active duty or call to active duty status as a member of the National Guard or Reserves in support of a contingency operation.

Employees may be covered by the paid leave policies of the University during their family/medical leave. The use of paid benefits will not extend the duration of family medical leave.

Where both spouses are employed by the University the leave will be a total of 12 weeks for both spouses, unless the leave is for the serious illness of the employee or a child.

The request for planned medical treatment must be made at least 30 days before it is to begin, unless circumstances would not permit, in which case the request must be made as soon as it is practical--usually 1-2 business days. No advance notice is required when the reason for the leave is unforeseen.

The employee requesting leave is required to submit a timely, complete, and sufficient medical certification to support a request for FMLA leave due to their own serious health condition. The employee's response is required to obtain or retain the benefit of FMLA protections. Failure to provide a complete and sufficient medical certification within 15 calendar days may result in a denial of your FMLA request.

Leaves that are taken on an intermittent basis should be planned so as to result in the least possible disruption to your work schedule.

During the term of your leave you will be entitled to your regular benefits, except service credit which will not accrue during the unpaid portion. You will be required to pay the contribution to your health care assistance that falls due during your absence.

Upon your return to work following the leave you will be reinstated to your job, or if that is not possible, to an equivalent job. If you fail to return to work at the end of your certified FMLA period, it would be considered as job abandonment. You must supply a return to work note from your health care provider before resuming work, or an extension to your FMLA period, if that is necessary and applicable.

The full policy under the Family and Medical Leave Act is available to all employees and by reference is a part of this policy. That policy and application for the leave is available in Human Resources and at the website listed below.

US Dept of Labor main FMLA website.

BEREAVEMENT LEAVE 4:4-145

Andrews believes in the value of family and the importance of taking time to grieve together. Under this policy, benefit eligible employees will be allowed to take time off due to the death of a family member. In addition to bereavement leave, an employee may, with his/her supervisors’ approval, use any available paid leave/vacation time for supplementary time off. Hourly rated employees should request bereavement (funeral) leave on the timeclock.

Paid bereavement leave will be granted as follows:

Three days in the event of the death of your spouse, (step)child, (step)parent, (step)brother/sister, mother/father-in-law, son/daughter-in-law, or grandchild.
One and a half day in the event of the death of your brother/sister-in-law, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, or grandparent.

VOTING 4:4-150

All eligible voters are urged to vote on election day. Voting after working hours is suggested in order to have minimal impact on your work area and job duties.

JURY DUTY 4:4-155

You will be paid for the hours lost during your regular work-week while you serve on jury duty or during jury selection. For hourly employees such time should be reported on the Time Manager's Website.

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