Human Resources

• • Annual Leave
• • Personal Leave
• • Hourly Employees
• • Holidays
• • Compensatory Time

ANNUAL LEAVE

Accruing Annual (Vacation) Leave
State employees accrue between 13 and 25 days of annual leave per year, depending on unit, years of service, and date of hire. Annual leave can be used after 13 pay periods of time records eligible service. To earn vacation credits employees must work at least 70% of their regular schedule in a pay period. Vacation credits may be accumulated up to a maximum of 40 days. An employee is entitled to payment of up to 30 days of accrued Annual Leave in the event of death, retirement or separation from State service.

Some of the agreements provide that an employee may exceed the maximum vacation accumulation during the fiscal or calendar year, provided that the balance does not exceed the maximum at the end of such year. The fiscal year for CSEA and PEF covered employees at the University begins April 1.

Use of Vacation Credits
Employees must obtain prior supervisory approval to use vacation credits. However, there is no restriction on what vacation may be used for. A supervisor may not arbitrarily or unreasonably deny an employee's properly submitted request for vacation time off. A supervisor may, however, withhold authorization when the resulting absence would have a negative effect on departmental operations.

COMPENSATORY LEAVE 

Regular compensatory time is earned if a 37.5 hour employee is required to work beyond the scheduled work hours. Compensatory time is earned from 37.5 hours to 40 hours. Overtime pay is paid after 40 hours are worked in a workweek unless enrolled in an Over40 Comp Time Program (see below). The workweek is Thursday through Wednesday.

Over40 Comp Time II Pilot Program and Enrollment Form

All accrued compensatory time must be used by the close of the fiscal year in which it was earned.  For example, compensatory time earned between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018 must be used by March 31, 2019.

HOLIDAY LEAVE 

Floating Holidays
State employees receive 12 paid holidays per year, two of which the State may designate as floating holidays for most employees (not PBANYS or NYSCOPBA represented employees). The designation of floating holidays must be announced in April of each fiscal year. If a holiday is so designated, it should be treated as a regular work day. On the date of the holiday, employees in full pay status are credited with a 7.5 or 8 hour floating holiday as appropriate. Employees may use floating holidays subject to agency procedures for requesting time off. Floating holidays must be earned in units of a standard workday, but may be charge in ¼ hour increments.

Earning Holiday Leave
If a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is designated as the date of observance. If a holiday falls on a Saturday, the State may designate another day to be observed as the holiday. If a holiday falls on a full time employee's regular day off (pass day), the employee is entitled to receive holiday leave in the amount of the employee's standard workday. An employee who is required to work on a holiday will receive holiday pay unless they waived this option in order to receive holiday compensation time instead. Holiday pay waivers cover all holidays falling during the period of the waiver (April1- March 31), and may not changed for an individual holiday. Part-time employees earning accruals, including hourly, are entitled to holiday pay for holidays falling on their regular work schedule only.

Holiday Leave Accumulation
Generally, employees are not entitled to compensation for unused accrued holiday leave upon separation from State employment. However, in the Security Services Unit and the Security Supervisors Unit, the time is added to accrued vacation credits and the rules concerning liquidation of vacation credits apply to liquidation of holiday credits. In addition, some of the contracts require that holiday leave be used within one year after it is earned or be forfeited. Accordingly, supervisors should encourage employees to use holiday leave as soon as possible after it is earned.

Use of Holiday Leave
The use of holiday leave is subject to prior supervisory approval, consistent with the operating needs of the agency. As with personal leave and annual leave credits, such authorization should not be unreasonably or arbitrarily withheld.

Part-time Employees
The part-time employee who works on a holiday is entitled to credit for all hours worked up to a maximum of one shift, regardless of the regular schedule. For example, an employee whose regular schedule is 4 hours on Monday and who is required to work 8 hours on a holiday is credited with 8 hours worked. Employees who are regularly scheduled to work on Fridays are eligible for holiday leave for a holiday that falls on Saturday.

Holiday Schedule
Holiday Waiver Form
NYSCOPBA/PBANYS Additional Form
 

 

 

HOURLY PAID EMPLOYEES  

• Must work a regular schedule of at least 50% to be eligible to earn.
• Earnings credited after 19 complete pay periods - personal leave as of the 20th pay period, sick & annual retroactive to hire date. If more that one pay period falls below 50%, count starts over. Exception: if previously covered by Time & Attendance Rules within the last year (i.e. a rehired retiree) accruing begins immediately at a prorated amount of prior earnings. Also, any prior sick leave and unpaid annual leave balances are restored.
• If working less than 50% but were previously covered by Time & Attendance Rules within the last year (i.e. a rehired retiree), any prior sick leave and unpaid annual leave balances are restored and can be charged even though currently ineligible to earn additional accruals.
• Accruals are prorated based on work percentage.

PERSONAL LEAVE 

Classified service employees receive 5 days of personal leave a year, depending on bargaining unit, date of hire, and years of service (prorated for part-timers). This leave is intended to cover absences for reasons such as religious and personal business. It may also be used as vacation.

Personal leave is not cumulative. Any unused amount expires at the close of business the day before the individual's personal leave anniversary date.

• • Sick Leave
• • Bone Marrow and Organ Donation
• • Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• • Leave for Cancer Screening
• • Leave for Childbirth, Childcare, and Adoption
• • Workers' Compensation

• Paid Family Leave - Available only to Management/Confidential Classified employees as of 1/1/2018.  Contact Time Records and view the PFL Statement of Rights for more information.

SICK LEAVE 

Accruing Sick Leave
Most employees accrue 13 days of sick leave per year, one-half a day of sick leave for every two weeks on the State payroll. To earn sick leave credits, employees must work at least 70% of their regular schedule in a pay period. Sick leave credits may be accumulated up to a maximum of 200 days (CSEA maximum 225 days).

Proper Sick Leave Use
Sick leave may be used to stay home or in a hospital or health care facility to recover from an illness, injury, operation, or childbirth. It is also appropriate for visits to the doctor, dentist or other health practitioners because of illness, emergency, routine examination or preventive care. It may also be used for family sick leave.

Family Sick Leave/Bereavement Leave
Employees may use a limited amount of sick leave credits per year for death or illness in the immediate family.  This amount varies by bargaining unit (currently 15 to 30 days per year). Such use is subject to the approval of the supervisor, but authorization should not be unreasonably denied. The rule for family illness is that the employee's presence must be medically necessary for the employee to qualify to use sick leave. A few examples of appropriate use of family sick leave include: providing direct care for an ill family member; accompanying a family member to a doctor's appointment, either because the family member is unable to go alone (because of age or illness) or because the employee must be present as a responsible adult to receive the medical information concerning the family member's condition; being present with a spouse on the day of delivery of a child and to provide direct care following her release from the hospital; being present at the hospital during surgery or other medical emergency of a family member. An employee may be eligible for Family and Medical Leave for care of a family member.

Sick leave for bereavement purposes may be properly used for a death in the employee's family. It may not be used to attend the funeral of someone other than a family member.

Sick Leave at Half Pay
In addition to the paid sick leave, permanent classified State employees are eligible for one pay period of sick leave at half pay for every six months of service. Temporary employees are not eligible for this benefit. To draw sick leave at half pay, an employee must:

1. Have at least a year of State service.
2. Be absent because of personal illness or disability.
3. Exhaust vacation, sick, personal, and holiday leave, and voluntary and overtime credits before being granted sick leave at half pay.

Operational Services Unit employees must have been absent for 30 consecutive days due to a long term illness to qualify for sick leave at half pay.

Medical Documentation
Consistent with the applicable contractual provisions, the supervisor has the right to ask for satisfactory medical documentation of sickness - a written explanation from a doctor, hospital or other recognized practitioner - before approving use of sick leave for an absence. This documentation is at the employee's expense. It may be required either on a one-time basis or in the form of a standing order requiring documentation of every future absence during a specified period of time. Generally, documentation is not required for 4 days or less because an employee does not always see a doctor for a brief illness. When medical documentation is required, it must be satisfactory to the University. Documentation may be unsatisfactory, for example, if it is not specific, does not state an anticipated date of return, or does not offer a prognosis or fulfill a specific requirement to comment on the employee's ability to perform specific duties.

COVID Leave - Employees may be eligible for leave without charge to accruals during a period of required isolation.

• • Jury Duty
• • Leave Donation Program
• • Military Leave
• • Voluntary Reduction in Work Schedule (VRWS)
• • Voting Information

• • Low Accrual Balances
• • Meal and Rest Periods
• • Overtime
• • Record of Attendance
• • Tardiness
• • Work Percentage Changes

 
Timecard Due Dates
SUNY Attendance and Leave Information
Classified Time and Attendance Information

LOW ACCRUAL BALANCES 

Employees are considered "Low on Time" if they have less than two days of total accruals (excluding sick leave) when their time sheet is turned in. Such employees may be required to provide a copy of the first two weeks of their next time sheet, signed by their supervisor, to demonstrate that they have not been absent for more time than they have accruals to cover during that period.  Employees regularly low on time or incurring lost time may be discontinued from Direct Deposit.

MEAL AND REST PERIODS 

It is the responsibility of the supervisor and/or the department head to establish the time allowed for meals and rest periods. The meal period should be of at least one-half hour duration and not exceed one hour. The granting of rest periods is discretionary, but recommended, especially for employees whose responsibilities are of a routine nature. Rest periods, where granted, should be of a reasonable duration. As a guide, more than two 15-minutes periods per 7.5 or 8-hour workday would be considered excessive under normal working conditions. Employees who do not use rest periods are not allowed to either shorten the workday or to receive any form of overtime compensation or compensatory time off.

OVERTIME PAY 

Time worked over 40-hours in work week is paid at one and one-half times the normal pay rate, unless enrolled in an Over40 Comp Time Program (see below). The work week is considered to be Thursday through Wednesday. Any time worked or charged to credits fulfills the 40-hour requirement. Employees on a 37.5 hour work week also see Compensatory Time. Since time sheets cover a four week period, overtime payments will only be made every other pay period unless copies are of time sheets are forwarded to Time Records at the conclusion of the first two weeks indicating overtime was worked.

Recall
Recall provides for the payment of a minimum of one-half day credit for overtime purposes for employees who are recalled to work overtime after having completed their scheduled work period and left their scheduled work station. There are two criteria which must be met for overtime work to be considered recall. If only one criterion is met, it would not constitute recall. The criteria are as follows:

1. The employee must have left the work site and by being required to return would incur additional travel costs.
2. The return must be unanticipated. If an employee knows in advance that they will be required to return to work, they will be entitled to credit for actual hours worked, but would not be entitled to the benefits of recall pay. The employee must be called in unexpectedly

RECORD OF ATTENDANCE 

An adequate and accurate record of attendance must be maintained for and by each employee. University classified service employees must record, on a daily basis, the actual hours worked, including arrival and departure times, both at the beginning and end of the workday and meal period; leave credits used; and absences not charged to leave credits. Employees must forward their signed time cards to their supervisor for review and certification. Falsification of an employee's attendance or time record constitutes a very serious violation and is a basis for counseling and/or disciplinary action. Time Records are due in the Office of Human Resources by close of business on the Monday following the last day included on the timecard or timesheet.

TARDINESS 

Tardiness is arrival for work after the official beginning of working hours, or return to work after the expiration of the time designated for meals without the approval of the supervisor.

Tardiness	Penalty
1 or 2 instances of lateness not to exceed 14 minutes total	None
More than 2 instances of lateness not exceeding 14 minutes	¼ hour penalty
1 or more instances of lateness totaling 15 or more	¼ hour penalty for each 15 minutes or fraction thereof
Excess, over 120 minutes	½ hour for each ¼ hour or fraction thereof

Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Medical Personnel
The State may excuse tardiness, but not full-day absences or early departures, for volunteer firefighters and ambulance squad members who are on assignment. Absences must be charged to appropriate leave credits. Supervisor may require proof that the employee was actually on duty as a volunteer.

WORK PERCENTAGE CHANGES EFFECT ON ACCRUALS 

Employees whose percentage of employment changes at any point during a biweekly payroll period are credited with accruals based on their percentage of employment on the last day of the payroll period. For example, a full-time employee who moves to a 50 percent part-time position in the middle of the payroll period accrues at the 50 percent rate for the entire biweekly payroll period.

Health Screening Assessment form