Prior to COVID-19, policy-covered employees who reached their maximum vacation accrual could request an extension of up to four months to bring their vacation accruals below the maximum.
Due to COVID-19, UCOP made a temporary allowance for policy-covered staff employees to exceed the maximum vacation leave accrual through June 30, 2021 even if a staff employee reached the maximum allowed by policy. The temporary policy change did not apply to represented employees.
Please remind all policy-covered staff employees who are at their maximum or will exceed their maximum by June 30, 2021 of the deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will employees who have exceeded their maximum vacation accrual on June 30, 2021 lose their accruals that are over the maximum on July 1, 2021?
No. Employees who have reached the maximum or have gone over the maximum allowed by policy will not lose their accruals. However, those employees will not accrue additional accruals until their balances are below the maximum allowed by policy.
Will employees who earned vacation over the maximum in June 2021 receive those accruals on July 1, 2021?
Eligible employees will continue to accrue vacation leave over the maximum allowed by policy through June 30, 2021. On July 1, 2021, anyone over the maximum allowed by policy will not accrue additional accruals until their balances are below the maximum.
Will employees be able to donate vacation time to the Catastrophic Leave Donation Program?
Policy-covered staff employees may voluntarily donate a portion of their accrued vacation leave to be used by other University employees (who have exhausted all of their own accrued paid leave benefits) to address catastrophic circumstances.
If an employee retires in June 2021 and they have accrued vacation hours above their maximum vacation accrual, are they eligible to be paid their full balances including the hours above their maximum?
An employee will be paid for any unused vacation leave accrued through their last day on pay status upon:
- Separation of employment from the University (resignation, termination, retirement, indefinite layoff or medical separation).
- Transfer, promotion or demotion to a University position that does not accrue vacation leave.
- Payment of accrued vacation leave upon transfer, promotion or demotion to a position that does not accrue vacation leave will be based at the employee’s rate of pay in effect at the time of the transfer, promotion or demotion.
What will happen to an employee’s vacation accruals if they have not reached the maximum allowed by policy in June, but on August 1, 2021 they exceed the maximum allowed by policy?
Policy-covered staff employees who exceed the maximum vacation accruals allowed by policy after July 1, 2021 will follow regular policy requirements and procedures.
- UC PPSM 2.210 – https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4010406/PPSM-2.210
- Local Procedure 2.210 – https://hr.ucr.edu/document/policy-procedureppsm2210local-max-vac-accrual
- Request Form – https://hr.ucr.edu/document/policy-procedureppsm2210local-maxvacaccrualform
- Job Aid:
https://hr.ucr.edu/document/policy-procedureppsm2210localrequestexceedmaxvacaccrualjobaidee
For questions related to this communication, please e-mail your question(s) to hrpolicy@ucr.edu.