Employees should turn in the documentation to the Benefits Office.

Thank you for the comments. “Behavioral health needs” has been added to section 4.B.2.b.(1).

Thank you for the comment. 4.C.2 has been revised to state, “Full-time employees with vacation leave accumulated in excess of 40 days (320 hours) as identified on July 1, must use that excess vacation leave by September 30.”

Thank you for the comment. This section has been revised in conjunction with the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP). As potential scenarios vary greatly, we have also included a statement referring supervisors to OSP for assistance with navigating specific situations.

Thank you for your comment. This statement has been revised to state, “A record of employee absences is kept in the Human Resources Information System.”

Thank you for your comment. The college allows sick leave cash out when any full-time employee retires. Sections 4.D.2-4 of this policy discuss this.

Revision accepted.

Thank you for your comment. The “22” has been removed.

C. Maximum Accrual and Carryover

1. Full-time employees may carry over a maximum of 40 days of vacation from one fiscal year to the next.

2. Full-time employees are granted a three-month grace period ending September 30 of each year to use the days accumulated in excess of 40.

The Maximum Accrual and Carryover policy is confusing and misunderstood by most employees. Every year I have staff taking time off the end of September to get under 320 hours of Vacation. They do not understand that the 320 hour target is as of July 1st, and that hours accrued between July 1st and September 30th do not count against the 320 hour maximum threshold.

An example in the policy, showing how a person only needs to use the hours above 320 as of July 1st by September 30th would be helpful. But in my experience, 90% of SLCC employees operate under the assumption that they must have their vacation hours below 320 as of September 30th. Eliminating the grace period all together and sticking to a true “use or lose” date would remove that as a source of confusion and line up with the assumptions most employees are operating under. It wouldn’t matter if that date was July 1, September 30, or any other fixed date.

J. Records

A history of all recorded employee absences is kept in the Human Resources Information System.

The HRIS does not accurately record employee absences. In the frequent scenario when an employee fails to submit their timecard, the supervisor has no means of putting in a timecard for the employee or retroactively putting time into the HRIS. The practice and instructions from Payroll are to enter the time taken on the next pay period, usually on a Saturday or Sunday. An entire 40 hour week of vacation can be submitted on a single Saturday of the following pay period.

Inconsistent use of “%” and “percent” when talking about 75 percent FTE and 100 percent FTE. See sections 3.A, 4.A and C.3.

B.1.C accrual table. Last section says “10 or more 22”. Is the “22” meant to be in the first column?

Consider adding behavioral health needs as stated in the sick leave usage memo on our website to the 4.B.2.b section regarding sick leave usage.

Sick leave usage memo: https://i.slcc.edu/culture/hr/docs/wellness/sick-leave-usage-memo.pdf

[previous commenter] makes a good point.

I get that faculty don’t get vacation pay, but it sure is difficult to have required meetings right before a holiday weekend. Also why can’t sick leave be converted when faculty retire?

4.B.1 “New employees may provide documentation of prior employment, including Utah System of Higher Education and Utah public education employment, to receive credit for additional years of service worked and establish their vacation accrual rate if the previous employment was full-time.”

Minor thought: To whom could employees turn in this documentation?

[suggested revised language for section 4.E.]

E. Sponsored Project (grant) Funded Positions

For any employee whose position is funded in whole or in part (1% to 100%) by a sponsored project grant or contract, please consult the Office of Sponsored Projects. Vacation payout attributable to the grant-funded portion will be determined based on the specific sponsor’s guidelines.

1. Employees paid from both a grant or contract and hard college funds will be allowed to cash out the hard-funded portion of vacation accrual upon termination.
2. The grant or contract portion is contingent upon the availability of the funds from the specific grant or contract, sponsor guidelines, and effort distribution.
3. If funds are unavailable, their department will be responsible for the vacation payout.
4. Employees paid from grants or contracts, provided grant funds are available, must receive the vacation payout upon termination of the position.
5. Vacation time earned while performing work for the grant must be distributed according to their effort distribution.
6. Supervisors will monitor and manage unused vacation days for those employees paid from grants or contracts.

Examples:

• An employee funded 75% from a federal grant and 25% from college funds terminates employment. The 25% hard-funded vacation accrual may be cashed out or taken over time after separation from the college per college policy. The 75% grant-funded portion may only be paid out if the grant allows it and funds are available.
• An employee funded 100% from a grant must consult the Office of Sponsored Projects and their Grant Accountant to determine if the funds are available and if the grant permits vacation payout. If not, the employee’s department is responsible for the benefit payout.