The Research Foundation for State University of New York
Accrual Guidelines for Exempt Employees
ELIGIBILITY
Exempt employees appointed at a minimum of .5 full time equivalent (FTE) are eligible to accrue vacation and sick leave unless they are:
• within the first six months of their date of hire. Eligible employees will be credited with vacation accruals from their date of hire upon completion
of six months service. Sick leave begins to accrue as of the first pay period in which the employee works the majority of the pay period and is
available for use upon accrual.
• appointed for the summer only.
• assigned a student title(s): Research Project Assistant, Research Graduate Assistant, Research Aide, or Senior Research Aide.
.
VACATION AND SICK LEAVE
Full-time employees accrue vacation leave biweekly during their employment. Eligible exempt employees must be in pay status (working or on paid
leave) for 50% or more workdays within the past pay period to accrue vacation leave for that period.
Part-time employees accrue vacation leave on a prorate basis according to their FTE. For example, if employed at .75 FTE, an employee will accrue
at 75% of the full-time rate based on length of service.
VACATION
Months of Service
Biweekly Accrual Rate
0-24
25-36
37-72
73-84
85+
.615
.654
.731
.808
.846
SICK
Months of Service
0-24
25-36
37-72
73-84
85+
Biweekly Accrual Rate
.577
.615
.692
.769
.808
Employees may accumulate in excess of 40 vacation days during a calendar year, by combining current accruals with unused past accruals.
However, no more than 40 vacation days may be carried over from calendar year to calendar year. Upon separation from The Research Foundation
service, or change to an ineligible status, an employee is compensated for accumulated and unused vacation leave credits provided their final
exception report is completed, signed and on file with Sponsored Funds Personnel. Payment for such unused vacation leave credits will not exceed
a maximum of 30 days.
Employees may accumulate a maximum of 200 sick days, by combining current and unused past accruals. That amount may be carried over from
calendar year to calendar year. No payment is made for unused sick leave upon termination of employment.
HOLIDAY LEAVE
A full-time employee who takes leave on a holiday will receive a full day's pay. A part-time employee receives holiday leave for only those holidays
that fall on a day that the employee is regularly scheduled to work.
Employees absent on paid vacation leave on a holiday can charge either vacation or holiday leave. Employees absent on paid sick leave on a
holiday are to charge sick leave and bank the holiday. An employee who is required to work on a holiday will be granted holiday leave. If employees
do not use holiday leave before employment terminates, the holiday leave is lost.
CHARGING ACCRUALS
An employee may not take leave unless it is already accrued.
All exempt employees must charge leave in quarter day increments; this includes part-time employees (indicated as .25, .50, .75, or 1.00 on
Exception Reports). This means that 40 hour work week employees should charge in 2 hr increments and 37.5 hour work week employees should
charge in 1.875 hour increments.
The only exception to this is holiday accruals. When holiday accruals are used on the actual holiday, the accrual will be earned and charged at the
prorated rate based upon the relevant FTE. If holiday accruals are used at a later date, they should be charged in quarter day increments.
Absences comprised of hours that do not align with the 2 hours or 1.875 hour increments must be rounded up or down to the next increment (.25,
.50, .75 or 1.00). The rounding would be something you work with your supervisor on to determine how to accommodate the difference. For
example, if you are out of the office for a 2 hour appointment, then you would show .25 on the Exception Report.
9/2014