The leave regulations applicable to employees in the Classified Service are contained in the Attendance Rules Manual, published by the Department of Civil Service, and in the various Collective Bargaining Agreements with the bargaining units representing Classified Service employees. The rules applicable to members of the classified staff are summarized below.
- Annual Leave
- Attendance Record
- Compensatory Leave
- Holiday Leave
- Jury Duty
- Maternity & Childcare Leave
- Meal and Rest Periods
- Military Leave
- Personal Leave
- Sick Leave (including bereavement)
- Tardiness
- Vacation Leave
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. Employees in full pay status for at least seven separate full working days during a pay period receive vacation credits for that 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 college begins April 1.
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Attendance Record
An accurate record of attendance must be maintained for and by each employee. 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 sheet 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.
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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. The workweek is Thursday through Wednesday. Compensatory time must be used within a year following the year it was earned. An employee will be compensated for unused compensatory time up to 30 days upon separation from State service. Compensatory time cannot be transferred to another agency.
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Jury Duty
On proof of necessity of jury service, an employee shall be granted leave with pay without charge to leave credits. The President has designated department heads to authorize leave with pay for jury service.
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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 Council 82 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 college procedures for requesting time off. Floating holidays must be earned in units of a standard workday, but may be charged 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 an 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 (April 1 - March 31). 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 college. 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.
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Maternity & Childcare Leave
Permanent employees who are disabled because of pregnancy or childbirth are eligible for the same disability benefits available to other employees who incur a temporary disability. Temporary employees are eligible for all benefits, except sick leave at half pay, until employment would otherwise terminate. For certain Management/Confidential employees, disability benefits are provided after sick leave is exhausted. Normally, sick leave and other disability benefits (sick leave at half pay) are available for use four weeks prior to the anticipated due date and six weeks following the actual delivery date. If your disability begins prior to this period or extends beyond it, you will need to provide specific medical documentation. Employees, without regard to gender, are entitled to childcare leave without pay for up to seven months from the date of delivery. The postnatal period of medical disability is included in this seven-month period. Once the medical disability period (stated in the above) has ended, the employee may no longer charge sick leave; however, absence may be charged to other credits such as vacation and personal leave at the employee's option. Once these accruals are exhausted, employees are placed on leave without pay for the remainder of the seven months. Of course, you need not request leave for the entire seven-month period if you wish to resume work earlier. If both parents are State employees, several options may exist for them. One parent may elect to take the childcare leave, they may elect to split the seven-month leave, or they may request concurrent leave. As applicable, Family and Medical Leave entitlement runs concurrent with maternity & childcare leave.
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Meal & 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.
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Military Leave
Pursuant to the New York State Military Law, an employee is eligible for leave(s) of absence with pay for "ordered military duty" for up to thirty (30) calendar days or twenty-two (22) working days (whichever is greater) in a calendar year. Requests for leave of absence with pay for "ordered military duty" should be submitted on a Change of Status Form. A copy of the employee's orders should accompany the request for leave. If a copy of the employee's orders are not available prior to the commencement of military duty, the employee will be placed on leave of absence without pay pending receipt of the orders in the Office of Human Resources Management. Military Leave will run concurrent with Family Military Leave entitlements as allowable under the federal FMLA.
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Personal Leave
Classified service employees receive 5 days of personal leave a year, depending on bargaining unit, date of hire, and years of service. This leave is intended to cover absences for reasons such as religious and personal business. Personal leave is not cumulative. Any unused amount expires at the close of business the day before the individual's personal leave anniversary date.
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Sick Leave (including bereavement)
Accruing Sick Leave Most employees accrue 13 days of sick leave per year, one-half (1/2) a day of sick leave for every two weeks on the State payroll. To earn sick leave credits, employees must work 7 full separate days out of the 10 days in a pay period. Sick leave credits may be accumulated up to a maximum of 200 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 up to 15 days of accumulated sick leave credits per calendar year for death or illness in the immediate family. Such use is subject to the approval of the supervisor, but authorization should not be unreasonably denied. The rule of thumb 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 (bereavement form) may be properly used for a death in the employee's immediate 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:
- Have at least a year of State service.
- Be absent because of personal illness or disability.
- 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, a 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 college. 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.
Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) When applicable Family and Medical Leave Act entitlement will run concurrent with paid or unpaid sick leaves.
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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. Excess tardiness may subject an employee to progressive discipline up through and including termination as such, employees are to arrive on time for work, return promptly from breaks and lunches, work through shift end, etc.
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. Supervisor may require proof that the employee was actually on duty as a volunteer.
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Vacation Leave
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.
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