VACATION LEAVE

Eligibility

Fully benefits-eligible employees (Appointed Personnel on fiscal-year appointments, University Staff, Classified Staff, and Postdoctoral Scholars) who are regularly scheduled to work 20 or more hours per week (.50 FTE) in a position that is six months or more in duration accrue vacation leave.

Employees with limited benefits do not accrue vacation leave.

Vacation Leave Accrual

Eligible employees accrue vacation hours on a biweekly basis, calculated according to their FTE. Because vacation leave is prorated by FTE, employees who reduce their FTE will see a corresponding decrease in the number of hours earned.

Employees do not earn vacation/annual leave during leaves without pay or during work breaks. 

University Staff

Eligible University Staff employees on fiscal-year schedules earn 6.77 hours per pay period (22 vacation days per year), prorated by FTE. University staff employees on academic-year schedules earn 6.77 hours of vacation time per pay period, but only during the months they are working.

  UAGC Employees

All UAGC employees (staff, full-time faculty, and associate faculty) are considered University Staff.

 

Appointed Personnel

Appointed Personnel on fiscal-year appointments earn 6.77 hours per pay period (22 vacation days per year), prorated by FTE.

Faculty on academic-year appointments do not earn paid vacation leave. Faculty members who move from a fiscal-year appointment to an academic-year appointment must use all accrued vacation time prior to the end of the fiscal appointment. They forfeit any remaining vacation hours at the beginning of the academic-year contract.

Non-faculty Academic Professionals on an academic-year schedule earn 6.77 hours of vacation per pay period (prorated by FTE), but only during the months they are working.

 

Postdoctoral Scholars

Postdoctoral scholars employed on a fiscal-year schedule earn 10 days in their first year of appointment and 15 days in each subsequent year, prorated by FTE. Postdoctoral scholars employed on an academic-year schedule earn vacation time only during the months they are working.

 

Procedure

  • Employees request approval from their supervisor to use vacation leave.
  • Supervisors are responsible for approving and scheduling their employees' vacation leave, and for accommodating employee requests to the extent that the workload and department requirements permit.
  • Supervisor approval of the employee's timesheet in UAccess Employee constitutes approval of vacation.
  • Vacation is not charged when official University holidays occur during a period of approved vacation.
  • The number of paid vacation/annual leave days available to an employee at any given time is the number of vacation days carried forward from prior years plus the number of days earned during the current year. 
  • Eligible employees who separate from the University are paid for their accumulated vacation hours up to the amount they earn in one year.

Vacation Carry Forward

Employees other than postdoctoral scholars may carry forward 320 vacation hours (prorated by FTE) from one calendar year to the next. Accruals in excess of this amount are forfeited at the end of the pay period that includes January 1. An employee's FTE during the pay period that includes January 1 will determine the number of vacation hours that may be carried over.

Postdoctoral scholars may carry forward 1½ times the maximum number of vacation hours earned in a given year from one calendar year to the next. Excess vacation hours will be forfeited if they are not used by the end of the calendar year. 

Postdoctoral Scholars
Length of Service Maximum Vacation Hours That May Be Carried
Forward Each Calendar Year
  1.0 FTE* Other FTE*
Year 1 (accrual rate = 3.08 hours/pay period) 120 120 x FTE
Years 2–5 of continuous service (accrual rate = 4.62 hours/pay period) 180 180 x FTE

* Fiscal year employment

Vacation Payout When Employment Ends

Employees other than postdoctoral scholars who separate from University employment are paid for their accumulated vacation hours up to the amount they earn in one year. For employees at 1.0 FTE earning 6.77 hours per pay period, this is 176 hours. Postdoctoral scholars are not paid for their accrued vacation time when their employment ends.

The vacation payout is computed at the compensation rate and FTE in effect on the last day worked.

Link to Policies

Arizona Board of Regents Policy 6-803, Vacation Leave
Classified Staff Human Resources Policy 200.0 Vacation
University Handbook for Appointed Personnel policy 8.01.01
University Staff Manual policy 3-113
Conditions of Postdoctoral Service