Leave Accrual and Time Off

Leave accrual and time off is different based on your employee group.  Click your employee link below to view information related to your employee group.

 

Overview and Information

  • The "leave calendar year" begins with the first full pay period in January and ends with the pay period that includes December 31st.

  • Leave accrues on a biweekly basis throughout the year. Leave is not "front-ended" at the beginning of each calendar year. However, in some instances unearned leave may be "anticipated" - which means leave may be used before it is actually earned.

  • All leave requires the approval of the supervisor.

  • Requests for leave should be submitted to the supervisor as far in advance as possible to allow for departmental planning.

  • When an unexpected absence occurs, the employee must call the supervisor or another designated management employee at the beginning of the work day to report his/her absence. The standard practice is to call within a half hour of the employee’s start time. Different call-off practices may be established by individual offices and must be communicated to employees in writing.

  • For leave that was not pre-approved, an ESS Leave Request must be completed immediately upon return to work, with any required documentation attached.

 

Emergency Use of Annual or Personal Leave

Ordinarily, annual and personal leave must be requested and approved by the supervisor in advance of the employee's absence from work. However, it is not always possible to know in advance when a serious family problem or home emergency will make it impossible for the employee to report to work or stay at work.

Following are provisions for the emergency use of annual or personal leave:

  • The employee must make the leave request to the supervisor, or if not available, to another designated management employee as soon as possible after the need for the absence is apparent.

  • The supervisor reserves the right to require substantiation for the emergency nature of the request. If it is not provided at the supervisor’s request, the leave could be denied.