TIME AWAY FROM WORK

Holidays

As a regular employee, you will be allowed those paid holidays provided by state law and set forth in the UT Southwestern Vacation and Holiday Schedule published annually by the vice president for human services administration The Vacation and Holiday Schedule is mailed to each employee annually. Part-time regular employees will be allowed paid holidays on a pro rata basis equivalent to their percentage of appointment.

Regular employees who are required to work on an officially scheduled holiday
will be allowed another day off as their holiday. This time should be used during the 12-month period following the date of the holiday worked. If your department determines that allowing you to take another day off would be disruptive to the department's normal teaching, research, or other critical functions, you may be paid on a straight time basis (one hour's regular pay for each hour worked) for the hours worked on the holiday.

Vacation Leave

As a regular employee, you earn paid vacation leave on the first day of each month you are employed at the rate published in the annual Vacation and Holiday Schedule.

Vacation Scheduling

You must obtain prior approval from your supervisor in accordance with your department's leave request guidelines before using vacation leave. To insure continued efficient delivery of departmental services, usually only a limited number of employees can be scheduled off on a regular workday. However, every effort will be made to grant your vacation leave request, provided you requested the leave at least 30 days in advance and your absence will not create an undue hardship on the department.

Probationary Employee Vacation Use

You may not use accrued vacation leave until you have had continuous employment with the state for six months.

Unearned Vacation Leave

Vacation leave may not be taken before it is earned.

Vacation Carryover

You should take vacation leave during the fiscal year in which it is accrued. However, subject to the maximum amount set forth in the annual Vacation and Holiday Schedule, you may carry vacation leave accruals forward to the next fiscal year. Vacation leave accruals in excess of the maximum carryover amount will be converted to sick leave on September 1st of each year.

Disposition of Vacation Leave at End of Employment

If you have been an employee of the state for six continuous months and your employment ends, you will receive payment for your unused vacation leave. The estates of deceased employees will receive payment for the deceased employees' unused vacation leave.

Sick Leave

There may be occasions when it is necessary for you to be absent from work due to personal illness or injury, or that of your immediate family. Beginning with your first month of employment as a regular employee, you will accrue one day of sick leave during each month of employment. Regular part-time employees accrue sick leave on a pro rata basis. Sick leave is intended to minimize economic hardships you might otherwise experience because of illness or injury related absences from work. It is not intended to be used in its entirety each year. Excessive use of sick leave results in your unavailability for work, and such unavailability can affect your work performance. It is therefore important to use sick leave accruals wisely.

Use of Sick Leave

Sick Leave may be used for absences due to your illness or injury or when you must be absent to care for and assist a member of your immediate family who is actually ill or injured or where exposure to a contagious disease requires quarantine or isolation of you or your immediate family.

• Medical Appointments: Sick leave accruals may be used for medical, dental, and counseling appointments.
• Immediate Family: For sick leave purposes, immediate family means those persons living in your household who are either related to you by kinship, adoption, or marriage, or are certified by the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services as your foster children. If the family member is not living in your household, he or she must be totally dependent upon you for personal care or services on a continuing basis as a direct result of a documented medical condition. Your minor children are not required to live in your household to be considered a part of your immediate family.
• Extended Sick Leave Absences: If you are away from work for more than three workdays (25 hours or more) you must provide your supervisor with a written statement from your health-care provider releasing you to return to work.

Misuse of Sick Leave

Use of sick leave under false pretenses constitutes an abuse of sick leave privileges. Evidence of abuse of sick leave privileges may include, among other things, repeated depletion of sick leave as it accumulates and patterns of using sick leave on days immediately prior to or after a weekend, holiday, or other day on which you are scheduled to be off work. Should your supervisor suspect that you are abusing your sick leave privileges, he or she may, after giving you an appropriate warning and counseling, require you to submit a physician's statement for any absence due to illness or injury.

Disposition of Sick Leave upon Death of Employee

The estate of an employee who dies while employed at UT Southwestern will be paid for one-half of the employee's unused sick leave accruals up to a maximum of 336 hours.

Sick Leave Pool

• A sick leave pool consisting of the sick leave voluntarily contributed to the pool by UT Southwestern employees has been established to provide a source of additional sick leave for those regular employees who have exhausted vacation and sick leave accruals because of a catastrophic illness or injury.
• "Catastrophic illness or injury" means, 1) a severe condition or combination of conditions that threatens your life or that of an immediate family member;
  2) that requires the services of a licensed practitioner for a prolonged period of time; and, 3) requires you to exhaust accrued leave and to lose compensation from the state.

Family and Medical Leave

If you have been employed by the State of Texas for 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the commencement of a leave period that qualifies as family or medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, you are eligible for up to 12 weeks of family leave during a 12-month period for certain family reasons. These reasons are as follows:

• Birth of a son or daughter and care after such birth (during the child's first year of life).
• Placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care (during first year of placement).
• A serious health condition of your spouse, child, or parent.
• Your own serious health condition when you are unable to perform your essential job functions.

If both you and your spouse are employed by a component of The University of Texas System and are both eligible for a family and medical leave, you will have a combined eligibility of up to 12 weeks (not 12 weeks each).

While on family and medical leave, you are required to use your applicable paid leave and compensatory time accruals. If you exhaust your applicable paid leave accruals and compensatory time before the end of your family and medical leave period, you will not be paid during the balance of your family and medical leave absence, and the remaining time away from work will be recorded as non-paid leave.

During a period of approved family and medical leave, your medical and other group insurance will remain in effect. However, you will be required to continue to pay your share of any premiums. Contact the Systems and Benefits Division of the Office of Human Resources for additional information and to make arrangements for the payment of your share of any premiums. Additional information concerning your rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 may be found in the Appendix.