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The College of Charleston offers a generous leave policy that falls under the State of South Carolina guidelines. Leave Benefits are provided for permanent employees who are in administration, faculty, classified positions and for benefits-eligible temporary grant positions. This web site is designed to provide pertinent information regarding our leave benefits. ANNUAL LEAVE - Vacation or Personal Leave Full time classified and non-faculty administrative employees accrue annual leave at the rate of 10 hours per month. After completion of 10 years of service, full-time classified employees earn additional time increasing each year up to a maximum of 20 hours of annual leave per month in the 22nd year. Grant-funded employees with benefits are not eligible for the additional leave accrual since they do not earn State Service time. Part-time employees working at least half-time earn annual leave on a pro-rated basis. Leave accrued each month cannot be taken until the following month. An employee in a pay status one-half or more of the working days of the month will earn annual leave for that month and also while on sick or annual leave. No leave is earned while an employee is in a Leave Without Pay status. Leave is requested, granted and recorded in the departments. There are specific departmental policies and procedures concerning leave which must be followed. All leave requests are subject to departmental approval. Leave Request Forms should be completed in advance unless an emergency situation exists. In this instance, verbal approval should be obtained. An employee may carry 360 hours of annual leave from one calendar year to the next and may use a maximum of 240 hours a calendar year. Employees are paid for up to 360 hours of annual leave upon retiring or leaving employment. Grant-funded employees may be required to use or forfeit leave upon separation. Leave may be transferred from one State agency to another under certain circumstances.
HOLIDAY LEAVE (click here to link to current year's holiday schedule) State holidays are observed with pay. Certain state holidays not observed by the College earlier in the calendar year are observed during the Christmas season holiday. Employees in permanent and Grant funded positions with benefits who are first employed during the calendar year before Christmas will receive the Christmas season holidays with pay. The sick leave benefit is provided to administration, classified (staff), unclassified (faculty) and eligible grant employees who are unable to perform their job due to illness or injury. Sick leave is also used for medical and dental appointments during working hours. Full-time employees earn 10 hours of leave a month. Employees working less than full-time earn sick leave on a pro-rated basis. Ten hours a month is the maximum monthly accrual and may be taken in the month following the first month of earned leave. The total accrual of sick leave that may be carried from one calendar year to the next is 1,440 hours. The number of Sick Family Leave hours used, 80 hours max. a calendar year, is deducted from the sick leave balance. Employees are not paid for their sick leave balances upon retiring or leaving employment. Advanced sick leave of 40 hours may be requested by the employee under extenuating circumstances. The written employee request, along with medical documentation, must be approved by the department and Human Resources. Once the employee returns to work, no sick leave is used until the entire 40 hours is repaid. Sick leave is requested, recorded and approved in the department. Notification of a sick leave request should be done as soon as possible and should follow departmental guidelines. Written medical evidence to support the use of this leave may be requested by the department. Sick leave used for serious medical situations may fall under the guidelines of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (flag FMLA in HR Policies)and, if so, will run concurrently. DEATH IN THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY An employee, upon request, shall be granted up to three consecutive workdays of leave with pay on the death of any member of the employee's immediate family. Immediate family is defined as the spouse, great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, legal guardians, brothers, spouse of brothers, sisters, spouse of sisters, children, spouse of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren of either the employee or the spouse. An employee requesting leave for a death in the immediate family shall submit a statement to the appropriate authority stating the name of the deceased and the relationship to the deceased. COURT LEAVE OR JURY DUTY Leave with pay is granted to employees who are summoned as a member of a jury or subpoenaed as a witness. Court issued documentation is required. Court leave is not granted for personal litigation cases. Based on departmental approval, annual or leave without pay may be used for personal court appearances. If an employee is excused from jury duty, he is expected to return to work.MILITARY LEAVE Employees are entitled to a leave of absence with pay for a maximum of 15 work days per year. Other requirements apply if an extended leave is necessary. Accrued annual leave is used for an extended period of leave without pay if no annual leave is available. Military orders are required as documentation.This is time used to care for ill members of their immediate family. The amount of Sick Family Leave is currently 80 hours per year deducted from sick leave. Family members who qualify include spouse and children, also parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, legal guardian, foster children, and grandchildren of the employee or spouse. Eligible grandchildren must reside with the employee who must be the primary caretaker of the grandchild. FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE The Family Medical Leave Act requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks of leave to eligible employees for certain family and medical reasons. Leave with and without pay may be used. The paid and unpaid leave will run concurrently. Employees must provide medical certification following specific guidelines. Refer to Human Resources Policies (FMLA Policy) for additional information concerning the Family Medical Leave Act. LEAVE WITHOUT PAY This pay status may apply for extended military leave, hazardous weather or emergency situations. An Employee who has used all annual and sick leave may also be put in a leave without pay status. Hours used under this leave must be recorded on the employee's time report. Leave taken under this status may also be part of a FMLA situation. Leave without pay may be requested by the employee and must be approved by the department. Unauthorized leave without pay for three consecutive work days may result in dismissal based on abandonment of position. LEAVE TRANSFER POOL Pool leave is donated by employees for the use of other employees who are in an extreme personal emergency situation and have exhausted all sick and annual leave. It must be declared necessary, approved by Human Resources and approved and funded by the employee's department. Specific documentation is required and factors such as the employee's leave record may be considered before approval. Pool leave may also qualify under FMLA provisions and will run concurrently. This leave will terminate if an employee becomes eligible for other paid benefits. Examples of other paid benefits include but are not limited to workers' compensation, long term disability or other sources of income. Unused leave is returned to the Leave Pool. HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND EMERGENCY LEAVE When the Governor issues a Declaration of Emergency for this specific area of the State, he can provide State employees with leave with pay for absences from work due to the state of emergency. In the event that the Governor does not provide State employees leave with pay, an employee who does not report to work or who reports late to work shall use annual leave or compensatory time to make up hours not worked, take leave without pay, or be allowed to make up the hours missed. BLOOD DONATION LEAVE Blood drives may be held at a place determined by the agency. employees may participate during work hours without using sick or annual leave. Blood donation, other than the blood drive, is based on departmental approval. The employee should notify his department in advance and request needed leave. Documentation may be required by department. BONE MARROW LEAVE An employee who works an average of 20 hours or more a week may be granted bone marrow donor leave with pay. The total amount of paid leave may not exceed 40 hours unless approved by the agency. This leave requires verification by a health care practitioner. If a medical determination finds that the employee does not qualify as a bone marrow donor, the paid leave granted before that medical determination is not forfeited. TRANSFERRED LEAVE If an employee transfers from another South Carolina State agency with no break in service, the sick and annual leave may be transferred to our agency. Supporting documentation from the former agency is required. Leave of employees not funded by State sources is not transferable to other South Carolina State agencies. RESPONSIBILITY AND COMPUTATION OF LEAVE Leave is authorized and recorded in the departments. Paid annual or sick leave should only be approved if it is available. The supervisor is responsible for this verification. The head of the department is responsible for the accuracy of leave taken and recorded on the employee time reports. Time reports are sent to the Payroll Office for computation and adjustments. The Human Resources Department is responsible for interpretation of the leave policy. Abuse or violation of this policy may lead to disciplinary actions. (please see Hours of Work Policy) LEAVE VERIFICATION STATEMENT After the beginning of the current calendar year, employees receive a statement listing available sick and annual leave. This statement provides leave amounts used in the previous calendar year and any leave hours forfeited. Forfeited leave results if an employee has more than 360 hours of annual leave or 1,440 hours of sick leave at the end of the previous calendar year. Based on State regulations, only 360 hours of annual leave or 1,440 hours of sick leave may be carried from one calendar year to the next. This statement also provides a section for the donation of the forfeited (lost) leave hours to the leave pool. The number of hours to be donated is listed, the employee signs at the bottom and the form is returned to Human Resources. Donation of this excess leave will in no way effect the leave balances of the employee. ANNUAL LEAVE PAYOFF Upon leaving employment or at the time of retirement, an employee may be paid for up to 360 hours of annual leave. Employees starting the TERI program after June 30, 2005 will not receive payment for unused annual leave until after they terminate from State employment and end participation in the TERI program. Retirees hired by the State after June 30, 2005, will not receive payment for unused annual leave following termination. Employees with benefits who are funded by other than State sources, such as Grant funding, may not be entitled to payment for unused annual leave, nor is it transferable to another S.C. State agency. |
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