Leave Accrual for Health Sciences Center Programs

This page describes the leave accrual rates and guidelines for employees in Health Sciences Center programs. These have been updated in June 2015 as part of the TAL System, which is now managed through Payroll Services.

Employment Category
Years of Service

Hourly Accrual*

Biweekly Accrual**
Annual Accrual
Maximum Accrual
Executive Officers,
Administrative Officers, and 12 Month Faculty
Each Year
 
10.15 hours
33 days
(264 hours)
42 days
(336 hours)
All Other Staff 1st - 5th year
(0 - 60 months) 		0.1038 8.31 hours 27 days
(216 hours) 		42 days
(336 hours)
  6th - 10th year
(61 - 120 months) 		0.1154 9.23 hours 30 days
(240 hours) 		42 days
(336 hours)
  11 or more years
(121+ months) 		0.1269 10.15 hours 33 days
(264 hours) 		42 days
(336 hours)

* Hourly employees accrue paid leave per hour paid.
** Salaried employees accrue paid leave biweekly. Leave accrual for salaried employees is pro-rated based on the employee's FTE (see Accrual Rates by FTE below).

Hours accrued over the maximum accrual (336 hours) will be moved to an employee's Extended Sick Leave balance.

For additional leave information, please contact Human Resources.

Leave Accrual Guidelines

Accrual Rates by FTE

Salaried Employees

Accrual rates for salaried employees are prorated based on FTE as described below. Paid leave does not accrue during leave without pay or Extended Sick Leave.

FTE and Multiplier for Leave

.50 - .59 FTE multiply the rate by .5
.60 - .74 FTE multiply the rate by .75
.75 - 1.0 FTE multiply the rate by 1.0

Example: A 12-month salaried employee in their third year of employment with .60 FTE would accrue 13.5 hours of paid leave for each full month worked.

Calculation: 18 hours (accrual for 3 year employee with 1.00 FTE)  x .74 = 13.5 hours accrued

Hourly Employees

Hourly employees accrue paid leave per hour paid. This includes regular hours worked, paid leave, and holidays, but excludes Extended Sick Leave and overtime hours.

Terminating or Retiring

Termination: Employees are paid their leave balances up to their annual accrual amount; except that employees appointed to grants and contracts accounts will not be paid for accrued leave upon termination unless the grant or contract contains sufficient funds to pay for accrued leave. Extended Sick Leave (ESL) balances are not paid out upon termination. PTO payouts are based on University FTE which is tied to base pay only. In cases of termination or retirement, no payment will be made for hours remaining in the ESL account.

Retiring: Employees are paid their full leave balances up to the maximum accrual amount; except that employees appointed to grants and contracts accounts will not be paid for accrued leave upon termination unless the grant or contract contains sufficient funds to pay for accrued leave. Extended Sick Leave balances are not paid out upon retirement.

New Employees

New employees begin accruing leave on their date of hire according to the accrual rates described above and in proportion to the amount of time worked in the pay period. Paid leave accrual will be reflected the week following the end of an employee's first pay period.

Accrual Rate Increases

When an employee’s years of service move them to the next accrual level, the employee will receive the higher accrual rate in the pay period immediately following their anniversary date. 

9-Month & 10-Month Faculty

Nine- and ten-month faculty accrue 96 hours (12 days) of extended sick leave per year. There is no maximum accrual amount for full-time faculty members with the rank of instructor or above who hold continuous appointments.

Nine- and ten-month faculty do not accrue other paid leave. Absences of nine- and ten-month faculty for reasons other than personal illness will be charged as leave without pay.

HSC Faculty Handbook: Extended Sick Leave Policy for Nine- and Ten-month Faculty, Section 6.5.4

Medical Residents

Medical residents are granted paid time off separately for vacation leave and sick leave.

Vacation Leave

Vacation leave is paid time off that may be used by Medical Residents for vacation, personal reasons, funeral attendance, and illness or death of a family member. Requires the approval of the Chief Resident and other individuals as designated by each department.

Residents are granted 120 hours (15 days) per year. Time may be used immediately with approval. Balances are not cumulative and do not carry over from year to year. Residents should plan to use vacation time in the year that it is earned. Residents cannot take more time off than they will earn in an academic year.

Sick Leave

Sick leave is paid time off that may be used by Medical Residents for personal illness with approval of the Program Director or other individuals as designated by each department.

Residents are granted 120 hours (15 days) per year. If no hours have been accrued, time off for personal illness will be charged to leave without pay. If Residents request time off for reasons other than personal illness, time is to be charged to vacation leave.

Educational Leave

Residents may request up to 5 days of educational leave each year. Educational leave will be granted solely at the discretion of the Program Director, who also determines the travel reimbursement policy for the individual program.

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Post-doctoral fellows in Health Sciences Center programs receive 15 days vacation and 15 days sick leave at the beginning of each fiscal year (July 1). Leave balances do not carry-over from year to year.

Vacation and sick leave are not prorated. Postdocs hired between the 1st and 15th of the month will receive the full month’s accrual; those hired after the 15th will not receive vacation or sick leave for the month in which they are hired.

Payout on termination or conversion to benefits eligible faculty or staff is not permitted.
OUHSC administers separate vacation and sick leaves for post-doctoral fellows. If a post-doc is appointed to a benefits eligible faculty or staff position, vacation and sick balances are reduced to zero and accrual begins using the appropriate PTO schedule.

Employees on Grants or Contracts

Departments are expected to allow employees appointed to grants and contracts accounts to use all earned paid leave time during the specified period of their appointment unless: 

  • the grant or contract contains sufficient funds to pay accumulated leave time upon termination or
  • the employee is transferring to a department that is willing to accept the accrued leave.