Time, Leave, & Holidays

Norman

• PLS - Paid leave scheduled non-exempt
• PLU - Paid leave unscheduled non-exempt
• SPL - Paid leave exempt 
• PFM - Paid leave/FMLA non-exempt (when FMLA-qualifying event is included)
• FML - Paid leave/FMLA exempt (when FMLA-qualifying event is included)

HSC

• 170 - Paid leave
• 175 - Paid leave/FMLA (when FMLA-qualifying event is included)
• 178 - Medical resident vacation
• 188 - Medical resident sick leave
• 120 - Medical resident educational leave

Definition: Accrued hours that may be used by twelve-month faculty and staff, with supervisory approval, for paid time off.

Summary of Policy:To accrue paid leave employees must hold a continuous appointment of at least 50% Full Time Equivalent (FTE).  

FTE is based on the total of all hours in an employee’s active job record(s). 1.00 FTE = 173.33 standard hours each month.

Leave accrual rates are based on employment category and/or years of service. Accrual maximums are the same for all employees of an employment category regardless of FTE.

Medical residents, 9-month faculty, temporary and student employees do not accrue paid leave. See details under "Accrual Rates & Guidelines by Employee Group."

Find more information about leave accrual for Norman programs here.

HSC

Payroll coordinators in HSC programs may adjust leave accruals in HR PeopleSoft HCM when necessary to ensure that the official record of leave matches the leave taken and recorded in the department. If an employee’s record of leave continues to require adjustment, contact the Leave Coordinator in Human Resources.

PeopleSoft Earning Codes

• 172 – Paid Leave Adjustment
• 182 – ESL Adjustment
• 179 – Resident Vacation Adjustment
• 189 – Resident Sick Leave Adjustment

Norman

If leave balances need to be adjusted for Norman programs, contact Payroll and Employee Services.

Paid Leave will accrue for the amount of time or percentage of time a benefits-eligible employee is on:

• Paid leave
• Paid leave-FMLA
• Sabbatical (full or half-pay)
• Paid administrative leave
• Paid military leave
• Judicial leave (jury duty)
• Holiday pay
• Paid class hours
• Compensatory time taken

Paid Leave will not accrue for the amount of time or percentage of time an employee is on:

• Leave without pay
• Extended sick leave
• Military leave without pay
• VA or non-university funding
• Leave without pay-FMLA
• Administrative leave without pay
• Terminal paid leave

For monthly paid employees using one of the leave types above, the paid leave accrual will be prorated based on the number of days worked in proportion to the employee’s FTE. Contact Payroll and Employee Services in Norman for examples and more information.

Biweekly paid employees will receive paid leave accrual on the hours submitted as hours worked or for the leave types listed above under ‘When does leave accrue?’.

HR PeopleSoft HCM will automatically calculate overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per work week. 

Norman

• CPA - Comp time earned
• CPT - Comp time used
• CPP - Comp time pay out

Health Sciences Center

• 920 - Comp time earned
• 935 - Comp time used
• 940 - Comp time pay out

Overtime 

Overtime is compensation for hourly employees (non-exempt employees) that are required to work in excess of 40 hours in a designated work week. Part-time hourly employees (less than 1.0 FTE) do not accrue overtime unless they work more than 40 hours in a designated work week. 

Overtime work must be approved in advance by the supervisor. 

Hourly employees accepting work in a budget unit other than their primary one are responsible for notifying the secondary budget unit of their employment status with the university. Whenever the combined hours of work of hourly employees exceed 40 hours in a work week, overtime pay must be paid for the excess hours. In each such instance, the budget unit exceeding the appointed FTE will be responsible for paying overtime.

Pay Rate

Hourly employees are eligible for overtime pay at the rate of time-and-a-half for the time worked in excess of 40 hours per work week. For the purposes of computing overtime pay, paid leave and holidays will be treated as hours worked in Norman programs only. Paid leave and holidays are not to be used to calculate overtime pay for HSC programs. 

Exclusions

Excluded from overtime compensation are unscheduled paid leave, extended sick leave, administrative leave, and services that are occasional and sporadic in nature, performed solely at the employee’s discretion, and that are unrelated to the type of work normally performed by the employee (e.g. taking tickets, ushering, parking cars, keeping athletic scores, etc.).

Salaried employees (exempt employees) are not normally eligible for overtime pay. Exceptions to this policy must be approved in advance by the appropriate provost or vice president.

Compensatory Time

Compensatory time (comp time) is an alternative method for compensating hourly (non-exempt) employees who work overtime. No overtime is to be worked unless it is approved in advance by the employee's supervisor. 

No employee shall be required to receive compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay unless an agreement or understanding is reached by the employer and employee before the performance of the work.

Accrual Rate

Compensatory time is accrued as one-and-one-half hours for each hour worked in excess of 40 hours in a work week. Compensatory time can be used by the employee like paid time off.  

Limitations

Compensatory time off must be taken within one year of the date of accumulation. Employees will be automatically paid for compensatory time not taken after one year.

No more than 90 hours of compensatory time (60 hours worked) may be accumulated. Employees will be paid automatically for any compensatory hours in excess of 90.

Transferring or terminating employees will be required to use all compensatory hours before transferring or be paid by the department in which the compensatory time was accrued.

Exclusions

Salaried (exempt) employees are not normally eligible for compensatory time. Exceptions to this policy must be approved in advance by the appropriate provost or vice president.

The normal, designated work week shall begin at 12:01 am Saturday and end the following Friday at midnight.

Departments working flexible or alternative schedules may change the standard work week with approval from Human Resources.

Definition: Designated days when university offices are closed and employees receive pay. To be eligible for holiday pay, employees must hold a continuous appointment of at least .50 FTE.

Summary of Policy: Holiday time is granted to benefits eligible employees in proportion to their full-time equivalency (FTE). Faculty appointed to 9-month positions* will be granted holiday time for those holidays which fall within their contract. Students and other temporary employees are not eligible for paid holidays.

The university recognizes 11 paid holidays each academic year. Human Resources publishes the Holiday schedule.  The Tulsa Campus may operate under varied policies and may publish a separate schedule. Holidays on Saturdays will be observed by the university on the preceding Friday. Holidays on Sundays will be observed by the university on the following Monday.

*HSC programs may also rarely have faculty appointed to 10-month positions. In those cases, policies for 9-month faculty also apply to 10-month faculty. 

To receive compensation for holidays, an employee must be at work or on approved leave with pay on the day preceding or the day following the designated holiday.

Terminating employees must work either the day preceding or the day following a holiday to be eligible for holiday pay. Contact Human Resources for information.

Retiring employees, i.e. employees receiving OTRS, OU, or Social Security retirement, and the beneficiaries of deceased employees will be paid for accrued paid leave time up to the maximum accrual allowance and will receive pay for holidays falling within the terminal pay period.

Holiday compensation is prorated based on full-time equivalency (FTE) for benefit-eligible employees with less than 1.0 FTE.

Example 1: Prorating for an employee with one position and an FTE of .50 for the month of November (16 holiday hours).

Calculation: 16 x .5 = 8 hours of holiday pay

Example 2: Prorating for an employee with multiple positions and an FTE of .60 – eligible for benefits at 60% - for the month of November (16 Holiday hours).

Calculation:

• (Position 1 .30 FTE) 16 x .30 = 4.8 hours holiday pay
• (Position 2 .30 FTE) 16 x .30 = 4.8 hours holiday pay
• TOTAL = 9.6 hours holiday pay

University offices are officially closed on these holidays except where continuous operations must be sustained to avoid conflicts with patient care, teaching schedules, and service-related functions.

Benefits-eligible employees who are required to work on these specific dates may be given an alternative date(s) to take the designated holiday. The alternative holiday is to be scheduled between the affected employee and their supervisor.

Norman

• ESL - Extended sick leave for non-exempt employees
• XSL - Extended sick leave for exempt employees

Health Sciences Center

• 180 - Extended sick leave
• 185 - Extended sick leave/FMLA (when applicable)

Employees must hold a continuous appointment of at least .50 FTE to accrue extended sick leave (ESL). ESL may be used only after hours have accrued. ESL is available to be used for personal illness of the employee or caring for a qualified family member who is approved under FMLA. How quickly ESL can be used depends on the kind of appointment the employee has (see following panes). 

Acceptable medical documentation of illness or disability and supervisory authorization are required before charges to ESL are allowed.
 

For employees that are in 12-month appointments, extended sick leave for personal illness shall be taken in the following order: 

1. Five (5) days of paid leave time
2. Extended sick leave
3. Compensatory leave
4. Remaining paid leave time
5. Leave without pay

Faculty appointed to 9-month positions* 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. 9-month faculty do not accrue other paid leave.

Nine-month faculty in Norman may use extended sick leave once hours have been accrued, with approval from their supervisor. If no hours have been accrued, time will be charged to leave without pay.

Absences of 9-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 6.4.3
Norman Faculty Handbook: Extended Sick Leave Policy for Nine-Month Faculty, Section 3.21.4

An employee may transfer accrued paid leave time to an ESL account by submitting a written request to their supervisor or payroll coordinator. Time deposited in the extended sick leave account may not be transferred back to the employee’s paid leave account.

Norman

Contact Payroll and Employee Services.

Health Sciences Center

Complete the Temporary Worker Appointment and Special Pay Request (OUPAY) form from Payroll Services and indicate hours and/or amount of the Paid Leave Termination Payout.

12-month employees who terminate employment and who have been employed by the university in a benefits-eligible position will be paid for accrued paid time off, not to exceed the employee’s annual accrual amount. 

Employees appointed to grants and contracts accounts are not paid for accrued leave upon termination unless the grant or contract contains a separate account with sufficient funds to pay for accumulated leave time upon termination. Grants and contracts employees are expected to use their paid leave time during their appointment period.

Retiring employees, i.e. employees receiving OTRS, OU, or Social Security retirement, and the beneficiaries of deceased employees will be paid for accrued paid leave time up to the maximum accrual allowance and will receive pay for holidays falling within the terminal pay period.

When an employee terminates, they are not paid for extended sick leave balances. Faculty appointed to 9-month positions* only accrue extended sick leave so they will not be paid any leave balances upon termination. 

*HSC programs may also rarely have faculty appointed to 10-month positions. In those cases, policies for 9-month faculty also apply to 10-month faculty. 

Medical Residents and Post-Doctoral Fellows in Health Sciences Center programs will not be paid for unused leave at the time of termination.