LEGISLATION & POLICY

2005 BONUS LEAVE GUIDELINES

The 2005 Appropriations Act, Section 29.14A.(a) includes a provision for a Special Annual Leave Bonus. These guidelines outline the procedures for implementation.


Provisions and Eligibility:

  1. Permanent and probationary, full-time and part-time State and public school employees, except those listed in No. 2 below, who are eligible to earn vacation leave as of September 1, 2005, receive 5 days of bonus leave.
  2. The following persons are not eligible to receive this leave:
    1. Employees who do not earn annual leave.
    2. Employees of the public schools paid on the Teacher Salary Schedule or the School-Based Administrator Salary Schedule (Object codes 114,116,119,121, 123, 124, 128, 129, and 139).
  3. Permanent full-time employees who work less than 12 months receive a pro rata amount of the 5 days.
  4. Permanent part-time employees (20 hrs per week or more) receive a pro rata amount of the 5 days.
  5. Employees on leave without pay are credited with the 5 days upon their return based on their type of appointment at the time of leave without pay.


Scheduling Bonus Leave:

  1. Bonus leave shall be taken only upon the authorization of the supervisor.
  2. Bonus leave may be used for any purpose for which regular vacation leave is used.
  3. Bonus leave shall be charged in units of time consistent with regular vacation leave guidelines.
  4. The employee determines whether approved annual leave is to be charged to regular vacation leave or bonus leave.


Accounting for the Vacation Bonus:

  1. Bonus leave shall be accounted for separately from regular earned vacation leave.
  2. Any balance of bonus leave on December 31 will be retained by the employee and transferred into the next calendar year. It will not be considered as part of the maximum 30 days of vacation that can be retained.
  3. Bonus leave will not be subject to conversion to sick leave.


Transfer:

Any balance of bonus leave will be transferred with the employee who transfers to another State agency or Local Education Agency eligible for bonus leave.


Separation/Status Change:

Bonus leave balance will be paid in addition to regular vacation leave if the employee leaves state government or public school employment or changes to a non-leave earning status.


Miscellaneous Provisions:

  1. Bonus leave may be applied to negative balances of regular earned leave with the approval of the employee and the superintendent (or designee).
  2. Bonus leave is available to be donated as vacation leave under the Voluntary Shared Leave provisions.
  3. Agencies shall maintain records of bonus leave.


SPECIAL ANNUAL LEAVE BONUS

Relevant Legislation

Senate Bill 622, the 2005 Appropriations Act.

SECTION 29.14A.(a) Except as provided by subsection (b) of this section, any person (i) who is a full-time permanent employee of the State, a community college institution, or a local board of education on September 1, 2005, and (ii) who is eligible to earn annual leave shall have a one-time additional five days of annual leave credited on that date. The additional leave shall be accounted for either separately or together with the leave provided by Section 28.3A of S.L. 2002-126 and by Section 30.12B(a) of S.L. 2003-284, and shall remain available until used, notwithstanding any other limitation on the total number of days of annual leave that may be carried forward. Part-time permanent employees shall receive a pro rata amount of the five days.

SECTION 29.14A.(b) The following persons are not eligible to receive the special annual leave bonus authorized by this section: (1) Any employee or officer who does not earn annual leave. (2) Any public school employee or State employee paid on the Teacher Salary Schedule or the School Based Administrator Salary Schedule.