SUNY University-Wide Human Resources Manual
Orientation - Attendance and Leave

Attendance Records

Non-exempt employees--almost all unclassified service employees of SUNY--are required to maintain a daily, accurate record of attendance including arrival and departure times and actual hours worked for each biweekly pay period.

Exempt employees (graduate/teaching assistants, academic employees, managerial/confidential employees, and professional employees, except such employees whose positions have been determined to be non-exempt) are required to certify that they have met their professional obligation on a monthly basis during their period of obligation on forms provided by their campus. Professional Employees determined to be "exempt" under the Fair Labor Standards Act may be eligible for "compensatory time" in certain circumstances. A statement about "compensatory time" for professional employees can be found under references at the end of this section. (Note: Campuses must require more detailed reports showing actual hours worked for unclassified service employees whose positions are determined to be non-exempt in order to calculate when overtime payments are necessary.)

All employees who are eligible to earn accruals are likewise required to indicate on their respective attendance records approved absences charged to such accruals and to maintain their accrual balances.

Classified service hourly employees must be in full pay status 7 of the 10 working days in a pay period in order to earn accruals. Exempt employees must be in full pay/obligation status for more than ½ of the month in order to accrue.

For part-time employees there are other special rules relating to their eligibility to earn and use accruals that are spelled out in the Attendance Rules for Classified Service, the appropriate collective bargaining unit agreement, and/or the Policies of the Board of Trustees (e.g., accrual rates for part-time academic employees are dependent upon the number of courses taught per semester; for part-time professional employees, the accrual rates are dependent upon projected earnings).

[Not all part-time employees are eligible to earn leave credits - i.e., part-time classified service employees paid hourly do not qualify until completion of 19 consecutive pay periods of at least half time service, except that such hourly part-time employees represented by CSEA or PEF may qualify for leave accruals from day one if it is anticipated that they will be employed on a fixed schedule of at least half-time for at least 19 payroll periods]. If employees need more information about accruals for part-time service they should contact their Human Resources Office. For information about the rate at which employees accrue credits in their category of employment they should consult their collective bargaining agreement, or, for M/C employees, the M/C benefits handbook or contact their Human Resources Office.

Extraordinary Weather Conditions

Normal operations must be continued as much as possible. Services related to the maintenance and security of facilities and the health and safety of students, staff, and guests (i.e. emergency management, food service, power plant, security, safety, snow removal, etc.) are considered essential and must be continued in spite of severe weather conditions.

College employees are required to remain on duty or report to work to avoid interruption of essential services unless directed or permitted to do otherwise. Under State policy, employee absences resulting from severe weather conditions, including "directed absences," must be charged to personal, overtime, holiday, or vacation accruals (unless the employee prefers a pay cut), even under circumstances requiring the cancellation of classes or the closing of the College. In very unusual circumstances, agencies may, after the fact, petition the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and/or the Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER) to suspend the Attendance Rules to excuse full-day absences without charge to leave credits. The (CSC)/(GOER) will consider such requests when buildings must be closed because they are unsafe, resulting in full day absences, or when extraordinary weather conditions affect the ability of large numbers of employees over a wide geographic area to report to work for periods in excess of one full-day.

Presidential Authority

The President, upon receipt of a recommendation from the director of University Police, the head of the College's emergency management team, may:

• cancel classes (employees are still expected to make reasonable efforts to come to work);
• excuse reasonable tardiness without charge to leave credits when extraordinary weather conditions affect the arrival time of a number of employees (full-day absences; however, cannot be excused without charge to leave credits or pay cuts);
• authorize the early departure of employees with appropriate charges to leave accruals or pay cuts when, in his opinion, weather conditions will likely severely disrupt return transportation to their homes;
• request the (CSC)/(GOER) to authorize him to direct the early departure of employees (except those represented by Council 82) without charge to leave accruals or pay cuts when, in his opinion, weather conditions are so severe as to threaten to make return home travel so dangerous that the continuation of employees on the job might endanger their health or safety; or
• request the Governor to authorize the restitution of accruals used in conjunction with extraordinary weather conditions so extreme as to have created a natural disaster situation affecting the ability of large numbers of employees over a wide geographic area to report to work for periods in excess of one full day.

Under "State Policy on Closing of State Offices" in the references at the end of this section you will find links to definitive policy documents related to this issue.

Holidays
The following days are observed as legal holiday by all State agencies:

New Year's Day Labor Day
Martin Luther King Day Columbus Day
Lincoln's Birthday Election Day
Washington's Birthday Veterans' Day
Memorial Day Thanksgiving Day
Independence Day Christmas Day

Classified service employees who are required to work on holidays either: (1) receive holiday pay (pay for an extra day at straight time rate), or (2) accrue a day off if they have filed a holiday pay waiver with the payroll office, except that such classified service employees who are represented by CSEA and PEF who have not waived their right to holiday pay will be paid time and a half for working on Thanksgiving or Christmas.Classified service employees are provided the opportunity to sign a holiday pay waiver upon initial appointment. Thereafter such employees have the opportunity to elect or revoke a holiday pay waiver each year between April 1 and May 14. The waiver of holiday pay form is available under "Form(s)" at the end of this section.

Professional employees with either college-year or calendar-year obligations who are required to work on holidays accrue a "compensatory day" off, except that they will accrue compensatory time at the rate of time and one half if they are required to work on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Part-time employees are eligible to accrue only holidays that fall on their normal day of work.

General rules are: (1) Holidays falling on Sunday are observed the following Monday; (2) Compensatory leave days to be taken at a later date usually are provided for holidays falling on Saturday; (3) Martin Luther King Day, President's Day (Washington's Birthday), Memorial Day, and Columbus Day are observed on Mondays regardless of where they actually occur in the calendar; and (4) some holidays have been designated floating holidays or another day has been designated for observance "in lieu of" a particular holiday as a result of collective bargaining agreements.

Holidays do not apply to employees with academic year obligations.

Jury Duty/Court Attendance
Whenever employees are required to appear for jury duty or are subpoenaed as a witness in court, they are entitled to leave with pay without charge to leave credits if they are not a party to the action. Proof that such absences are required must be submitted to the employee's supervisor prior to the leave. Employees may also be required to provide certification of actual hours of attendance in court.

Leave for jury duty includes time actually spent in court plus necessary travel time to get to the location of the court proceedings. Employees are not entitled to compensatory time off in lieu of an ordered appearance or jury attendance on a pass day or holiday.

Leave Donation Program
Employees who earn vacation accruals may donate such credits, and such vacation credits only, to employees at their payroll agency who have exhausted their sick leave credits and continue to be disabled and unable to return to work. It is not necessary for the donor and the recipient to be in the same negotiating unit to donate credits under this program. If employees qualify and wish to donate vacation credits to help another employee continue to receive pay while on disability leave they should review the general guidelines for the program by following the link to Leave Donation Program Guidelines in the references at the end of this page. If they qualify and still wish to donate vacation credits, they should complete a version of the Leave Donation Authorization Form available on the referenced guidelines page and submit it to the appropriate Human Resources or Payroll Office on their campus. For additional information and advice, contact the appropriate campus office.

Maternity/Child Care Leaves
Generally, under State polices and agreements with unions representing State employees, such leaves are without pay and must be granted for periods up to 7 months, except that the period of leave without pay may be reduced by charging leave accruals, including vacation and personal leave accruals, and, during any related period of temporary disability, by charging sick leave accruals. The use of sick leave is limited to the period of time during which the employee is disabled, as determined and verified by the employee's physician. Absent unusual circumstances, the period of disability related to pregnancy typically commences 2-4 weeks before the birth and extends 4-6 weeks following delivery. Depending upon the class of position to which an employee is appointed, employees who exhaust their leave accruals before any related period of temporary disability has ended, may request and may be approved for additional sick leave at full or reduced pay. Employees should see sick leave provisions of their labor union agreement and/or the Civil Service Law or the Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York, as appropriate, to their employment status.

Military Leave
A State employee entering active military duty is entitled to a leave of absence without pay while engaged in and going to and from military duty. Such leave cannot exceed a cumulative total of four years of voluntary service. See the military leave documents listed in the references at the end of this section for further assistance.

A State employee, who is a member of any reserve force is entitled to 30 calendar days or 22 work days of military leave a year or continuous period of military duty that spans more than one calendar year without a charge to leave credits for time required for duty/training in the reserves.

Other Leaves
Employees may request other leaves not specifically identified here. Such requests may be for leaves at full-pay, half-pay, other partial pay, or leaves without pay. For unclassified employees appointed under the authority of the SUNY Policies of the Board of Trustees such leaves are provided under Article XIII, Title F. Requests for all "other leaves" must be made in writing and include justification for the leave. The chief administrative officer has authority to approve such leaves but, for unclassified staff approved for such leaves at full or partial pay, and for extensions of sick leave with pay for such employees, a campus approved UP-3 must be placed in the employee's personnel file and a copy of the approved form must be forwarded to the SUNY Office of University-Wide Human Resources.

Personal Leave
Most classified service employees will be credited with five days of personal leave each year on their anniversary date of employment. Part-time employees covered under the attendance rules receive prorated personal leave. ***PEF employees appointed on or after April 1, 1982 receive three personal days annually***. The use of personal leave is subject to advance approval by employees' supervisors.

Unlike vacation and sick leave, personal leave is not cumulative. Any personal leave credits remaining unused on an employee's anniversary date shall be cancelled. Unused personal leave is not liquidated in cash at the time of separation, retirement, or death. [Personal leave is not provided to employees in the SUNY professional (unclassified) service].

Sabbatical Leaves
Academic employees having continuing appointments and certain administrative officers, who have completed at least six (6) years of consecutive SUNY employment, or who have completed six (6) years of service since their last sabbatical leave, are eligible to apply for sabbatical leave. The objective of a sabbatical leave is to increase the value of faculty and administrative officers to SUNY through planned travel, study, formal education, research, writing, and/or other experience of professional value.

A sabbatical leave may be granted by the President for one year at half-salary or for one semester at full salary. Employees do not earn leave accruals while on sabbatical leave. As a condition of the approval of a sabbatical leave, employees must agree, in writing, to serve a minimum of one year upon return, and to submit to the President a detailed report of professional activities and accomplishments while on sabbatical leave. [Note: Although the campus's chief administrative officer has been delegated authority to approve sabbatical leaves, the SUNY UP-3 Form must be completed and approved with the original being placed in the employee's personnel file and a signed copy being forwarded to the SUNY Office of University-Wide Human Resources].

Sick Leave
All full-time employees and most part-time employees earn sick leave credits based upon such variables as their appointment date and length of service, the anticipated length of their employment, the number of courses they teach or the amount of salary they are expected to earn, among others. Because of the many variables, employees are encouraged to reference their copy of their collective bargaining agreement, and/or the Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York, as appropriate to their category of appointment, or to contact the Human Resources Office for information and answers to their questions.

Sick Leave Exchange Programs
Sick Leave Exchange Programs are not permanent benefits but are subject to collective negotiations. When available to employees represented by collective negotiations, such employees meeting eligibility requirements, including meeting the sick leave accrual requirements at the time of election, may exchange up to 3 days of such credits for the purpose of reducing their health insurance premiums. Because this benefit is tied to the health insurance premium rates for each calendar year that are mostly paid on a pre-tax basis, the open period is scheduled for November. If and when this program is available, employees are provided timely information about this program, the deadline dates for enrollment, and an enrollment application. Although not currently available, a link to the materials for the program offered for 2002 is available in the references at the end of this section in case this program is offered again.

Vacation
Similar to sick leave, many employees accrue vacation leave credits depending on their professional obligations, appointment date, length of service, and projected period of employment, among other variables. Because of the many variables, employees are encouraged to reference their copy of their collective bargaining agreement, and/or the Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York, as appropriate to their category of appointment, or to contact the Human Resources Office if they have any questions about their eligibility or accrual rates. [Employees with academic year obligations are not eligible to accrue vacation credits].

References:

Collective Bargaining Agreements
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/CNA/bumatrix.html

Compensatory Time for Professionals (SUNY Office of Employee Relations)

Fair Labor Standards Act Amendments of 1985 (Compensatory Time for Non-Exempt SUNY Professional Employees)

Leave Donation Program Guidelines

Maintenance of Time Records for PS&T (Employees Represented by PEF)

Management/Confidential Handbook
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/MC/handbook/

Military Leave -- Benefits Tool Kit (NYS Personnel Council)

Military Leave -- Checklist for Military Employees (NYS Personnel Council)

Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP) for CSEA - Introduction and Administrative Requirements
http://www.cs.state.ny.us/attendance_leave/PolBull04-01.htm

Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP) for CSEA - Program Description (html) or (pdf)

Sick Leave Exchange Program (Not Currently Available)

State Policy on Closing of State Offices
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/CNA/policies/tdcemerg.html

SUNY Policies of the Board of Trustees
http://www.suny.edu/Board_of_Trustees/PDF/Policies.pdf

SUNY Title F. (Trustees Polices, Article XIII) (Delegation of Authority to campuses memorandum)

Note: Usually the appendices to the collective bargaining agreements contain some very good information relating to the implementation of the various articles of the collective bargaining agreement. One good example can be found in Appendix V of the Administrative Services Unit Agreement at: http://www.goer.state.ny.us/CNA/1999to2003/cseaasu/02app05.html

Forms:

Holiday Pay Waiver (MSWord fill-in) or (HTML fill-in) or (PDF fill-in)

Leave Donation Authorization Form (MSWord fill-in) or (HTML fill-in) or (PDF non fill-in) or (PDF fill-in)

Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP) for CSEA - Enrollment Form (msword) or (html) or (pdf)

Sick Leave Exchange Program Denial of Election Form (UUP)(Program is not currently available)

Sick Leave Exchange Program Election Form (Program is not currently available)