Leave Program Changes [F23 InfoSession]

The new paid-time-off (PTO) program uses a single bank of days that employees may use for sick, vacation or personal time. For the first time, employees will have access to paid parental and caregiver leave, as well as short-term disability.

* Hours will be prorated for employees working less than 100% FTE. MU Health Care hourly employees will also have a PTO cash-in option.

Other leave types such as shared, military, voting, funeral leave, or compensatory time policies will not be impacted under the new leave program. For more information on the different types of leave available, visit the Information on Leave webpage.

In addition, there are no changes to attendance policies under the new leave program. The use of PTO hours should be scheduled in advance whenever possible. Employees shall continue to follow department established guidelines for attendance, unplanned absences and requesting approval for time off. The use of PTO does not indicate the time off is automatically approved.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law providing employees the right to take a leave of absence for family reasons, medical reasons or for military families while maintaining job protection. FMLA provides job protection but is not a paid leave program. Visit the About the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) webpage for more information.

Employees will continue to accrue their vacation, sick and personal days under the current programs until the new leave program begins in January 2024. When the transition to the new plan occurs, employee’s existing accruals will be treated as outlined below. Employees will not lose accrued balances when we transition to the new leave program.

You may review current leave balances in myHR under "My Time" > "Leave/Comp Time." See the Time Reporter Training Guide (PDF, pg. 9) for step-by-step instructions. MU Health Care employees can check their available time balances using Kronos.

Personal Days

The last personal day accruals will be earned on the employee’s anniversary date in 2023. Employees will have until their anniversary date in 2024 to use their remaining personal days. Personal days not used prior to the employee’s anniversary date in 2024 will expire.

Get more detailed information from the HR Policy Manual at HR-403 Personal Days (As of Jan. 2024) and HR-403 Personal Days (Prior to Jan. 2024).

Sick Leave

Any unused sick leave that remains when we transition to the new leave program will be banked for the employee separately from the PTO bucket. Employees will continue to be able to view their banked sick hours’ balance in myHR. No new sick leave hours will be earned after the transition to the new leave program.

After the transition to the new leave program, banked sick hours will be able to be accessed for specific situations:

• During the elimination period for short-term disability
• To make up the difference between the employee’s regular pay and the 60% university-paid short-term disability
• To supplement workers’ compensation
• To cover sick leave events when PTO and all other applicable paid leave options have been exhausted

Employees will use PTO for sick leave events since PTO combines vacation, personal and sick days. If an employee has exhausted their PTO, they may access unused sick hours for sick leave events. 

Get more detailed information from the HR Policy Manual at  HR-404 Sick Leave (As of Jan. 2024) and HR-404 Sick Leave (Prior to Jan. 2024).

How are unused sick hours treated at separation or retirement?
There is no change in how unused sick hours will be treated at retirement or separation after the new leave program is implemented.

Unused sick hours are forfeited at separation and are not eligible to be paid out. The only exception is applied to employees who are members of the DB Plan or Hybrid Plan (DB component) at the time of their separation, who meet minimum retirement eligibility under the Retirement, Disability and Death Benefit Plan. To meet minimum retirement eligibility, an employee must be at least age 55 with at least 10 years of creditable service (with one year of creditable service earned after age 54), or age least age 60 with at least 5 years of creditable service. These employees will receive service credit equal to their unused sick leave in their final pension calculation. This additional service credit cannot be used to reach vesting, the retirement eligibility threshold, or decrease any reduction applied due to early retirement.

For employees in the DC Plan or Hybrid Plan (DC component), the employees’ benefit is determined based on their contributions, employer contributions and any investment earnings or losses. To retain the employer contributions made by the university, the employee must earn at least 3 years of service credit to vest in the employer contributions. Service credit from unused sick leave cannot be applied to an employee’s total service to reach vesting.

Visit the Core and Voluntary Retirement Plans webpage for more information about the university’s’ core retirement plans.

The time you have earned is yours. You will not lose your accrued time. At transition in January 2024, employees with 10 days (80 hours) or less of accrued vacation time will have their balance converted to PTO in the new plan.

Employees with more than 10 days (80 hours) will have the first 10 days (80 hours) converted to PTO and then will receive a full payout for the rest of their balance. Visit the Transitioning Vacation webpage for more information.

*Hours will be prorated for employees working less than 100% FTE.

Payments for unused vacation will be at the employee's current rate of pay at the time of payout on an off-cycle paycheck in February/March. The off-cycle paycheck will be taxed as regular earnings and will include standard deductions. If an employee separates from the university and still has accrued vacation available, the remaining balance will be paid out. 

Employees will be able to use their available vacation balances until they are fully paid out. For example, an employee desiring a payout may use PTO before accrued vacation in order to save their accrued vacation for a larger payout. An employee desiring the time off may use accrued vacation before PTO allowing their PTO balance to increase.

Get more detailed information from the HR Policy Manual at HR-402 Vacations (As of Jan. 2024), HR-402 Vacations (Prior to Jan. 2024), as well as the Transitioning Vacation webpage.

Employees can accumulate a maximum of two times their annual PTO accrual at any time and will continue to earn their paid time off in hours each week based on their annual allowance. Hours will be prorated for employees working less than 100% FTE. Once an employee reaches their maximum, no new accruals are earned until the balance is used down below the maximum. PTO may be used in any increment, but accruals must be earned before they can be used.

*Based on the most recent hire date.
**A “day” is determined based on an employee's FTE. (100% FTE-8 hours; 95% FTE-7.6 hours; 90% FTE-7.2 hours; 85% FTE-6.8 hours; 80% FTE-6.4 hours; 75% FTE-6 hours)

If an employee separates from the University after the new leave program begins in 2024, they may receive a payout of their unused PTO hours not to exceed 10 days (or 80 hours based on 1.0 FTE) provided that their separation is not for willful gross violation of rules, misconduct or similar causes.

Get more detailed information from the HR Policy Manual at HR-421 Paid Time Off (PTO).

How are years of service calculated for determining the number of PTO days earned per year?
All continuous benefit-eligible service from the date of employment is counted when determining years of service including:

• Authorized leaves of absence, with or without pay;
• Authorized absences, with or without pay; and
• Periods of continuous benefit-eligible service in academic positions.

A break in service is not counted when determining years of service.

• Employees who have a break in service do not receive credit for any previous benefit-eligible years of service if they later return to a benefit-eligible position.
• A break in service may include resignation, termination, retirement, or a change from a benefit-eligible position to a variable-hour part-time position.
• Will new employees, who have not yet completed their probationary period, be able to use PTO?
• Yes. All employees may use PTO as outlined in CRR 340.025: Paid Time-Off (PTO). Additional information about the policy and process will be identified in an HR Policy as it is available.

Does PTO have to be used before unused sick hours?
Employees will use PTO for sick leave events since PTO combines vacation, personal and sick days. If an employee has exhausted their PTO, they may access unused sick hours for sick leave events. 

The MU Health Care PTO Cash-In Program allows eligible employees to request that a portion of the PTO they will accrue be paid as a lump sum, rather than being placed in their bank of available PTO hours.

Benefit-eligible non-exempt (hourly paid) MU Health Care employees will be eligible for the PTO cash-in program. This includes nurses who are non-exempt, but accrue time at the exempt rate. 

Eligible employees will be able to elect between eight and 80 hours (in one hour increments) to cash in each year during annual benefits enrollment in the fall beginning in 2024. Payout will occur the following August at the employee's base rate.

• Employees must be actively employed by MU Health Care (HOSPT business unit) at time of election and payout
• At the time of payout, eligible employees must have worked in a benefit-eligible position within the University system for at least 12 months
• Employees must maintain a minimum balance of 80 hours in PTO bank

Parental leave provides four weeks of paid time off within a rolling 12-month period for employees who are welcoming a new child into their home. Leaves for birth, adoption or foster care must be taken within 12 months of the qualifying event. Qualifying events include the birth of a child or the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care. Employees may also use their annual PTO allocation if they would like to take additional time off to welcome a child.

Employees may take parental leave for more than one qualifying event within a rolling 12-month period. The maximum amount of paid leave for qualifying events within a rolling 12-month period is 4 weeks regardless of how many events the time off covers.

Caregiver leave provides two weeks of paid time off within a rolling 12-month period to care for a family member with a serious health condition as defined by our Family and Medical Leave Act rule. Employees may also use their annual PTO allocation if they need additional time off.

Employees may take caregiver leave for more than one qualifying event within a rolling 12-month period. The maximum amount of paid leave for qualifying events within a rolling 12-month period is 2 weeks for caregiver leave, regardless of how many events the time off covers. 

Get more detailed information from the HR Policy Manual at HR-422 Caregiver Leave Pay.

University paid short-term disability covers 60% of the employee’s salary when they are unable to work due to a medical disability for up to 20 weeks. No employee premiums are required to utilize this benefit.

Short-term disability has an elimination period of seven calendar days (five working days). Employees may use available leave to cover the elimination period and to supplement their short-term disability to receive income of up to 100%. 

Get more detailed information on the Short-Term Disability webpage, as well as from the HR Policy Manual at HR-309 Short-Term Disability Plan and HR-309 Short-Term Disability Q&As.