Annual leave cash-out program changes
September 24, 2014
Research continues to show the health benefits, both physical and mental, of taking a break from work, whether that’s a vacation someplace else, or a ‘staycation’ right at home. In fact, around the globe, 137 different countries REQUIRE employees to take a vacation from work. The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not.
While we have no intention of joining these 137 other countries, to help reduce a significant budget shortfall, and to help encourage our employees to use, rather than cash out, annual leave each year, UA is modifying the cash-out program effective January 31, 2015 until further notice. As of that date, only employees at Grade 79 and below will be able to continue to cash out leave time (up to 40 hours). The program will be suspended for employees at Grade 80 and above, including senior administrators and executive officers. The expected savings to the system is estimated at over $560,000 per year. This was agreed to by the president and the chancellors in a Summit Team decision to reduce cash-out cost at each university in the same way.
There is no change to annual leave accrual rates and UA will, as per current policy (P04.06.120), continue to trim annual leave balances to 240 hours as of January 31st of each year. It is our sincere hope that this action results in annual leave benefits being used as intended—for annual leave.
To help facilitate annual leave use, supervisors are requested to make it easy for employees to take time off: Assign tasks to others whenever possible to prevent an unwieldy backlog of duties waiting for an employee upon their return; create an annual leave calendar with ‘blackout’ dates as necessary to ensure time off while also accounting for high volume work times; encourage employees to strike a true balance between their work and home lives. Supervisors are further reminded that ANY denial of a request for annual leave requires a written explanation to the employee per regulation R04.06.120(B) .
This change does not apply to Local 6070 members and employees are encouraged to contact their local Human Resources office with any questions or concerns.