President Gamble has approved an additional annual leave cash-in opportunity for up to 20 hours for FY12, the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011.

With the exception of executive officers, all employees who earn annual leave and are not in a bargaining unit will be eligible to participate in the one-year test program.

Currently, employees may cash-in — get paid for the leave rather than taking time off from work — up to 40 hours of annual leave once per fiscal year if they meet the eligibility requirements. The additional cash-in opportunity is in response to a request from Staff Alliance, which requested an additional 40 hours.

President Gamble decided on a more cautious approach with the 20 hours on a one-year basis so the university can analyze the impact of the cash in on individual departmental budgets.  The cash-in option costs departments more than if employees take actual annual leave;  annual leave is paid through staff benefit funds rather than being charged to departmental salary accounts.

President Gamble also wants to encourage employees to continue taking real time off for refreshment, relaxation and rejuvenation, while being responsive to employee desires for additional leave cash-in.  The additional 20 hours for a one-year period strikes that balance, and allows the university to analyze the budget impacts to departments in the meantime.

More information and background on the additional annual leave cash-in is available online.