President's Staff approves change in vacation policy for exempt staff

President's Staff approves change in vacation policy for exempt staff

The President's Staff recently approved a change in the vacation policy for exempt (salaried) staff.

The current policy for exempt staff provides for full reimbursement of all unused vacation up to 20 days for terminating employees who have worked at St. Thomas fewer than 12 years and up to 25 days for those employed here 12 years and more.

Effective July 1, exempt employees who leave the university will receive reimbursement for a maximum of five days of their unused vacation balance. The change was made to eliminate the possibility of an employee receiving reimbursement for 20 or 25 days of vacation for working a few days in a fiscal year. This was an unintended "loophole" in the vacation policy.   Unlike hourly employees, exempt employees do not accrue vacation but rather receive a lump-sum allotment each July 1 based on the schedule below.

St. Thomas ' revised vacation policy is reprinted here for your convenience:

Vacation

Salaried Employees

Vacation time is granted to eligible full and part-time salaried employees. Full-time salaried employees are allocated paid vacation according to the following schedule:

Length of Service

Vacation Earned

Less than 12 years

20 days per year

12 years and over

25 days per year

Eligible part-time salaried employees are allocated vacation according to the schedule above. However, vacation allocation will be based on the employee’s approved FTE, rounded up. For example, an exempt employee with less than 12 years of service at .625 FTE would receive 13 vacation days.

  • Vacation allocations are made annually on July 1 and based on the schedule above. The allocation for part-time and new employees is prorated.
  • Vacation allocations not used by June 30 are forfeited.
  • Salaried employees must electronically record vacation time taken on the UST HR Web site, which was created for this purpose. If you have questions, contact the Department of Human Resources for specific instructions on how to record vacation time electronically.
  • According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), exempt employees may not take vacation leave in less than whole day increments.
  • Exempt employees who terminate from the university shall receive reimbursement of up to five (5) days of earned but unused vacation. Payment for unused vacation is processed as soon as administratively possible following the last day of employment.

All Employees

  • Employees do not accrue PLT while on short or long-term disability or while on an unpaid leave of absence.
  • Employees may not use vacation time or PLT to extend their employment. Generally, an employee’s termination date is determined by the last day worked.
  • An employee who leaves the university but is rehired within one year may resume past service credits as if no break in service occurred.