As part of the state budget which the North Carolina General Assembly passed on Sept. 20, state employees were granted an additional 10 days of leave.

On Friday, the university's Human Resources Department released information detailing how this bonus leave will be administered at NC State. Following is the text of that memo:

Eligible Employees
Permanent full-time employees who are eligible for annual leave as of September 30, 2002, will receive 10 days of bonus leave. Temporary employees, including employees with post-doctoral appointments (post-docs), employees with FTE's less than 0.50, and EPA employees with 9-month contracts are not eligible to receive the bonus leave.

Employees with reduced FTEs (half-time or more) and employees who work less than 12 months will receive a pro rata portion of the bonus leave.

Eligible employees on leave without pay shall be credited with the leave upon their return based on the type of appointment held as of September 30, 2002.

Scheduling
Bonus leave shall be taken only upon the supervisor's approval. The employee shall determine whether to charge their annual leave or bonus leave account. Bonus leave may be used for any purpose for which regular annual leave is used.

Accounting
Bonus leave must be accounted for separately from annual leave. Bonus leave does not expire and is not included in the year-end 240-hour vacation maximum.

Transfer/Separation/Contract Change
For SPA employees, any balance of bonus leave will be transferred with the employee upon transfer to another State agency. For EPA employees, bonus leave will be transferred with the employee subject to the receiving agency's approval. Employees with separation dates greater than September 29, 2002, will be paid for their bonus leave balance in addition to regular annual leave upon separation from state government or upon change to a non-leave earning status. Bonus leave is not subject to the reduced leave payout as outlined in BOT 22.01 8.2.4.2 that pertains to EPA employees with aggregate state service of 24 months or less.

Miscellaneous Provisions
Bonus leave may be applied to negative balances of regular earned leave with the approval of the employee and the supervisor. Bonus leave may be donated as annual leave under the Voluntary Shared Leave provisions. Employees may begin using bonus leave as of September 30, 2002.

Web Leave System
The web leave system will be populated with the appropriate amount of bonus leave for those employees who are using the system as of October 11, 2002. Employees and supervisors should verify that employees have received the correct amount of leave based on appointment type, FTE and months worked per year. Leave administrators may correct the amount of bonus leave received via the Post Transaction section of the web leave system in the same manner as other leave corrections. Leave administrators will be responsible for granting the bonus leave to individuals who are on leave without pay once the employee returns from leave. Departments that are not using the web leave system must record the bonus leave on an SPA/EPA Vacation and Sick Leave Record form separate from the employee's regular sick and annual leave record.

Human Resources Information Systems
When processing a PeopleSoft separation/retirement action, please enter the balance of bonus leave in the comment section of the approval panel on the separation/retirement action. Do not include bonus leave balances in the vacation leave field on the Job Data 4 panel.

When processing an additional pay request please include bonus leave in the total leave to be paid. Please include comments on the approval panel of the additional pay request that the bonus leave was included in the amount of leave entered to be paid.

Human Resources will ensure that the bonus leave is paid to employees for those actions that have been processed prior to the receipt of this memo to campus.

Please contact Salary Administration at 515-7929 with questions regarding bonus leave.

Posted October 14, 2002

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