Cap on vacation accrual will remain off until at least Feb. 28

By SUSAN JONES

The vacation accrual cap for Pitt staff, which was waived in April and was scheduled to be reinstated on Dec. 1, will remain off for the time being, according to an announcement from the Office of Human Resources.

This means that all non-represented staff will continue to accrue vacation time even if they are above the cap. For instance, if your current maximum is 75 hours and you already have built up that much time, you will continue to add hours at your current accrual rate until the cap is put back in place. After that, no more time will be added until you use enough vacation time to drop below the cap, but you will have all the accrued time to use. 

The vacation accrual cap will remain off at least through Feb. 28, 2021. After that, the cap will be reviewed monthly.

The change was made in April because the pandemic made taking vacation time difficult. The restrictions on travel and social distancing continue to make visiting other states or locations difficult.

Personal days must still be used by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

HR’s announcement encouraged staff to take time off if they are able and want to do so. “Vacation time does not need to be used for a traditional vacation but can and should be used for general time away from work, self-care and stress prevention,” the announcement said.

Any time accrued above the cap will not be compensated for or paid out to current employees or those who voluntarily leave the University. Employees who voluntarily separate from the University will be paid out for vacation time, up to the cap, as outlined in the Staff Handbook.

One of the other initiatives announced in April — the temporary sick day bank — is still available and is open to both donations and requests. The program allows staff members who have more than 45 days of accrued sick time to make a one-time donation of sick days to help out other staff members who are in need of sick time to cover illness during the current crisis. Donations cannot reduce accrued days below the 45-day threshold.

The voluntary effort reduction program, which also was started in April, ended on Aug. 31. Those who were “enrolled” prior to that date could stay in the program. But no new enrollees were accepted after August 31. 

Questions about the vacation accrual cap or any other issue can be directed to Human Resources by submitting an online inquiry.

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

 

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