Human Resources

The following leave is also offered by the Commonwealth of Virginia as outlined in the policies for all faculty members and university and classified employees as administered by Virginia’s Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM). Refer to DHRM’s website for policies not listed.

• Civil and Work-Related Leave (DHRM Policy - 4.05)
• Educational Leave (DHRM Policy - 4.15)
• Emergency Disaster Leave (DHRM Policy - 4.17)
• Leave To Donate Bone Marrow or Organs (DHRM Policy - 4.37) 
• Military Leave (DHRM Policy - 4.50)
• Public Health Emergency Leave (DHRM Policy - 4.52)
• Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP) (DHRM Policy - 4.57)
• Workers Compensation (DHRM Policy - 4.60)

 

Overtime and Compensatory Leave: The overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cover all employees of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and apply to classified and university non-exempt employees. The FLSA establishes rules for minimum wage, overtime pay, equal pay, child labor, record keeping and defines exemptions from overtime pay regulations. The FLSA exemption status is determined by VCU Human Resources.

• To receive overtime compensation, an employee must be required and authorized by the manager to work additional hours. Employees may not approve or authorize their own additional work hours.
• University business operating procedures prohibit tracking compensatory time “off the record.”
• Non-exempt employees must be compensated at time and one-half for all hours worked more than 40 in a workweek. A workweek is defined as 12:01 a.m. Sunday through midnight on the following Saturday. Leave time and holidays do not count as time worked.
• Overtime leave is not an option for compensation of overtime hours worked. (VCU Police employees are an exception.) Non-exempt employees who log overtime hours should, instead of accruing leave, be paid overtime pay.
• NOTE: If an employee occasionally works 7 additional minutes or less, the time will not be counted as additional hours worked. However, if an employee occasionally works more than 7 minutes, but less than 15 minutes, this time will be rounded up to the next 15-minute increment and 15 minutes of additional work time will be counted. If early arrivals or late departures occur on a regular basis and/or multiple times during a workweek, actual minutes should be counted for the entire workweek. Remember: any additional time worked must be preapproved and failure to arrive and depart timely could result in formal disciplinary action, if overtime is accrued without approval.
• For ALL FLSA non-exempt employees, departments are required to maintain records showing the number of hours worked each workday and workweek, which is RealTime for most schools/units. In addition, departments should also ensure that employee attendance tracking forms, software or online systems accurately record leave taken, including paid holidays and all overtime, in a timely manner. Non-exempt employees must certify the number of hours worked and supervisors must also verify and authorize the reported hours.
• The employee must seek the manager’s approval, in advance, to work overtime. Under all circumstances, any verifiable hours worked beyond 40 must be paid or accrued at time and one-half
• The manager may adjust an employee’s schedule within a workweek to avoid or minimize payments. For example, if an employee works an extra 4 hours on Monday, the manager may reduce the employee’s work schedule on Friday by 4 hours so that the employee does not work more than 40 hours during that workweek. Each workweek stands alone in calculating regular and overtime hours worked
• Employees who transfer within VCU will be paid for their overtime leave unless the new department is willing to accept the financial liability
• Employees who transfer to another State agency will be paid for their overtime leave upon the transfer

Educational Leave: This leave is available for educational pursuits at one-half pay or without pay, subject to approval by the department head, school/college dean and vice president. Employees who take this leave at one-half pay sign a contract with a commitment to serve in university employment equal to twice the period of leave. Employees who do not return to university employment reimburse the salary received during the leave period with interest, regardless of source of funds. The university pro-rates the salary reimbursement and interest for employees who return for a portion of time. Employees do not accrue annual, university, sick or holiday leave while on educational leave and the university holds their sick leave balances (if applicable) during this time. Annual, university and holiday leave balances may be used or retained during educational leave. To use this benefit, the faculty member, classified or university employee must complete the following steps:

• Notify manager about the need for study-research leave
• Request the educational DocuSign form from their HR Professional/HR Associate

Bone Marrow and Organ Donor (BMOD): This leave provides eligible employees with up to 30 days of additional paid leave each calendar year when they donate bone marrow or organs. Medical documentation is required prior to approval of BMOD leave. This leave provides eligible employees (9/10 month faculty are excluded) with up to 30 days of additional paid leave each calendar year when they donate bone marrow or organs. Please note: This leave is not designated as Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. To use this benefit, the employee must complete the following steps:

• Notify manager about the need for bone marrow and organ donor leave
• Request the bone marrow and organ donor DocuSign form from their HR Professional/HR Associate

Military Leave: Eligible employees may use up to 21 days of paid leave each federal fiscal year (Oct 1^st through Sept 30^th) for military or reserves training. HR Leave Administration will load the 168 hours of military leave once a copy of the military orders is received through DocuSign. Employees are eligible for regular salary when called to duty for emergency service (time off does not count toward the 21 days of leave for training). If called to active duty due to declaration of war, employees are placed on leave without pay (LWOP) from the university.

• Employees may use accrued annual, university or holiday leave to continue pay for active military duty. Leave accruals stop after 90 calendar days for employees who use paid leave to cover this absence
• Following active military duty, employees return to their previous position or to a comparable position if they make their request within the timeframes designated by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994

To plan for military leave, the faculty member, classified or university employee must complete the following steps:

• Notify manager about the need for military leave
• Request the military leave DocuSign form from their HR Professional/HR Associate
• Request the military leave DocuSign worksheet from their HR Professional/HR Associate

Military Leave Bank - Employees who are members of the organized reserve forces of any of the armed services of the U.S. or of the Virginia National Guard may carry over accrued annual and university leave into the next leave year (on Jan 10^th ) without the standard maximum limits. Please note: This type of leave can be used only during active military duty.

Absences due to Workers’ Compensation - covered injuries and illnesses: Compensation for lost time under an approved Workers’ Compensation claim is paid by the state program. Employees in the TSLP may be eligible for a supplement to the Workers’ Compensation benefit.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Leave: FMLA leave at VCU is designed to be consistent with federal law and the provisions of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s policy on Family and Medical Leave. An employee must have been employed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for at least 12 months and worked for VCU at least 1,250 hours during the 12 month period prior to the start of the leave. (Note: Neither the 12 months nor the required 1,250 hours have to be worked during consecutive months. The 12 months must have been worked subsequent to any 7 year break in service.) FMLA may run concurrently with other benefits such as the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program and Workers’ Compensation lost time benefits for occupational injuries or illnesses.

The following are qualifying reasons for which an employee may take FMLA:

• The employee’s own serious health condition
• The birth of a child (to be taken within 12 months after birth)
• The placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care (to be taken within 12 months of the date of placement)
• The need to care for an immediate family member who has a serious health condition
• A qualifying exigency arising out of the employee’s spouse, child or parent being on active military duty or having been notified of an impending call to duty. Leave for a qualifying exigency is available only to employees who have family members in the National Guard, reserves and regular armed forces or reserve who are retired

Family member under FMLA includes:

• Spouse (as defined or recognized by law)
• Biological parent or individual who stood in loco parentis to an employee (having day-to-day care and financial responsibility for) and does not include parents “in law”
• Biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild, legal ward or child of a person standing in loco parentis, who is either under age 18, or age 18 and over and “incapable of self-care because of mental or physical disability”
• “Next of kin” is defined as the employee’s nearest blood relative (only applicable to leave to care for injured service member)

Salary continuation - An employee may choose to use accrued leave as provided under applicable leave policy so that their salary continues without interruption. If the employee does not choose to substitute accrued paid leave, the department may require the substitution. The number of unpaid workdays or work hours, when combined with the number of days of other leave taken, may not exceed the length of leave specified below.

Length of leave - Eligible full time employees may take up to 12 weeks (60 work days, 480 work hours) of Family and Medical Leave in a calendar year. Any time missed from work due to Family and Medical Leave that exceeds 12 weeks in a calendar year will not be covered by this policy. Eligible part time and hourly employees may take FMLA leave on a pro-rated basis corresponding to the percentage of time (percent FTE) worked during the 365-day period prior to the date FMLA is scheduled to begin. FMLA leave is extended to 26 workweeks (1,040 hours) to care for a family member with a serious health condition when the spouse, children, parents or “next of kin” is a covered service member and the health condition occurred in the line of duty on active duty. This leave is only available once and is combined with all other leaves that year limiting FMLA leave for all purposes to 26 weeks during a 12 month period.

Intermittent leave - When medically necessary, an employee may take FMLA on an intermittent basis or with a reduced schedule. The employee may be transferred temporarily to another position that better accommodates the intermittent leave or reduced schedule, provided the new position carries equivalent pay and benefits. If the intermittent leave or reduced schedule is requested to care for a newborn child or because of the placement of a child through adoption or foster care, the supervisor must give approval prior to the leave. 

FMLA leave restrictions - When both spouses work for the university, the total amount of leave provided to both employees is limited to a combined total of 12 weeks in a 12 month period when the leave is for the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child with the employee, or for the care of a child within 12 months after the birth or placement. This limitation does not apply if the leave is taken because of the employee’s own serious health condition or to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition.

University Leave Plan

• Personal illness – University leave is used to cover absences certified as medically necessary by a health care provider. After 7 calendar days of absence using university leave, employees may use short-term disability if a claim is initiated and approved. If applicable, traditional sick leave bank can be used after 5 days and a short-term disability has been initiated and approved.
• Family illness – Employees may use caregiver leave to care for an individual with chronic or severe illness where absences of greater than 40 hours is necessary. Once the 80caregiver leave is exhausted, the employee may use university leave or request leave without pay.

• Maternity/paternity - For absences due to pregnancy, university leave, traditional sick leave bank or leave without pay may be used by the childbearing parent to cover the 7 day waiting period. After 7 calendar days of absence, short-term disability covers the time they are medically disabled, which is typically 6 weeks. Additional time taken after the STD claim is closed may be covered by requesting parental leave at 100% income replacement. Paternity leave is covered by the parental leave benefit.

• Adoption/foster care – Parental leave may be used for adoption, foster care or a legal custodial arrangement. The employee is provided 240 hours (6 weeks) at 100% income replacement. Employees may request university leave or leave without pay once parental leave is exhausted.

Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP)

• Personal illness - Sick leave is used to cover absences certified as medically necessary by a health care provider. After 7 calendar days of absence using personal and family, annual or leave without pay, employees may use short-term disability if a claim is initiated and approved.

• Family illness – Employees may use personal and family, annual, holiday or leave without pay to cover absence due to a family illness. If additional time off is requested and approved, employees may use up to 33 percent of their sick leave for a family illness covered by FMLA, or annual, holiday or leave without pay.

• Maternity/paternity - For absences due to pregnancy, personal and family, annual, holiday or leave without pay may be used by the childbearing parent to cover the 7 day waiting period. After 7 calendar days of absence, short-term disability covers the time they are medically disabled, which is typically 6 weeks. Additional time taken after the STD claim is closed may be covered by parental leave, if the employee is eligible. Eligible employees may also use parental leave to supplement reduced income replacement disability benefits. Paternity leave is covered by the parental leave benefit for eligible employees.

• Adoption/foster care – Eligible employees may use parental leave for placement of a child(ren) for adoption, foster care or legal custody. If additional time off is requested and approved, employees may use up to 33 percent of their existing sick leave balance, or personal and family, annual, holiday or leave without pay once parental leave is exhausted.

Traditional Sick Leave Plan (TSLP) Participants

• Personal illness - Sick leave is used to cover absences certified as medically necessary by a health care provider. After all sick leave is used, additional time off requested and approved for personal illness may be covered by annual, holiday or leave without pay
• Family illness - Employees may use up to 48 hours (6 days) of family sick leave to cover a short-term family illness. If additional time off is requested and approved, employees may use up to 33 percent of their available sick leave balance for FMLA-covered family illness, or annual, holiday or leave without pay
• Maternity/paternity - For absences due to pregnancy, sick leave may be used by the childbearing parent to cover the period of time they are medically disabled, which is typically 6 weeks. If additional time off is requested, employees may use up to 33 percent of their available sick leave, or annual, holiday or leave without pay. Paternity leave is covered by the parental leave benefit
• Adoption/foster care – Employees may use up to 33 percent of their existing sick leave. If additional time off is requested, annual, holiday or leave without pay may be used. In cases where the child has a medical condition, up to 24 hours (3 days) of family sick leave may be used before using other leave categories 

Medical certification - The FMLA allows for a significant amount of medical documentation to be obtained. A medical certification from a health care provider is required for an employee’s own serious health condition or for a family member’s serious health condition before FMLA is granted. Employees must provide documentation within 15 calendar days following the request to the supervisor for FMLA leave eligibility to be preserved. Documentation of the same illness may only be requested once every 30 days unless the original documentation states the minimum duration is more than 30 days. Recertification can be obtained every 6 months in the latter circumstance.

Employee and Department responsibilities are to be carried out as described in the FMLA policy: https://policy.vcu.edu/universitywide-policies/policies/family-and-medical-leave.html

Administrative leave: Paid time off granted by the university for absences such as jury duty, testifying in court in response to a subpoena as a witness for the state/university (but not as a defendant), serve as an officer of election or at a meeting of the electoral board following the election to ascertain the results of such election, state job interview, preparation for and participation in the Employee Grievance and Dispute Resolution processes, pre-disciplinary leave approved by Human Resources and suspension with pay. Documentation of the need for and length of the absence may be required.

 

Holidays: Officially recognized university holidays are granted to eligible employees in addition to other leave balances described in these guidelines. Information is published on the Payday and Holidays page of the VCU Human Resources website: https://hr.vcu.edu/paydays-and-holidays/. All 12-month Faculty, University and Academic Professionals and Classified staff earn the scheduled holiday by either working or having paid leave hours to cover the scheduled work shift on the work day before and the work day after the holiday. Full time employees are compensated for 8 hours of time per work day for these holidays. Part time employees’ pay is pro-rated based on “typical” or “average” hours worked on that day.

University-designated employees or those employees required to work on a university holiday, or those whose normal, scheduled day off falls on a holiday, will accrue holiday leave. The amount of leave accrued is proportional to the “typical” or “average” number of hours worked (not to exceed 8 hours). Holiday leave must be used within a year of its accrual or it is forfeited. Upon termination, employees will be paid for any unexpired holiday leave.

 

Office Closings: Employees are paid for absences and for working during an office closing in accordance with the Office Closings Policy: https://policy.vcu.edu/universitywide-policies/policies/office-closings.html.

Leave Share Program: VCU’s leave share program allows employees to donate leave to fellow employees who need additional leave coverage for personal medical conditions, or for a family member’s medical conditions when using approved FMLA. A personal medical condition is described as an illness or injury certified by a physician as requiring medical attention. VCU Leave Administration administers the university’s leave share program. Email leave@vcu.edu or call (804) 828-1712 with questions. Leave sharing provides income replacement to the leave share recipient, but is not considered to be the recipient’s own salary for the purposes of creditable compensation or retirement contributions.

Eligibility and Criteria - VCU full time and part time university and classified employees and 12 month faculty are eligible to donate annual and university leave. To be eligible to receive leave under the university’s leave share program, you must meet the following conditions:

• Faculty and university and classified employees who participate in the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP) may donate annual or university leave. However,
• VSDP participants are not eligible to receive leave share donations to cover absences for personal medical conditions. VSDP provides disability income replacement benefits for personal medical conditions
• VSDP participants are eligible to receive leave share donations to cover absences for family members’ medical conditions, if they are using approved FMLA for their family member’s illness
• Faculty and classified employees who participate in the Traditional Sick Leave Program (TSLP) may donate annual leave, and,
• TSLP participants are eligible to receive leave share donations for personal medical conditions, if they have exhausted their own leave balances and have entered a leave without pay status due to their medical condition. TSLP participants are eligible to receive leave share donations for family member’s illness, if they have exhausted their own paid leave balances and are using FMLA for their family member’s illness. University employees may donate university leave to TSLP participants
• University employees are not eligible to receive leave share donations
• University employees are provided with disability income replacement benefits for personal medical conditions under the VSDP or under VCU’s own disability program
• University employees are not eligible to receive leave share donations to cover absences for their family member’s illness unless they have already exhausted the caregiver leave benefits provided under the Working@VCU:“Great Place” HR Policies, and are using approved FMLA for their family member’s illness
• Leave share hours are pro-rated for part time employees (i.e., if a part time employee who works 20 hours a week receives 40 hours of donated leave, the donated leave will be paid to the employee at a rate of 20 hours per week)
• In most instances, leave may be donated to a family member employed at another state agency. Contact VCU Leave Administration at (804) 828-1712 or leave@vcu.edu for details
• Leave share donations are available to eligible recipients only after all other leave balances (university, annual, sick, personal and family, compensatory, holiday, overtime, office closing, inclement weather, etc.) have been exhausted
• Eligible leave share recipients must have been placed on leave without pay for 10 consecutive work days (80 hours) for each personal medical condition occurring in a 365-day period. For example, kidney disease is considered one medical condition even though the condition may be “chronic” (on-going) requiring frequent dialysis. The 10 day period may be waived by the Assistant Vice President for VCU Human Resources determined on a case by case basis
• While in a leave without pay status, employees receiving donations through the leave share program do not accrue university leave, annual leave or traditional sick leave

Donor Procedures - The university leave share program requires that:

• Donations be made in (8) eight-hour increments of annual leave or university leave by using a leave share donor DocuSign form, which can be requested from your HR Professional/HR Associate. Annual leave or university leave that will be “lost” due to carryover limits at the end of a leave year will automatically be donated to the leave share pool
• Donations can be made to a specific employee or to the leave share pool at any time
• Donor leave may be reclaimed only if the donor form has not already been processed by VCU Leave Administration

Recipient Procedures - To request donated leave, the employee must contact their HR Professional/HR Associate to request the leave share recipient DocuSign form and must notify their manager of the need for leave share. The form must include a physician’s certification of the medical condition and an expected return-to-work date.

• If the employee stays out longer than specified by the physician’s certification for return to work, leave share donations will cease unless and until a new doctor’s certification is provided with an extension of return-to-work date
• An eligible recipient who is absent due to childbearing (personal pregnancy, labor, delivery and/or recovery) may apply for leave share donations for the period covered by a doctor’s certification, as medically necessary
• A second physician’s certification may be required at the agency’s choice and expense. VCU Human Resources will determine the prevailing opinion if the two physicians disagree on the employee’s medical condition

Eligible recipients are not required to reimburse donated leave hours, except in the following circumstances:

• The employee receives compensation from another source for the same period of time that leave share hours were received (i.e., monies are received from the leave share program and workers compensation benefits are received retroactively for the same period of time)
• It is determined that abuse has occurred, which may result in disciplinary action

The following procedures will be used to reimburse donated leave:

• Repayment of donated leave is made at the recipient’s (not donor’s) current pay rate
• Reimbursed leave hours will be returned to the original donor(s)

When donated leave is exhausted, the leave share recipient may receive a maximum of 80 hours of leave (if available) from the leave pool.

Exclusions - Medical conditions resulting from the following actions are excluded from eligibility for leave share benefits:

• Any occupation-related accident or illness for the period in which workers compensation benefits have been awarded
• Injuries that are intentionally self-inflicted
• Injuries occurring in the course of committing a felony or assault
• Employees may not use donated leave during the period of any disciplinary suspension

Community Service Leave (CSL): This leave provides university and classified employees and 12 month faculty (with or without children) with paid leave each calendar leave year to meet with public or private school officials about their children, attend school functions in which their children are participating, perform school-approved volunteer work in a public school or to participate in volunteer community service organizations. Employees serving as volunteer firefighters and/or rescue service members receive an extra 8 hours of community service leave. Supervisors may require written verification from an official of the service organization for use of volunteer leave.

Although a “bank” of 24 hours (3 days) was established for everyone, the additional 8 hours are only available to volunteer firefighters and/or rescue service members.

• The number of hours available for other types of volunteer service or for school assistance remains at 16 hours (2 days) for full-time university and classified employees and 12 month faculty
• The leave is pro-rated for part-time staff
• Unused CSL does not carry over at the end of the calendar year 

*Referred to as Community Service Leave (CSL) at VCU. State policy 4.40: School Assistance and Volunteer Service Leave

Actions That May Affect Leave Accruals 

Absence Exceeding 90 Work Days (Traditional Sick Leave Plan): For an absence exceeding 14 calendar days, the department must submit a PAF to VCU Human Resources to place the employee on leave with pay. After 90 work days on a paid leave of absence, leave will no longer be accrued until employee returns to active status.

Absence Exceeding 90 Workdays (VSDP): After 90 work days of a paid leave of absence, annual leave will no longer accrue until the employee returns to active status. Employees on short or long-term disability during the new leave year will receive their sick and family and personal leave accruals upon return to active status. 

Leave Without Pay (Traditional Plan): The department must submit a PAF to place an employee on leave without pay (LWOP) when an employee is absent for a period exceeding 14 calendar days. No annual or sick leave accruals will be given while on a LWOP. Employees should be directed to VCU Benefits Administration for specific information pertaining to continuation of their benefits. Employees on LWOP are still considered to have continuous state service, although their leave anniversary dates may be adjusted by one pay period for every 15 calendar days of absence, or a portion thereof, beyond the first 14 days of the leave of absence. (If employees are on military LWOP, their leave anniversary dates will not be changed.) 

Leave Without Pay (VSDP) (Faculty and Classified Only): No annual leave accruals will be given while on leave without pay (LWOP). If not already provided for the leave year, employees will receive sick and family and personal leave accruals upon return to active status. Employees should contact VCU Benefits Administration for specific information pertaining to continuation of their benefits. Employees on LWOP are still considered to have continuous state service although their leave anniversary dates may be adjusted by one pay period for every 15 calendar days of absence, or a portion thereof, beyond the first 14 days of the leave of absence. (If employees are on military LWOP, their leave anniversary dates will not be changed.)

Leave Without Pay (University and Academic Professionals): After a university employee exhausts the full amount of university leave available in a leave year, there are no further leave accruals for the remainder of the leave year. If an employee separates from the university before the end of the leave year, a leave reconciliation will be completed. Please refer to that section for additional information.

Status Changes and Effects on Leave

Full-Time to Part-Time – University and Academic Professional: University leave accrual rates will be prorated for the remainder of the leave year based on FTE, and the amount of leave available to use will be reduced accordingly.

Full-Time to Part-Time – Classified and Faculty (except as noted):
Annual Leave - Annual leave balances are retained and future accruals are prorated according to appointment percentage or FTE.

Sick Leave - Traditional Sick Leave Plan - Sick leave balances are retained and future accruals are prorated according to appointment percentage or FTE.

Change from University to Faculty
University Leave - Accrued university leave balances will be transferred and reclassified as annual leave. Exception: If the new department or agency cannot accept the university leave balance for business reasons, the employee may be paid up to the maximum allowable.

Banked Sick Leave (Traditional) - Banked sick leave balances shall be available for use as faculty traditional sick leave.

Disability Credit (VSDP) - University and Academic Professionals who move to Faculty status and choose one of VCU’s ORP vendors to receive their retirement contributions will have 25% of their disability credits paid (if eligible), not to exceed $5,000, and the remainder of their disability credits are forfeited. University and Academic Professionals who move to Faculty status, and choose to stay with VRS and VSDP will keep their disability credits.

Change from Faculty to University
University Leave - Annual leave balance is converted to university leave, and the employee will have access to a front-loaded amount of university leave.

Traditional Sick Leave (Traditional Plan for Faculty Members) - The balance of accrued sick leave will be stored in a traditional sick leave bank for future use.

Sick Leave (VSDP) - Sick leave balance is converted to university leave.

Family/Personal Leave (VSDP) - Family/personal leave balance is converted to university leave.

Change from Classified to University: See Converting to a University Employee section.

Change from Classified to Faculty
Annual Leave - Annual leave balances are retained in the faculty position.

Sick Leave (Traditional) - Twenty-five percent of sick leave balances may be paid (if eligible and not to exceed $5,000) and the remainder of the sick leave balance is forfeited. The employee also has the option of transferring all sick leave balances. The employee must understand that if separation occurs as a faculty employee, no sick leave balances are paid at separation.

Sick Leave (VSDP) - No sick leave payment is made, and any balances must transfer if the employee remains in VRS and VSDP. If the employee opts to move into the VCU Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), no sick leave payment is made and any balances are forfeited.

Disability Credit (VSDP) - Classified staff who move to faculty status and choose one of VCU’s ORP vendors to receive their retirement contributions will have 25% of their disability credits paid (if eligible), not to exceed $5,000; and the remainder of their disability credit balance is forfeited. Classified staff who move to faculty status and choose to stay with VRS and VSDP will keep their disability credits.

Requesting leave: VCU prohibits accruing or carrying leave “off the books”. Managers should pre-approve university and annual leave, and may grant or deny leave requests. Employees request leave through their time and attendance system (typically VCU RealTime) and should do so with as much advanced notice as possible in order to allow sufficient time for managers to plan and schedule work accordingly.

Changing conditions in the workplace environment, which include the pressures of a particular project or priority, or understaffing due to illness or vacancies in the workplace may impact the manager’s ability to approve leave that is requested. If there are designated periods of the year in which leave will not be granted due to high volume of work and peak season events such as commencement ceremonies, managers should notify employees of these occasions well in advance of when they occur so employees can schedule their leave accordingly. 

Managers are strongly advised to document the reasons specific leave requests are denied and maintain such documentation. If requests for leave are submitted by multiple employees for the same leave period and all cannot be granted, managers should develop criteria for considering leave requests based on the reason for the request, an employee’s leave record, an employee’s recent opportunities to take leave, years of service, etc. 

Each department is required to maintain a record of each employee’s hours worked and authorized leave used during each pay period. This record must be confirmed by VCU’s RealTime (or approved alternative system), which is the system of record for leave. This system of record keeping serves as the electronic signature for leave. If original supporting documentation is maintained in the supervisor’s file, these records shall be destroyed after 5 years using VCU’s procedures for file destruction.