Full‐time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees accrue 1 day (8 hours) of annual leave at the end of each semi‐monthly pay period. Part‐time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees accrue a prorated amount. Annual leave can be used for any reason, however, it must be accrued before it can be used. Annual leave will accrue after each semi-monthly pay period when a Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employee works the entire pay period or has appropriate leave to cover an absence. Please note: Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who are in ‘a leave without pay’ status during a semi-monthly pay period will not accrue annual leave during that pay period.
Annual Leave Carryover/Payout - On Jan 9th of each calendar year, unused annual leave hours that exceed the maximum carryover limits will be donated to the VCU leave share program. VCU pays full-time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees for their unused annual leave balances up to the maximum /payout amount when they separate from employment, unless otherwise indicated in their contracts.
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Years of Service - Includes all creditable salaried state service |
Days Per Year |
Hours Per Year |
Maximum Hour Carryover |
Maximum Hour Payout at Separation |
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Up through 14 |
24 |
192 |
288 |
288 |
|
15 through 20 |
24 |
192 |
336 |
288 |
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21 or more |
24 |
192 |
384 |
288 |
Based on a full-time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employee. Part-time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees receive a prorated amount in proportion to their appointment percentage.
More information:
- Annual Leave is submitted in RealTime for manager approval.
- To review your leave balance, log into your MyVCU portal.
- Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees generally receive paid holidays listed on the Paydays and Holidays calendar. Contact your manager to confirm and for further details.
Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees accrue sick leave and/or family and personal leave based on their retirement plan selection. Details for each retirement plan are included in their own sections.
TRADITIONAL SICK LEAVE PLAN (TSLP) PARTICIPANTS
The Traditional Sick Leave Plan is available to Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who participate in the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), and to Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who participate in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) but have opted out of VRS’ Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP).
The Traditional Sick Leave Plan is not available to Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who participate in the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP).
PERSONAL SICK LEAVE
Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees use personal sick leave for personal illness or injury and health-related appointments. Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees accrue up to 5 hours of sick leave each semi-monthly pay period in proportion to their Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow appointment percentage. Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees record sick leave in 4 or 8 hour increments, as appropriate. Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who are in ‘a leave without pay’ status during a semi-monthly pay period do not accrue sick leave for that pay period. There is no limit to the number of sick leave hours that Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees may accumulate. The university does not pay Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees for their unused sick leave balances when they separate from employment. After all sick leave is used, any additional time off for personal illness may be covered by annual leave, holiday leave balances, or ‘leave without pay’.
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Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees in the Traditional Sick Leave Plan (TSLP)* |
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Days Per Year |
Hours Per Year |
Maximum Carryover |
Maximum Payout |
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|
15 |
120 |
Unlimited |
Non-payable |
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* Based on full time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees. Part time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees receive a prorated amount in proportion to their appointment percentage.
FAMILY SICK LEAVE
Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees may use up to 48 hours (6 days) from their sick leave balance for any illness, injury, or death of an immediate family member. Please refer to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. The annual limit is 48 hours (6 days) in a leave year, which is Jan 10th through Jan 9th of the following year. Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees may use up to 6 days (48 hours) of family sick leave to cover a short-term family illness. Additional time taken may be covered by using sick leave (up to 33 percent of remaining sick leave balances), annual, holiday, or ‘leave without pay’. Annual, holiday, or ‘leave without pay’ must cover any additional time off for family illness that does not qualify for FMLA.\
Childbirth - For absences due to childbirth, the childbearing parent may use sick leave to cover the period of time they are medically disabled (normally 6 weeks). Additional time off may be covered by using available remaining sick leave (up to 12 weeks total including the disability period), annual, holiday, or ‘leave without pay’. Please refer to VCU’s FMLA policy for additional information.
Parental leave for non-childbearing parents and adoption/foster care - Non-childbearing Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees may access 100% (or up to 8 weeks) of their sick leave to bond with/care for a child. Annual, holiday, or ‘leave without pay’ may cover additional time off. This leave must be used within one (1) year from the birth or placement of a child and may be used consecutively or intermittently. FMLA paperwork must be filed for parental leave use. Please contact your HR Professional to receive the required FMLA forms for submission to VCU HR Leave Administration.
VIRGINIA SICKNESS AND DISABILITY PROGRAM (VSDP) PARTICIPANTS
- Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who participate in the Virginia Retirement System are automatically enrolled in VSDP Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who participate in the VCU Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) are not eligible to participate in the VSDP
- Short-term disability income replacement (subject to approval):
- Non-work related disabilities are not covered during the first year of VSDP participation after being hired or rehired to VSDP-covered employment.
- For Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees with less than 5 years of continuous VSDP coverage, income replacement is 60 percent
- For Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees with 5 or more years of continuous VSDP coverage, income replacement is 100 percent, 80 percent, and 60 percent, respectively, based on years of service, for up to 25 weeks beginning with the 8th calendar day of disability.
- Long-term disability income replacement (subject to approval) is at 60 percent of salary beginning at the end of short-term disability and lasting to the end of the disability or until eligibility is met for unreduced VRS retirement.
VSDP SICK LEAVE
Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees may use sick leave for their own short-term illness or toward the waiting period for short-term disability benefits. Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees may use up to 33 percent of their sick leave for a family illness covered by FMLA, with Dean or VP approval. Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees accrue sick leave based on their length of service. Sick leave accruals are credited at the beginning of the leave calendar year, and balances do not carry forward to the next year, and are not paid upon separation of employment.
Following are sick leave accrual rates for full-time and part-time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees participating in the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program. *If hired July 10th or later, half of the annual amount is credited upon hire.
VSDP SICK LEAVE accruals for Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees:
- New full‐time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees on:
- 75% FTE appointments or greater receive 8 days (64 hours) of sick leave upon enrollment, if hired between January 10th and July 9th, or,
- 4 days (32 hours), if hired between July 10th and January 9th.
- New Part‐time Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees on:
- Less than 75% FTE appointments receive 4 days (32 hours), if hired between January 10th and July 9th, or,
- 2 days (16 hours), if hired between July 10th and January 9th.
Childbirth - Childbearing parents in the VSDP may use 100% of their remaining available sick leave bucket to extend their time off, up to a maximum of 12 weeks including the medical disability period. Annual leave, family and personal leave, holiday, or ‘leave without pay’ may also be used. Please refer to VCU’s FMLA policy for additional information.
Parental leave for non-childbearing Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees and adoption/foster care - Non-childbearing Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees in the VSDP may access 100% of their available sick leave bucket to bond with/care for a child, up to a maximum of 8 weeks. Annual leave, family and personal leave, holiday, or ‘leave without pay’ may also be used. FMLA paperwork must be filed for parental leave. Please contact your HR Professional to receive the required FMLA forms for submission to VCU HR Leave Administration.
VSDP FAMILY and PERSONAL LEAVE
Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees enrolled in the VSDP receive family and personal leave for absences due to family or personal illness, death of a family member or for other personal needs. Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees accrue leave based on length of service, leave accruals are credited at the beginning of the leave calendar year, balances do not carry forward to the next year, and are not paid upon separation from employment.
Following are the family and personal leave accrual rates for Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees participating in the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program. *If hired July 10th or later, half of the annual amount is credited upon hire.
VSDP FAMILY and PERSONAL LEAVE accruals for Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees:
- New Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees (regardless of appointment percentage) receive:
- 4 days (32 hours) of family and personal leave upon enrollment, if hired between January 10th and July 9th, or,
- 2 days (16 hours) of family and personal leave upon enrollment, if hired between July 10th and January 9th.
1. Who should I contact if I have questions about my leave benefits?
- Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees with leave-related questions should contact their area’s HR Professional for guidance.
2. What is FMLA leave?
- The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides job protection for absences that are due to a qualifying reason. Employees are eligible for up to 12 work weeks of FMLA coverage in a rolling 12-month period. FMLA is extended to 26 workweeks (1,040 hours) to care for a family member with a serious health condition when the spouse, child(ren), parent(s) or “next of kin” is a covered service member and the health condition is incurred in the line of duty on active duty. During the FMLA coverage period, employees must use their own leave balances, or unpaid leave. Please see VCU’s Family and Medical Leave Policy for more information.
3. When should I request FMLA leave, and how do I go about it?
- FMLA should be requested when you need to take leave for yourself or your family member for any absence that involves a period of incapacity of more than three (3) consecutive, full calendar days with follow-up treatment due to a qualifying reason. It must also be requested when using personal sick leave to bond with or care for a new child. To request FMLA, contact your area’s HR Professional for the FMLA DocuSign forms.
4. Is my FMLA leave paid?
- The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. It also requires that their group health benefits be maintained during the leave. During the FMLA coverage period, employees must use their own leave balances, or unpaid leave. Please see VCU’s Family and Medical Leave Policy for more information.
5. Are Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees eligible to use the Leave Share Program?
- Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who participate in the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP) may donate annual or university leave. However,
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- VSDP participants are not eligible to receive leave share donations to cover absences for their own personal medical condition. 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, and they have exhausted their own leave balances, and they have entered a ‘leave without pay’ status. Please see the Leave Share Program guidelines under General leave policies for more information.
- Postdoctoral Scholar-Fellow employees who participate in the Traditional Sick Leave Plan (TSLP) may donate annual leave, and,
- TSLP participants are eligible to receive leave share donations for their own personal medical conditions, if they have exhausted their own leave balances, and they 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 they are using FMLA for their family member’s illness. Please see the Leave Share Program guidelines under General leave policies for more information.
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