Administrative Handbook
Fall 2006

Section 8. VACATION, HOLIDAY, AND PERSONAL TIME

8-1 VACATION

Your eligibility for vacation and the amount of vacation you are eligible to earn depends on your employment status (see Section I. for definitions) and the number of hours you work. With the approval of their supervisors, employees may begin to use their accrued vacation time after completing six consecutive months of service at the College.

Eligibility:

Only full-time or half-time employees are eligible to earn paid vacation.

A. Full-Year Employees
Accrual of Paid Vacation

Paid vacation is accrued on the following basis:

Non-exempt employees:
Full-time non-exempt employees will earn two vacation days at the conclusion of their first three months of employment, and 1.25 vacation days for each additional month of employment completed thereafter. Starting July 1st following your tenth anniversary, you are eligible to earn 1.67 vacation days for each month of employment completed.
Exempt employees:
Full-time exempt employees will earn four vacation days at the conclusion of their first three months of employment, and 1.67 vacation days for each additional month of employment completed thereafter. New full-time exempt employees whose date of hire was prior to the fifteenth of the month will receive vacation leave credit for the full month. Full-time exempt employees who are terminating or retiring and who have worked beyond the fifteenth of the month will be credited for the full month for purposes of accruing vacation leave.

If you work less than full time, your paid vacation leave is accrued in direct proportion to the number of hours you are scheduled to work relative to a 35 hour workweek. For example, a non-exempt employee who works 28 hours per week (80% of the 35 hours worked by a full-time employee) will earn paid vacation days at 80% the rate of a full-time non-exempt employee, or 1 day per month.

A maximum of five accumulated vacation days may be carried over from the fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) in which it is earned to the next fiscal year. Vacation leave earned in one fiscal year must be used by the end of the following fiscal year.

Example: During the fiscal year 2000/2001 a non-exempt employee accrued 15 days of paid vacation, and utilized 5 of those days, leaving an unused balance of 10 days. Five of those accrued but unused days may be utilized by the employee in fiscal year 2001/2002, in addition to paid vacation days earned by the employee during fiscal year 2001/2002. Any paid vacation days from fiscal 2000/2001 not utilized in fiscal 2001/2002 may not be carried over into fiscal year 2002/2003.

Payout at Termination:
Unused earned vacation will be paid out to employees with their final paychecks. Accrued earned vacation can not be used to extend employment.

B. Academic Year Employees
Academic year employees are eligible for paid vacation as discussed below.

Scheduled Vacation Periods:
The College will provide the following paid vacation to eligible full-time or regular half-time academic year employees working 9, 9 1/2 or 10 months per year: approximately five (5) days at Christmas and approximately five (5) days at spring recess. These are known as "scheduled vacations" to distinguish them from additional vacation time, discussed below. The timing and length of each scheduled vacation will be designated by the College in its sole discretion.

In order to be compensated for a scheduled vacation, an academic year employee must be employed on a full-time or regular half-time basis and must be on the active payroll (that is, actively at work or on approved paid time off) on his or her last regularly scheduled workday immediately preceding the scheduled vacation period.

Vacation pay during a scheduled vacation is based on the hours the employee would otherwise be regularly scheduled to work during the vacation period.

C. Additional Vacation Time
Earning of Additional Vacation: Full-time and regular half-time academic year employees working 9, 9 1/2 or 10 months per year are eligible to earn additional vacation (that is, vacation in excess of scheduled vacations, discussed above). Additional vacation time is earned on the basis of the academic year, which commences on or before Sept. 1 of each year, as designated by the College, and must be used during the academic year in which it is earned. If an academic year employee works less than full time, the employee's vacation leave is earned in direct proportion to the number of hours the employee is regularly scheduled to work relative to a 35 hour workweek.

Additional paid vacation leave is accrued on the following basis:

Non-exempt Employees:
Starting on the first day of the academic year following a non-exempt academic year employee's tenth anniversary of employment with the College and on the start of each academic year thereafter during his/her employment, the employee will be granted a total of five days of vacation per year, in addition to scheduled vacations. The employee must be on the active payroll on the start of each academic year in order to be granted this additional vacation. If the employee is on paid leave of absence at the start of the academic year, the employee will be granted the additional vacation at the time the employee is reinstated to employment, provided the employee is reinstated during that academic year. These additional five (5) days of vacation may be taken at any time after they are granted, with the prior approval of the employee's supervisor.

Exempt Employees:
An exempt academic year employee is granted five days of vacation on his or her start date, if that date occurs on or before November 30 of the academic year; otherwise, the new employee's vacation will be pro-rated from the employee's date of hire. Thereafter, the employee is granted five days of vacation at the start of the academic year of each year during the first ten years of employment.

Starting on the first day of the academic year following an exempt employee's tenth anniversary of employment with the College and at the start of each academic year thereafter during employment, the employee will be granted a total of ten days of vacation per year, in addition to scheduled vacations.

The employee must be on the active payroll at the start of the academic year in order to be granted additional vacation time. If the employee is on paid leave of absence at the start of the academic year, the employee will be granted the additional vacation at the time the employee is reinstated to employment, provided the employee is reinstated during that academic year. Additional vacation time may be taken at any time after it is granted, with the prior approval of the employee's supervisor.

Payout at Termination:
Unused additional vacation time will be paid out to employees with their final paychecks. Unused additional vacation time can not be used to extend employment. With respect to scheduled vacations, pay is provided only in conjunction with the vacation and only if the employee is actively employed at the time the scheduled vacation occurs. The College will not pay out scheduled vacation days at termination.
Scheduling

To help the College ensure adequate staffing, employees should request vacation time as far in advance as possible, but in any case no less than two weeks notice must be given. All requests for vacation time must be approved by the employee's supervisor. The College is not always able to accommodate each request, so it reserves the right to deny requested vacation time to meet the needs of the College. It is the policy of the College to encourage all eligible employees to take their vacation during the traditional vacation period (June August). However, vacation may be scheduled at other times with the specific prior written approval of the employee's immediate supervisor.

8-2 HOLIDAYS

Wellesley College officially observes a number of holidays throughout the year. Employees who work a full year (12 months) are entitled to the following paid holidays: *

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Presidents' Day
• Patriots' Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Thanksgiving
• Friday after Thanksgiving
• Christmas
  
  

Academic year employees normally work 9, 9 1/2, or 10 months and are entitled to the following paid holidays: *

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Presidents' Day
• Patriots' Day
• Memorial Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Thanksgiving
• Friday after Thanksgiving
• Christmas

In addition, employees may take religious holidays as vacation or personal days.

* Employees who work less than a five-day work week are entitled to paid holidays on a pro-rated basis. That is, a 4-day/28 hour per week employee is entitled to 80% of the holiday, whether or not they are scheduled to work on the holiday. The total hours for the week's pay period may not exceed 28 hours.

Example: an employee who works Tuesday through Friday for 28 hours would receive 5.6 hours of holiday for a Monday holiday. The employee would reduce their work hours that week to 22.4 work hours to receive pay for 28 hours for that week.

While many legal holidays are observed on a Monday, some, such as Independence Day and Christmas, are observed on the actual day of the week upon which the holiday falls.

When a legal holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will be observed. If the holiday falls on a Saturday, the proceeding Friday generally will be observed. If a legal holiday should fall within your vacation period, you will be entitled to an additional day for that holiday. No additional time will be given if you are absent because of illness, or on an unpaid leave.

When the College is in session, some offices must be staffed. If you are required to work on a legal holiday, you may be given time off on another day. Non-exempt employees must take time off within the same workweek or be paid for the time worked. Exempt employees may take time off at a later date with the approval of the department head.

Holidays are not granted during periods of unpaid leave of absence.

8-3 SPECIAL TIME OFF

The College may also provide special time off with pay at Christmas depending on the day on which the holiday is observed. The following schedule indicates when that time is typically taken.

8-4 PERSONAL DAYS

Regular full-year employees are eligible for up to three Personal Days per fiscal year. To be eligible for all three Personal Days in your first year of employment, your date of hire must be prior to Thanksgiving. If you are hired after Thanksgiving, but prior to Winter session, you will be eligible for two Personal Days. If hired after Winter session, you will not be eligible for Personal Days until the next fiscal year. Whenever possible, you should notify your supervisor as far in advance as possible when requesting Personal Days. Personal Days must be taken at a time that is approved by your supervisor.

Personal Days for less than full-time employees will be granted on a prorated basis.

Full-time academic year employees will receive two Personal Days. If you work less than full time, your personal days will be prorated based on the number of hours you are scheduled to work.

Personal Days must be used during the fiscal year for which they are granted and will not be paid out upon termination if not used.