Section 8. Vacation, Holiday and Personal Time
8-1 Vacation
8-2 Holidays
8-3 Special Time Off
8-4 Personal Days
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.
Eligibility: Only benefit eligible employees are entitled to earn paid vacation.
A. Full-Year Employees:
Full-year employees are eligible for paid vacation as discussed below.
Non-exempt Employees: Full-time non-exempt employees will earn 2.02 vacation hours per week (three weeks per year). On your tenth anniversary, you are eligible to earn 2.70 vacation hours per week (four weeks per year).
Exempt Employees: Full-time exempt employees will earn 11.70 vacation hours per month (four weeks per year). 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 9.36 hours per month.
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.
Full-Year Employee Vacation Carry over: Employees may carry over their annual vacation accrual plus one additional week. For example if you are a full-time, full-year exempt employee, you can carry over up to four weeks plus one additional week (175 hours). For example if you are a full-time, full-year non-exempt employee with less than 10 years of service, you can carry over up to three weeks plus one additional week (140 hours). Carryover is adjusted by scheduled hours per week.
Full-Year Employee 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 (9, 9.5 10, 10.5 schedules):
Academic year employees are eligible for paid vacation as discussed below:
Non-Exempt Employees (weekly): Non-exempt employees accrue prorated vacation hours based on a full-time equivalent of 2.02 hours per week (3 weeks per year). The prorated amount is based on the scheduled hours per week and scheduled weeks per year (also known as the blended fte). Accrual occurs on weekly basis throughout the calendar year.
For example:
- full-time, 10 month non-exempt employee (.83fte) will accrue 1.68 hours of vacation per week.
- 17.5 hour per week, 9 month non exempt employee (.375fte) will accrue 0.76 hours of vacation per week.
On the tenth anniversary, non-exempt employees accrue prorated vacation hours based on a full-time equivalent of 2.70 hours vacation per week (4 weeks per year). The prorated amount is based on the scheduled hours per week and scheduled weeks per year.
Academic year, non-exempt employees may carry over one week of vacation adjusted by scheduled hours per week.
Exempt Employees (monthly): Exempt academic year employees accrue prorated vacation hours based on a full-time equivalent of 11.70 hours monthly(4 weeks per year) throughout the year. The prorated amount is based on the scheduled hours per week and scheduled weeks per year (also known as the blended fte).
For example:
- a full-time, 10 month exempt employee (.83fte) will accrue 9.71 hours of vacation per month.
Academic year, exempt employees may carry over one week of vacation adjusted by scheduled hours per week.
Academic-Year Employee Payout at Termination: Unused earned vacation will be paid out to employees with their final paychecks. Accrued earned vacation cannot be used to extend employment.
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.
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:*Wellesley College officially observes a number of holidays throughout the year. Employees who work 11-12 months are entitled to the following paid holidays during regularly scheduled work periods:*
- New Year's Day
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- Presidents' Day
- Patriots' Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Indigenous Peoples’ 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
- Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- Thanksgiving
- Friday after Thanksgiving
- Christmas
In addition, employees may take religious holidays as vacation or personal days.
* Part-time employees who work at least 17.5 hours per week are entitled to pro-rated holiday pay. The pay is based on the authorized hours for the position divided by 5 days to determine the holiday benefit.
Example:
- 28 hours divided by 5 days = 5.6 hours holiday pay
- 17.5 hours divided by 5 days = 3.5 hours holiday pay
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 paid for that holiday.
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 has the discretion to offer special time off. This special time off applies only to those scheduled to work during that specified time.
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 September 30th. If you are hired after October 1-December 31st you will be eligible for two Personal Days. If hired between January 1– March 1st, you will be eligible for 1 Personal Day. If hired April-June30th, 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. The pay is based on the authorized hours for the position divided by 5 days to determine the personal day benefit.
Example:
- 28 hours divided by 5 days = 5.6 hours personal day
- 17.5 hours divided by 5 days = 3.5 hours personal day
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. To be eligible for two Personal Days in your first year of employment your date of hire must be between July 1-November 30th. If you are hired between December 1-March 31st you will be eligible for one Personal Day. If hired between April 1- June 30th you will not be eligible for Personal days until the next fiscal year.
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.