TOPIC: Accrued Leave
OFFICE: State Auditor’s Office
QUESTION / ISSUE:
STATE: IN
DATE: 3/17/2015
Indiana would like to know what type of accrued leave is offered to your employees – vacation, sick, personnel,
PTO, etc. Also, the amount of leave time given to the employees.
State
Arizona
Comments
Our Statewide Employee Handbook, found here:
http://www.hr.az.gov/PDF/Statewide_Employee_Handbook.pdf
(pages 16-26) discusses:
 Paid leave Annual (“vacation”), Compensatory, Holiday, Sick, Education,
Bereavement, etc.,
 Unpaid leave: Leave without Pay, Furlough
 Leave that could be either paid or unpaid: FMLA, Military, Industrial
The handbook represents the State Personnel System (about 90% of the 39,000+ state
employees we pay).
The judicial and legislative branches have separate personnel policies.
Also, the three state universities maintain their own payroll and personnel systems.
All state employees, including the ones mentioned above can participate in RASL (Retiree
Accumulated Sick Leave). Retiring employees who elect to receive and who meet certain
eligibility criteria can be paid a portion of their remaining unused sick leave.
More information about RASL can be found here: https://gao.az.gov/payroll/rasl
Colorado
Colorado has separate sick and annual leave. Sick is accrued at 6.67 hours per month for all
employees. Annual leave increases based on years of service.
Delaware
Per Delaware Merit rules. Please see attached:
DE Merit Rules.pdf
Kentucky
Go to the website provided below and start with page 39 for leave benefits provided by
Kentucky.
https://hr.personnel.ky.gov/Documents%20Anonymous/Employee%20Handbook.pdf#page=40
New York
Attached is summary of the leave given to New York State employees.
Accrued leave.docx
State
North Carolina
Comments
Employees of the state of North Carolina are permitted to accumulate earned but unused
vacation pay benefits. The state’s policy provides for a maximum accumulation of unused
vacation leave of 30 days which can be carried forward each January 1 or for which an
employee can be paid upon termination of employment. Also, any accumulated vacation leave
in excess of 30 days at calendar year end is converted to sick leave.
In addition to the vacation leave described above, compensated absences include the
accumulated unused portion of the special annual leave bonuses awarded by the North
Carolina General Assembly. The bonus leave balance on December 31 is retained by
employees and transferred into the next calendar year. It is not part of the 30 day maximum
applicable to regular vacation leave and is not subject to conversion to sick leave. (Note: This
leave was awarded by the N.C. General Assembly in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2014 in lieu of pay
raises).
There is no liability for unpaid accumulated sick leave because the state has no obligation to
pay sick leave upon employee termination or retirement. However, additional service credit for
retirement pension benefits is given for accumulated sick leave upon retirement.
Below is a link to the state of North Carolina’s leave policies:
http://www.oshr.nc.gov/Guide/Policies/section5.pdf
Rhode Island
You can refer to our Personnel Rules located on the website at
http://www.hr.ri.gov/stateemployee/rules/.
Due to the complexities of hours worked, unions, etc., it is better to refer directly to the
personnel rules.
South Carolina
I’m including these website links that’ll provide information on how we administer accrued
leave time in South Carolina.
Annual Leave (Vacation): http://www.ohr.sc.gov/OHR/regs01/709.htm
Sick Leave: http://www.ohr.sc.gov/OHR/regs01/710.htm
Other Leave Types (Adoption, Voting, Death etc.): http://www.ohr.sc.gov/OHR/regs01/712.htm
Utah
Utah offers vacation (we refer to it as annual leave) and sick leave to employees. Some
attempts have been made the past few years to convert to a PTO program, but that hasn't
happened yet.
Employees receive vacation leave based on years of service. From 0 up to 5 years, 4 hours
every two weeks. From 5 up to 10 years, 5 hours every two weeks. From 10 years up to 20
years, 6 hours every two weeks. Over 20 years of service, 7 hours every two weeks.
Some positions, such as department directors and other appointed positions, earn 7 hours
every two weeks regardless of years of service.
As for sick leave, employees receive 4 hours every two weeks.
State
Vermont
Comments
Please find attached the types of leave and the accrual rate per pay period. The maximum
column for each bargaining unit pertains to annual leave only.
VT Leave Accrual
Rates.pdf
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia has two leave programs. Traditional Sick Leave (TSL - only
grandfathered employees) and the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP). I have
provided a link to the website where the leave policies are
documented. http://www.dhrm.virginia.gov/hrpolicies
Under TSL, sick leave is accrued at a rate of 5 hours per semi-monthly pay period. Annual
leave is accrued based on years of service and ranges from 4 to 9 hours per pay
period. Under VSDP the only leave accrued is the annual leave. The VSDP program does
provide an annual allotment of hours for Sick leave and Family Personal leave also based on
years of service. See below.
Current Full-Time Employee (F & Q)
Months of Service
Sick Leave
Family& Personal
Hours/Days
Leave Hours/Days
Less than 60
64 (8 days)
32 (4 days)
60 to 119
72 (9 days)
32 (4 days)
120 or more
80 (10 days)
40 (5 days)
Wyoming
There are several other categories of leave that are earned such as overtime or compensatory
leave. And there are leave types that one can qualify to use based on specific circumstances
up to an annual maximum such as School Assistance and Volunteer Service leave.
Currently the state of Wyoming offers our employees the following types of accrued leave:
Annual Leave, is accrued as follows:
Number of Months Employed
1 - 48 months
49 - 108 months
109 - 168 months
169 - 228 months
over 229 months
Hours Earned Each Month
8 hrs/mon (12 days/yr)
10 hrs/mon (15 days/yr)
12 hrs/mon (18 days/yr)
14 hrs/mon (21 days/yr)
16 hrs/mon (24 days/yr)
Carry-Over Maximum
240 hours (30 days)
240 hours (30 days)
288 hours (36 days)
336 hours (42 days)
384 hours (48 days)
Sick Leave, is accrued at 8 hours per month (12 days/yr) if worked >= 160 hrs/month,
unlimited accumulation.
Executive Personal Leave, this policy applies to certain positions, in lieu of the Annual Leave
and Sick Leave and is accrued as follows:
16 hours per month; must be used within the calendar year that it is earned, with the exception
of a Carry-Over Maximum of 80 hours, which must be approved by the Governor or his
designee.
Personal Leave, may be accrued up to 2 regularly scheduled days, not to exceed 16 hours,
per calendar year for participating in one of the following activities: EE recognition programs,
department wellness initiatives, Merit incentive programs, Team based recognition, Volunteer
at a non-profit organization.