Eligibility
Regular employees who are appointed to work twenty hours or more per week for at least six months are eligible to accrue paid annual leave; however, annual leave may not be utilized until the employee has completed six months of continuous service although it will accrue during that period.

Accrual
Regular full-time employees with one year or less of eligible service accrue annual leave at a rate of 6.67 hours per month. On the first of the month following completion of twelve months of continuous service, regular full-time employees will accrue at a rate of 10 hours per month. Regular part-time employees accrue a proportionate amount of annual leave based upon the percentage of employment. Credit for one month's accrual will be posted to each regular employee's leave record on the first day of employment and the first day of each month thereafter.

No employee may accrue annual leave while s/he is in an ineligible status (e.g., leave without pay less than 20-hour per week appointments, or during months of a less than 12-month appointment when work is not scheduled, etc.).

Regular employees with previous St. Edward's University eligible employment will be credited with such prior service when computing the annual leave accrual rate, provided that the employee notifies the Office of Human Resources of such prior service.

Non-regular employees (i.e., those who are appointed to work less than 20 hours per week and/or for less than six months) are not eligible to accrue annual leave. However, should an otherwise eligible temporary employee's appointment be extended to more than six months without a break in service, the employee will be credited retroactively with accrued annual leave effective the first day of the otherwise benefits-eligible temporary appointment.

Records
It is the responsibility of each Cost Center Manager to see that timesheets are completed accurately and submitted to the Office of Human Resources in a timely fashion. It is the responsibility of the Office of Human Resources to record leave accrual and usage on a central record for each eligible employee.

Utilization
Annual leave cannot be used until it has been accrued by the employee and when used, it will be charged against the employee's accrued leave in increments of 15 minutes. Except in emergencies, employees' requests for annual leave must be approved by their supervisor prior to usage. Employees are urged to utilize annual leave during the fiscal year in which it is accrued. Annual leave not used by the end of the fiscal year following the year in which it was earned will be forfeited without compensation.

Employees appointed for less than 12 months per year must take their annual leave during their months of work. Annual leave cannot be taken during the employees' break month(s). Annual leave used for Family Medical Leave purposes (personal or family illness, childbirth, etc.) will count toward the 12-week maximum absence per year described in the Family Medical Leave policy.

Service Separation
Generally, employees giving at least ten working days notice who have at least six months of regular service will be paid for any accrued, unused annual leave following termination of employment. Under most circumstances employment ends on the last day worked (the termination date) and accrued, unused annual leave is paid in a lump sum. If appropriate notice is given, it is the university's option to give pay in lieu of notice. Annual leave pay is determined by multiplying the number of accrued, unused annual leave hours remaining after the last day worked (or on university-approved leave) up to a full-time maximum of 120 hours, pro-rated based on percent time of the most recent appointment, times the employee's hourly rate. If an employee is discharged, all annual leave benefits are forfeited.

Death
In the event of the death of an employee who has an accrued annual leave balance, his/her estate will be paid for the total leave balance calculated at the employee's rate of compensation at the time of his/her death.