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USA Operations Centers Personal Leave May 2017
As this policy is reviewed, please note the following states/areas for which exceptions exist:
See Managerial Actions for California
Personal Leave provides benefits-eligible employees an unpaid leave for extenuating personal reasons.
All full-time and part-time benefits eligible employees can request a Personal Leave when Paid Time Off (PTO) has been exhausted and the time away is not covered by other leaves.
Personal leaves are at management’s discretion and may be granted on the basis of:
your proposed use of the time
your past performance
the workload in the unit
the availability of employees to fill in during the leave
Length of Leave A Personal Leave may be granted for a minimum of 5 days and up to 30 calendar days.
Pay
Employees are in a nonpaid status while on a Personal Leave.
If an employee is on an unpaid leave for more than 10 consecutive workdays, he/she should contact the Joyner Benefits Center to arrange payment of premiums to continue benefits as Health & Welfare benefits premiums will be charged via direct billing.
PTO
Employees must exhaust their PTO before utilizing an unpaid Personal Leave.
PTO does not accrue while on an unpaid Personal Leave.
FMLA
A Personal Leave requested for potentially-qualifying-FMLA situations should be granted and referred to Joyner’s third party Health Service Provider for review. Refer to the Family and Medical Leave policy for additional information.
Return from Leave/Failure to Return from Leave
Employees returning from a Personal Leave are eligible to return to an available position of the same job grade and wage. However it does not have to be the position the employee left.
If the employee gives notice of the intention not to return from the Personal Leave, the notice will be deemed as a resignation effective the date of the notice.
Employees who fail to return from leave on the agreed upon date, nor provide notice, will be terminated for Failure to Return from Leave.
Submit a Personal Leave request in writing to your supervisor for approval. The request should address:
Beginning and ending dates of the unpaid Personal Leave
Proposed use of time/reason for the leave
Workload items that will need coverage during the leave
Refer to the Family and Medical Leave Act policy for instructions and contact Health Service Provider information for reporting absences which may qualify under FMLA.
If granted a leave longer than 10 consecutive work days, contact the:
Joyner Benefits Center to arrange payment of premiums to continue benefits as Health & Welfare benefits premiums will be charged via direct billing.
Credit Union to arrange payment on any Credit Union Loans
The supervisor explains the Personal Leave policy and discusses request procedures with new and on-board employees.
The supervisor must evaluate each request and return a decision to the employee. Refer to the Family and Medical Leave Act policy for instructions and Health Service Provider contact information for reporting absences which may qualify under FMLA.
Once the Personal Leave is approved, the supervisor should discuss the effect the Personal Leave will have on the employee’s compensation and benefits. See general information for details.
Note: Deductions in pay for an exempt employee may only be made if the unpaid Personal Leave is for one or more full days of work and may only be made in full day increments.
Performance reviews are administered on the normal performance review date and communicated to the employee upon their return.
Record the Personal Leave on exempt and non-exempt employees’ timesheets.
Complete a Payroll Unpaid Absences Report for exempt employees in order for the absence to be unpaid.
After granting approval for an unpaid leave greater than two weeks, the supervisor completes the online leave transaction in Manager's Self Service (MSS) to put the employee in an unpaid leave status and to stop paycheck distributions for Health and Welfare benefits. Failure to do so may negatively impact Health and Welfare benefits and associated premiums.
An employee with extenuating circumstances requesting a Personal Leave greater than 30 days should have AVP approval.
California Employees: Send the Changein Relationship Cover Letter along with a completed "Notice to Employee as to Change in Relationship" form and provide the For Your Benefit: California ’s Programs for the Unemployed (DE2 32 ) notice to the employee.
Human Resources staff should be familiar with the provisions of the policy in order to help leadership administer the Personal Leaves policy in an accurate and consistent manner.