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Personal Leave of Absence
A permanent employee may be granted a leave of absence without pay for a period not to exceed one year. A written request for the personal leave must be submitted to and approved by the employee's supervisor and the Associate Vice President for Human Resources.
Application of Earned Leave Time
An employee approved for a personal leave may apply earned vacation, energy and/or administrative leave time, or take a leave of absence without pay. Should the employee request to use earned leave time, a formal Leave Work-Up must be created to calculate the number of earned days available for the employee.
Health Benefits
Health benefits coverage is unaltered for an employee on full pay status using earned leave time. When an employee takes a leave of absence without pay, for personal reasons, health benefit coverage will terminate the month in which the last paycheck is received. The employee may elect to continue their health coverage during a personal leave of absence at the group rate for up to 18 months.
Pension
Service and salary credit for pension purposes are earned in the state retirement systems while in pay status only. For periods where leave is taken on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis, an employee may be able to obtain pension credit depending upon the compensation received during the coverage periods involved. Members under the Alternate Benefit Program must receive at least 50% of their base salary to make contributions to their account.
Members of PERS, TPAF, and PFRS are eligible to purchase credit for up to three months while on an authorized personal leave. There is no such provision for employees in ABP.
Life Insurance
Group life insurance coverage will continue for up to 93 days while on an official leave for personal reasons. In this case, contributions are required to continue coverage under the contributory plan. Group life insurance coverage will continue for up to one year for employees on official leaves to fulfill residency requirements for an advanced degree and for employees who are enrolled as full-time students at institutions of higher education. In these instances, contributions are required to continue coverage under the contributory plan.
