Understanding the UCLA Vacation Accrual Policy: A Comprehensive Guide for Employees

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) provides a comprehensive benefits package to its employees, including vacation leave. Understanding the UCLA vacation accrual policy is crucial for employees to effectively manage their time off and maintain a healthy work/life balance. This article provides a detailed overview of the policy, covering accrual rates, maximum accrual limits, operational considerations, and related procedures.

Vacation Accrual Basics

Eligible staff employees appointed at 50% or more of full-time for six or more months are entitled to paid vacation leave. The amount of vacation earned depends on several factors:

Appointment Type: Different personnel programs have varying accrual rates.
Percent of Time Worked: Sick leave accrual is proportional to the percentage of time worked. Full-time staff earn one eight-hour day each month (up to 12 days maximum per year) with no overall limit.
Years of Qualifying Service: The amount of vacation earned increases with the length of service.
Hours on Pay Status: This refers to the time an employee is actively working or on paid leave.

Accrual Rates and Service Milestones

As employees accumulate service, they are given a higher accrual rate for vacation. The standard accrual rate increase is two additional hours per month per service milestone, up to 16 hours maximum. However, the accrual rate may vary by personnel program.

The following table illustrates vacation accrual rates for Tier 1 Professional and Support Staff (PPS) based on years of service:

Years of Service	Approximate Hours Per Month (Full Time)	Policy Maximum
Less than 10	10	240
10	12	288
15	14	336
20	16	384

Maximum Accrual Limits and Grace Periods

Vacation leave may be accrued to a maximum of two times the annual accrual rate. For example, if an employee accrues 10 hours per month, their annual accrual is 120 hours (10 hours x 12 months), and their maximum accrual is 240 hours (120 hours x 2).

Once an employee reaches the maximum accrual, the system will not allow additional vacation to accrue until the vacation balance falls below the maximum cap. Employees are strongly encouraged to use any vacation above the maximum.

To address situations where an employee is unable to schedule vacation leave within 60 working days of reaching their maximum vacation accrual limit due to "operational considerations," the University provides up to an additional four months to take vacation leave to bring their accrual below the maximum. Employees continue to accrue vacation during this grace period.

Operational Considerations and Exceptional Circumstances

The new procedures specify what constitutes "operational considerations" and state that the provision of additional time is granted only under exceptional circumstances. Managers must evaluate the nature of the relevant operational considerations and how the exception meets the unit’s or department’s objectives when allowing an employee additional time to reduce vacation overage.

Examples of exceptional operational considerations that may warrant consideration include:

Position vacancies that require additional coverage.
Multiple employee leaves during the same period.
Extended staff absences due to illness or injury.
Temporary or unexpected staffing reductions.
Critical time-sensitive operational projects or events that prevent employees in a unit from taking vacation leave.

Supervisors will need to document the operational considerations that limit an employee’s ability to take vacation leave and submit that document as part of a request for the additional time (up to four months) to their department head for review and forwarding to the cognizant organization head (Dean, Vice Chancellor, or Health System Associate Director) for approval.

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Departmental and CHR Responsibilities

Departments play a crucial role in managing vacation accrual:

Upon hire or appointment to a title eligible to earn vacation, the department assigns a Leave Code to the employee, using the Vacation Accrual chart.
- For employees with no previous qualifying service, record in the EDB the lowest Leave code appropriate for the employee's title based on Program Type.
- For employees with previous qualifying service, use the lowest Leave code appropriate for the employee’s title until the previous service is verified.
Monitor employee’s service credit and recording of actions that impacts service credit (e.g., leaves of absences with no pay, reclassifications, promotions, etc.) ensuring that the service credit and accruals are correct on employees’ records in EDB.
Consult with CHR - Policy & Personnel Services regarding leave accrual and service award issues or concerns.

CHR - Policy and Personnel Services also has specific responsibilities:

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Contact the department when an employee is approaching or has reached a service anniversary.
Review and verify the department’s “Request for Confirmation of Employment Service Credit” form when received.
Consult with the department on how to resolve issues.

Qualifying Service and Service Awards

Employment service credit determines service credit for the purpose of vacation accrual and service award eligibility. Only qualifying service at the University of California, including the Department of Energy Laboratories, the State of California, and the California State University, is counted.

Qualifying Service is defined as a month on pay status at 50% or more. Service need not be continuous to be counted. Periods of leave with pay, military leave with pay, and leave without pay because of work-incurred injury or illness, are included in the determination of the length of qualifying service.

In addition to being eligible to receive a Service Award, employees are given a higher accrual rate for vacation as they accumulate service.

UCPath and Standardized Vacation Tracking

UC is transitioning to a single systemwide payroll and human resources system under UCPath that will electronically track how much vacation leave employees have accrued. This standardization ensures consistency across all UC locations.

Additional Benefits for UC Employees

UCLA faculty and staff have access to a variety of other benefits and privileges, including:

Training Workshops: Employees are offered a variety of training workshops to better understand UC plans. Instructors include UCLA Campus Benefits Staff and Fidelity Investments Representatives.
Insurance, Loan, and Savings Opportunities: The University has official contractual or vendor agreement arrangements with a number of companies to provide insurance, loan, and savings opportunities to UC faculty and staff. Plans are offered to UC at special group rates or provide other special features for UC participants. Farmers GroupSelect provides options that can lead to more savings for UCLA faculty and staff.
Farmers Insurance ChoiceSM: UCLA faculty and staff have special access to personalized auto, home, and renters’ insurance with Farmers Insurance ChoiceSM.
Paid Holidays: UC provides 13 paid holidays a year.
Reduced Fee Program: Eligible employees who have been admitted to the University may enroll in regular UC classes through the reduced fee program within established limits on the number of units or classes.

Absence from Work Policy

The existing policy (Absence from Work 2.210) will not change. The UC Office of the President has approved new systemwide procedures for managing vacation leave accrual for policy-covered staff, as outlined in Sections III.B.5 and V of the Policy. UCLA will also develop local procedures to facilitate implementation.

The following table outlines the grace period and notification requirements for different employee groups:

Employee Group	Reference	Grace Period for Overmax	Employee Should Be Notified Prior to Reaching Policy Max
Non-Represented Staff(99)PPS	Absence from Work	4 Months	60 Working Days
Clerical(CX)	CUEArticle 44	4 Months	60 Days
Registered Nurses(NX)	CNAArticle 17	3 Months	90 Days
Research & Support Professionals (RX)	UPTE Article 43	4 Months	60 Days
Health Care Professionals (HX)	UPTEArticle 41	3 Months	60 Days
Technical(TX)	UPTEArticle 43	4 Months	60 Days
Patient Care Technical(EX)	AFSCMEArticle 41	Overage goes into bank	60 Calendar Days
Service(SX)	AFSCMEArticle 41	4 Months	60 Days
Skilled Crafts(K-4)	SETCArticle 17	4 Months	60 and 30 Calendar Days
Police(PA)	FUPOAArticle 18	4 Months	60 Days

Vacation Accrual and Service Award Process for Staff Employees

Upon hire or appointment to a title eligible to earn vacation, the department assigns a Leave Code to the employee, using the Vacation Accrual chart.

For employees with no previous qualifying service:

Record in the EDB the lowest Leave code appropriate for the employee's title based on Program Type. (e.g. The lowest code for Tier 1 Professional and Support Staff is “A”, accruing at 10 hours per month; and for Tier 2, Managers & Senior Professionals, “B” is the lowest, accruing at 12 hours per month.)

For employees with previous qualifying service:

Until the previous service is verified, use the lowest Leave code appropriate for the employee’s title as described in #1 above.

If the employee’s previous qualifying service is with other UC campuses or State of California institutions, the employee must complete the “Prior State of California Service Credit” form to obtain verification of prior service.

After the confirmation of prior service credit is verified and received from the former institution, attach it to the “Request For Confirmation of Employment Service Credit Form” and forward to Campus Human Resources (CHR), Policy & Personnel Services.

If applicable processes any retroactive or adjustment of vacation accruals for the employee (only after notification from CHR - Policy & Personnel Services).

Monitor employee’s service credit and recording of actions that impacts service credit (e.g., leaves of absences with no pay, reclassifications, promotions, etc.) ensuring that the service credit and accruals are correct on employees’ records in EDB.

Consult with CHR - Policy & Personnel Services regarding leave accrual and service award issues or concerns.

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