Bonus Leave

Summary

Bonus leave is provided on occasion by the N.C. General Assembly. Please see below for details about amount, eligibility, use of bonus leave, recordkeeping, and change in employee status.

Body

Title

Bonus Leave

Purpose

Bonus leave is provided on occasion by the N.C. General Assembly. Please see below for details.

Amount

The NC General Assembly has provided bonus leave as follows:

Amount of Leave and Effective Date Table
Amount of Leave Effective Date
80 hours September 30, 2002
80 hours July 1, 2003
40 hours September 1, 2005
40 hours September 1, 2014
40 hours July 1, 2018

Eligibility

  • SHRA full-time employees (permanent, probationary, trainee or time-limited) shall receive bonus leave at the rates indicated above if employed on the dates indicated above.
  • SHRA part-time employees regularly scheduled half-time or more (permanent, probationary, trainee or time-limited) shall receive a pro rata amount.
  • SHRA permanent employees regularly scheduled less than half-time and all SHRA temporary employees are not eligible to receive bonus leave.
  • EHRA permanent employees who earn leave are eligible for bonus leave if employed on the dates indicated above (see the EHRA Bonus Leave policy for more information).
  • Eligible employees on leave without pay, other than workers’ compensation leave and leave for reserve active duty, shall be credited with the bonus leave upon their return based on their type of appointment at the time of leave without pay. If they do not return, they are not eligible for the leave.
  • Eligible employees on workers’ compensation leave and leave for reserve active duty shall be credited with bonus leave for use upon their return to work. If the employee does not return, the bonus leave shall be paid in addition to any other leave, in accordance with the leave policies.
  • Eligibility to earn bonus leave is contingent upon employment status on the dates indicated above.

Example: An employee began permanent full-time employment on June 30, 2003 and ended employment on August 31, 2005.

  • The employee is NOT eligible for the September 30, 2002 bonus leave.
  • The employee IS eligible for the July 1, 2003 bonus leave.
  • The employee is NOT eligible for the September 1, 2005 bonus leave.

Example: An employee began permanent part-time employment on September 1, 2005 and ended employment the same day, September 1, 2005.

  • The employee is eligible ONLY for the September 1, 2005 bonus leave.

Use of Bonus Leave

  • Bonus leave shall be taken only upon authorization by management.
  • Bonus leave may be used for any purpose for which regular vacation leave is used.
  • Bonus leave shall be charged in units of time consistent with regular vacation leave guidelines.
  • The employee shall determine whether to charge approved leave to regular vacation leave or bonus leave.

Recordkeeping

  • Bonus leave shall be accounted for separately from regular earned vacation leave.
  • Bonus leave accrued in different years shall be accounted for collectively.
  • Any balance of bonus leave on December 31 will be retained by the employee and transferred into the next calendar year. It will not be considered part of the maximum 240 hours of vacation that can be retained.
  • Bonus leave will not be subject to conversion to sick leave.
  • Each bonus leave allocation is a one-time allotment. Employees do not “lose it” at the end of the calendar year nor do they receive an additional allotment the next year, unless specifically allocated by the General Assembly.

Bonus Leave in Time Information Management (TIM) System

Leave should be input in a timely basis and accounted for on a daily basis.

For permanent SHRA exempt employees, accrual and use of Bonus Leave shall be recorded and tracked by the school/division’s HR Office or the department’s TIM Administrator.

Change In Employee Status

  • Any balance of bonus leave will be transferred with the employee who transfers to another State agency eligible for bonus leave.
  • Bonus leave balance will be paid in addition to regular vacation leave if the employee leaves state government or changes to a non-leave earning status.

Miscellaneous Provisions

  • Departments shall maintain records of bonus leave.
  • Bonus leave may be applied to negative balances of regular earned leave with the approval of the employee and supervisor.
  • Bonus leave is available to be donated as vacation leave under the Voluntary Shared Leave provisions. (Note: Once donated, bonus leave is considered part of the recipient’s sick leave balance, not bonus leave balance.)

Details

Details

Article ID: 131722
Created
Thu 4/8/21 9:15 PM
Modified
Thu 7/29/21 12:22 PM
Responsible Unit
School, Department, or other organizational unit issuing this document.
Office of Human Resources
Issuing Officer
Name of the document Issuing Officer. This is the individual whose organizational authority covers the policy scope and who is primarily responsible for the policy.
Issuing Officer Title
Title of the person who is primarily responsible for issuing this policy.
Associate Vice Chancellor
Next Review
Date on which the next document review is due.
10/28/2018 12:00 AM
Last Review
Date on which the most recent document review was completed.
01/06/2017 12:00 AM
Last Revised
Date on which the most recent changes to this document were approved.
01/06/2017 12:00 AM
Effective Date
If the date on which this document became/becomes enforceable differs from the Origination or Last Revision, this attribute reflects the date on which it is/was enforcable.
01/06/2017 12:00 AM
Origination
Date on which the original version of this document was first made official.
01/06/2017 12:00 AM