Department of Ophthalmology: Policy on Lab Time and Attendance

Summary

The Department of Ophthalmology follows the personnel policies of the University of North Carolina which can be found in their entirety on the UNC-Chapel Hill Human Resources website. Additional information about the Lab’s specific requirements or expectations on some of the attendance policies are contained below.

Body

Unit Policy

Title

Department of Ophthalmology: Policy on Lab Time and Attendance

Introduction

Purpose

The Department of Ophthalmology follows the personnel policies of the University of North Carolina which can be found in their entirety on the UNC-Chapel Hill Human Resources website. Additional information about the Lab’s specific requirements or expectations on some of the attendance policies are contained below. 

Scope

All Laboratory SHRA employees (including probationary, trainee, or time-limited appointments) in the Department of Ophthalmology.

Policy

Policy Statement

Work Schedules

Everyone in the lab will have an established schedule of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday that they must follow. Any deviations from the set schedule must be approved in advance and in writing by the supervisor. 

Everyone is required to update TIM daily

All full and part-time employees are scheduled to work a certain number of hours each workday.  Each employee is responsible for coming to work on time and for leaving on time each day per his/her approved work schedule.  The time of arrival, meal break, and departure must be recorded daily and promptly in the TIM system within TEN minutes of actual start/stop time.  If you are unable to login to TIM due to computer technical issues, you are to email your supervisor immediately so that the supervisor can enter in the time.  You are not authorized to wait until the end of a week or a pay period to enter in time.  Keeping logs of work hours, time off, compensatory time, overtime, or other time outside of the TIM system is not authorized.  TIM is the official timekeeping system of the University.

Planned Leave

Leave requests must be submitted to the supervisor in writing (Leave request form) at least two weeks in advance of the requested time off.  The supervisor must approve or disapprove in writing (email) within two workdays.  The supervisor has the discretion to disapprove leave requests based on operational needs.

Absences and Tardiness

If for any reason you will be late or cannot report to work, you are required to contact your supervisor via phone, email, or text message after 8:00 am but no later than 8:30 am.  If you have a last minute need to leave work early, you must secure approval from your supervisor unless it is an emergency, and the supervisor is not readily available.  With approval, the work time lost from a tardy arrival or early departure may be made up in the same week. Otherwise, the work time missed must be coded with accrued comp time, vacation, or sick leave as appropriate. 

Overtime or Compensatory Time must be requested and approved in Advance and in Writing

If an employee needs to work additional hours to complete a special project or meet a deadline, he/she must request approval for the extra time. If the request is approved, the additional work can be performed.  If the request is not approved, then the workload must be adjusted to avoid the overtime or compensatory time situation. SPA Non-Exempt Employees are not authorized to work overtime or compensatory time without supervisor approval.

Flexible Schedules – Written Permission Required

With the supervisor’s written permission (email), an employee may be authorized to adjust his/her work schedule for the specific pay period.  For example, an employee may wish to leave two hours early on Wednesday.  The supervisor could agree that they alter their work schedule for the other workdays within that same week to make up the two hours.

Schedules for Special Events

At times or as part of his/her regular job duties, employees may work on events which are scheduled for hours outside of normal working hours, e.g., early morning/evening/weekend hours.  The supervisor and employee should discuss in advance of the event how this will be handled.   The preferred option is to alter the work schedule within that work week to accommodate the required schedule to not incur the need for overtime/comp time.  For example, an employee might work 3 hours later Tuesday and leave 3 hours earlier on Wednesday.   If altering the work schedule is not possible for that week, overtime or compensatory time must be authorized in advance in writing by the supervisor.

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Name: Juan Trujillo – Associate Chair for Administration

Email: Juan_Trujillo@med.unc.edu

Details

Details

Article ID: 159676
Created
Tue 12/16/25 7:41 PM
Modified
Fri 12/19/25 11:03 AM
Responsible Unit
School, Department, or other organizational unit issuing this document.
School of Medicine - Department of Ophthalmology
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 Chair for Administration
Next Review
Date on which the next document review is due.
12/10/2026 12:00 AM
Last Review
Date on which the most recent document review was completed.
12/10/2025 12:00 AM
Last Revised
Date on which the most recent changes to this document were approved.
12/10/2025 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.
12/10/2025 12:00 AM
Origination
Date on which the original version of this document was first made official.
12/19/2025 12:00 AM