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Administrative Leave

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
SUBJECT: ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE POLICY
EFFECTIVE DATE: Jan. 1, 2017

POLICY

The purpose of this policy is to define when employees are eligible for, or may be placed on, a leave of absence for administrative reasons. The policy is broken into five (5) categories: bereavement, jury duty, military and other administrative and temporary layoff leave.

A. Bereavement Leave:

The loss of a family member may require time away from work. If there is a death of a spouse, son, daughter, mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, brother, brother-in-law grandparent or grandchild (including stepparent, step-sibling, or stepchild), eligible employees may take up to three working days off as leave with pay. This leave is to be utilized within fourteen (14) days of the date of death. Exceptions for unusual circumstances must be coordinated with Human Resources.

This policy applies to all regular, term, full - time and part - time staff, with the exception of staff covered by the collective bargaining agreement

Bereavement Leave Procedures
These are the procedures for utilizing B ereavement Leave . 
1. Notify your leader of your need to take bereavement leave.
 2. B ereavement leave should be requested and approved in Oracle for exempt employees and in UKG (Kronos) for non-exempt employees
 3. Supervisors may ask employees to provide a certification of the death, such as a death certificate or a published death notice, before bereavement pay will be authorized.

B. Jury Duty/Court Appearances: Vanderbilt recognizes an employee's responsibility, when subpoenaed, to serve on a jury or to testify as a witness. The process is outlined below:

  1. The regular or term employee will receive his/her regular Vanderbilt paycheck while on approved jury duty and does not have to return the jury duty payment. Time spent on jury duty will count towards the scheduled work week. Hourly-paid temporary employees are only paid for actual hours worked at Vanderbilt, and while Vanderbilt recognizes the responsibility outlined above, a temporary employee will not be paid.
  2. When an employee is subpoenaed or requested to testify as a witness in a case related to the employee's employment at Vanderbilt, he/she will be compensated for that time away from work.
  3. When called as a juror or witness, the employee should immediately notify his/her supervisor. If the jury obligation is less than three (3) hours in a day, the employee must report for the rest of his/her work shift.
  4. Employees who work an evening or night shift, and are scheduled to report for jury duty the next morning, will be excused from, and paid for, that shift. If the employee spends more than three (3) hours in jury duty, he/she will be excused from his/her next shift if the shift occurs within twenty-four (24) hours of jury duty service.
  5. Employees who appear in court on their own behalf, or who are subpoenaed for matters unrelated to the employee's employment at Vanderbilt, must use PTO. If PTO is not available, approved leave will be unpaid.

C. Military Leave: See Military Leave of Absence (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act - USERRA).

D. Other Administrative Leave: Administrative leave is a general leave status, initiated by the supervisor, which is paid. Examples of when an employee may be placed on other administrative leave include, but are not limited to: a work area must be closed for repairs, an internal review or investigation, or for an investigation of an external event, such as an arrest. Supervisors should consult with Human Resources before placing an individual on leave to determine the appropriate type of leave and to coordinate the appropriate payroll processing information.

E. Temporary Layoff Leave: Some departments lay employees off on a temporary or seasonal basis in accordance with their staffing needs. Departments for which seasonable layoff is a recurring activity should share these policies with employees during the employment process. Questions about temporary or seasonal layoffs should be directed to Human Resources.

NOTE: A seasonal or temporary layoff is a layoff period of six (6) months or less, where the department expects to recall the employee to active employment status. A seasonal or temporary leave of less than one (1) month is handled at the department level as an informal layoff leave and is not processed through the payroll system as a temporary layoff leave option. A layoff of more than six (6) months or that is due to the elimination of an employee's position with no expectation for recall or rehire is considered a permanent layoff. For information regarding permanent layoffs, please refer to the  Reduction in Force Policy.

The temporary layoff leave process is outlined below:

  1. The effective start date of a layoff leave is the first missed workday.
  2. For a temporary layoff, employees may use PTO before the layoff moves into the unpaid status. Use of "legacy" sick time is not an option.
  3. For full-time employees that receive health care benefits, as long as PTO is available, benefits will continue. When paid time ends, the employee has the option to continue coverage at his/her own expense. The employee should be advised to contact the Benefits Office before the leave goes into unpaid status.
  4. Employees on temporary layoff leave who fail to return to work at the end of the designated leave period must repay Vanderbilt for the employer's portion of the health coverage premiums paid while the employee was on unpaid leave.
  5. When the department is ready to recall employees from temporary layoff leave status, the employee should be contacted by phone or registered or certified mail at least seven (7) days in advance to confirm the date when they are expected to return to work. Employees who do not return within seven days (7) of recall, and who do not have authorization to delay their return, will be terminated.

For Administrative Leave FAQs, visit this page.  Click here to download the Administrative Leave Checklist.

This policy is intended as a guideline to assist in the consistent application of University policies and programs for staff. The policy does not create a contract implied or expressed, with any Vanderbilt staff members, who are employees at will. Vanderbilt reserves the right to modify this policy in whole or in part, at any time, at the discretion of the University.

Approved by Chief Human Resources Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor

Approved by Vice Chancellor, Administration