This policy aligns with all requirements for vacation/annual leave set forth by the University System of Georgia (USG) and provides additional requirements for Georgia Tech employees. Refer to USG Human Resources Administrative Manual regarding Annual Leave.

Regular Employee
A regular employee who works one-half time or more shall earn paid vacation/annual leave. A full-time regular employee shall be entitled to vacation/annual leave earned at the rate of:

• One and one-fourth working days per month (10 hours) for each of the first five (5) years of continuous employment.
• One and one-half working days per month (12 hours) for each of the next five (5) years of continuous employment; and
• One and three-fourth working days per month (14 hours) each year after the completion of ten (10) years of continuous employment.

The accrual rate of vacation/annual leave for an hourly employee will be based upon their standard work commitment.

A regular employee who works one-half time or more but less than full-time shall accrue vacation/annual leave prorated on the basis of full-time employment. 

An employee who is employed less than one-half time shall not be eligible to accrue vacation/annual leave.

Temporary Employee 
A temporary employee is not eligible to accrue vacation/annual leave.

Research Faculty, Academic Faculty, General Faculty, and Post Doctoral Fellows
Full-time, regular fiscal year employees who are members of the research and general faculty, as well as post-doctoral fellows, shall earn 21 working days vacation/annual leave per year, accrued at the rate of 14 hours per month.

A full-time faculty member employed on a twelve (12) month or fiscal year basis shall be entitled to vacation/annual leave earned at the rate of one and three-fourths working days (14 hours) per month.

A regular employee who accrues vacation while working on sponsored research within instructional units is encouraged to take all vacation/annual leave accrued prior to the expiration of the sponsored research.

Research faculty who are working shared time with another Georgia Tech department shall also accrue vacation/annual leave in an equivalent ratio to his/her percentage of time worked within the home department and the shared department. Prior to the end of the shared period, the employee must take all vacation/annual leave accrued in the shared unit. The employee is responsible for reporting vacation/annual leave accurately.

Academic faculty from an academic unit who are appointed on a nine-month basis do not accrue vacation/annual leave during the academic year.

Twelve-month academic faculty (working under a fiscal contract) who are working shared time with another department shall accrue vacation/annual leave in a ratio to his/her percentage of time worked with the shared department. Prior to the end of the shared period, the employee must take all vacation/annual leave accrued within that unit. The employee is responsible for reporting vacation/annual leave accurately.

Additional Details
No time will accrue for a month in which employment begins on the 16th or later. For persons terminating before the 15th, vacation/annual leave does not accrue for that month. It will accrue if the employee’s last working day is on or after the 15th. No vacation/annual leave is accrued by an employee during a nonpaid leave of absence. 

On December 31 of each calendar year, each employee’s leave record shall be adjusted to reflect no more than 45 days (360 hours) of accrued vacation/annual leave.

Vacation/annual leave does not accrue past the last working day. All unused, accrued vacation/annual leave, not to exceed 45 days (360 hours), shall be paid to an employee upon their termination of employment. An employee who terminates on or after the fifteenth of a month shall accrue vacation/annual leave for that month.

Requests
Employees are responsible for entering vacation/annual leave into OneUSG Connect via Employee Self-Service portal. Requests should be submitted with as much advance notice as possible, except in cases of unforeseen emergencies. Negative leave balances are not permitted. Vacation/annual leave may be taken as it is accrued, with the approval of the employee’s immediate supervisor. 

An employee’s immediate supervisor must approve all requests for taking vacation/annual leave in advance so that proper provision can be made for absences. Reasonable effort will be made to accommodate the employee’s wishes in this matter, but the time selected for vacation/annual leave must be mutually acceptable to the employee and to the supervisor. Taking of vacation/annual leave time must not be allowed to interfere with essential work. Employees will be instructed by their respective department on reporting vacation/annual leave according to the department’s specifications.

Vacation: Transfer between Institutions
Upon a move between University System institutions, with no break in service, an employee must transfer accrued vacation leave (up to 160 hours). For employees with accrued vacation leave of greater than (160 hours), the employee may choose one of the following options:

1. Transfer of the total accrued vacation balance, not to exceed (360 hours), or
2. Transfer of 160 hours) accrued vacation and payment by the Institution from which the employee is moving of accrued vacation greater than (160 hours). The total accrued vacation for which the employee may be paid shall not exceed (200 hours).

Vacation hours will not be accepted for an employee who moves from a State of Georgia agency to the University System of Georgia.