Paid Time Off and Leaves of Absence

Eligible staff accrue vacation pay beginning on the first day of employment. Vacation pay accrues at the following rates for regular staff on 40-hour per week assignments. The accrual rate would be prorated for eligible employees working fewer hours.

• Employees with 0-5 years of continuous service earn 3.08 hours per biweekly pay period or 6.67 hours per monthly pay period;
• Employees with 5-15 years of continuous regular employment earn 4.62 hours per biweekly pay period or 10 hours per monthly pay period.
• After 15 years of continuous service, employees earn 6.16 hours per biweekly pay period or 13.34 hours per monthly pay period.

Vacation pay may be accrued to a maximum of 160 hours for staff employed less than 15 years of continuous service and to a maximum of 200 hours for those employed 15 or more years of continuous service.

Staff will continue to accrue and carry over vacation hours each year until the maximum cap is reached. Once the cap is met, accrual will stop until vacation hours are used.

Eligible employees receive 13 paid holidays per year, which includes one full week at Christmas. Additionally, employees receive two floating holidays each calendar year after completing 6 months of continuous service.

Please review the holiday schedule and Section 20 of the University Policy Manual for eligibility.

Employees may use paid sick leave for an absence due to treatment, diagnosis, or preventative care for themselves, a family member, or a designated person as permitted by law.

STAFF

Eligible staff accrue sick pay beginning on the first day of employment. Sick pay accrues at the following rates for regular staff on 40-hour per week assignments. The accrual rate would be prorated for eligible employees working fewer hours.

• Employees with 0-5 years of continuous service earn 3.08 hours per biweekly pay period or 6.67 hours per monthly pay period;
• Employees with 5+ years of continuous regular employment earn 6.16 hours per biweekly pay period or 13.34 hours per monthly pay period.

Sick pay may be accrued to a maximum of 480 hours.

Staff will continue to accrue and carry over sick hours each year until the maximum cap is reached. Once the cap is met, accrual will stop until sick hours are used.

full-time faculty and exempt adjunct faculty

Full-time faculty members and exempt adjuncts are eligible for up to 48 hours of sick pay per calendar year.

temporary employees and hourly adjunct faculty

Temporary employees and hourly adjunct faculty will accrue sick leave at the rate of one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 72 hours.

Employees may share their accrued (but unused) sick leave hours with staff employees who meet certain eligibility criteria.

DONORS

Staff wishing to donate their accrued sick leave may give up to 40 hours of accrued but unused sick leave per calendar year, provided they must maintain a minimum of 80 hours in his or her personal sick leave account balance, and must donate in 8-hour increments. To submit a donation, please email Human Resources at benefits@pepperdine.edu. In your email, please include the number of hours you wish to donate the name of the employee you wish to donate sick time to.

RECIPIENTS

Employees seeking to receive donated sick time must be employed in full-time positions for at least 90 days; must be on a family or medical leave; must have used all their own accrued sick and vacation hours; and may receive a maximum of 160 hours per approved leave of absence.

The Major Disaster Donated Sick Pay policy will be activated if there is a disaster declared by the President of the United States under §401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (the Stafford Act) or as a major disaster or emergency declared by the President pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §6391 for federal government agencies. Employees are eligible to apply for leave under this program if the employee can demonstrate that the disaster has caused severe hardship to the employee or to a family member of the employee that requires the employee to be absent from work, and they have exhausted their own sick leave. For more information, please see the Major Disaster Donated Sick Pay Policy Resource Page.

A Medical Leave of Absence (LOA) is a period of time an employee is allowed to take off from work due to their own illness, injury, or medical condition. This leave ensures the employee can recover without the concern of losing their job.

Employees in need of a Medical LOA should review more information on eligibility and steps to complete on our Medical Leave Resource Page.

Parental leaves of absence (LOA) are time off from work that employees can take following the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child. These leaves are offered to both mothers and fathers.

Employees in need of a Parental LOA should review more information on eligibility and steps to complete on our Parental Leave Resource Page.

A Caregiver Leave of Absence (LOA) is time off from work that an employee can take to care for a family member who has a serious health condition or injury. It allows employees to balance their work and caregiving responsibilities.

Employees in need of a Caregiver LOA should review more information on eligibility and steps to complete on our Medical Leave Resource Page.

Employees who are members of the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible for military leave, continuation of benefits for which they are otherwise eligible, and job reinstatement or reemployment in accordance with federal and state laws. There are two types of military leaves for employees, reserve and active duty, as well as leave for employees who are the spouse or registered domestic partner of military personnel.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act (USERRA) requires employees to provide advance notice of military service to their current employers, unless military necessity prevents such notice or it is otherwise unreasonable. Employees on military leave for up to 30 days are required to return to work for the first regularly scheduled shift after the end of service, allowing reasonable travel time. Employees on longer military leave must apply for reinstatement in accordance with USERRA and all applicable state laws.

Employees returning from military leave will be placed in the position they would have attained had they remained continuously employed or in a comparable one. They will be treated as though they were continuously employed for purposes of determining benefits based on length of service.

reserve duty

Employees on military leave for annual reservist military training may choose to use accrued vacation or sick leave, or floating holidays, to be paid during this time, or request leave without pay. Employee contributions for benefits will continue to be the responsibility of the employee.

Employees continue to accrue vacation, sick, or holiday benefits for the first 30 days of approved, unpaid active-duty military leave.

active duty

Employees on military leave for active duty are not paid by the University while on leave, and most employee benefits are discontinued. Employees have the option of electing continuation coverage in the University’s group health benefit plans for the shorter of up to 24 months or the length of their military leave. For retirement plan participation, employees who take military leave will be treated as not having a break in service for purposes of vesting and accrual of benefits.

Employees do not accrue vacation, sick, or holiday benefits during periods of approved, unpaid active-duty military leave.

spousal military leave

Qualified employees are entitled to unpaid leave for up to ten (10) days when their spouse is home on leave from deployment. An employee must meet all of the following to qualify for this type of leave:

• Is a spouse of a “qualified member” of the armed services who is serving in an area designated as a combat theater or combat zone during a period of military conflict;
• Works an average of twenty (20) or more hours per week;
• Provides the organization with notice, within two (2) business days of receiving official notice that the qualified spouse will be on leave from deployment, of her or his intention to take this type of leave; and
• Submits written documentation certifying that the spouse will be on leave during the time requested for the leave.

For purposes of this leave, a “qualified member” is a member of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, or Reserves who has been deployed during a period of military conflict to an area designated as a combat theater or combat zone during a period of military leave or a member of the National Guard or Reserves who has been deployed during a period of military conflict.

An employee who takes this type of leave shall not be prevented from taking any other type of leave for which they may be otherwise entitled to take nor shall this type of leave affect any other employee benefit provided for in other laws.

The University provides unpaid time off to employees who are victims of a crime, immediate family members of a victim, registered domestic partners of a victim, or children of a registered domestic partner of a victim to attend judicial proceedings related to that crime, or to appear or be heard at any proceeding in which a right of the victim is at issue.

The University also provides unpaid time off to employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, criminal stalking, or other qualifying act of violence to attend judicial proceedings, such as to obtain a restraining order and to seek medical treatment related to such domestic violence, sexual assault, criminal stalking, or other qualifying act of violence.

Employees may choose to use accrued vacation or sick leave, or floating holidays, to be paid during this time, or request leave without pay.

If feasible, employees must give reasonable advance notice to their supervisor of their intent to take this time off. If an employee cannot give notice, they must provide certification to Human Resources, within a reasonable time after returning to work, that they took time off for these reasons. The certification may be a police report, court order, evidence from the court or prosecuting attorney, or documentation from a medical professional, health care provider, counselor, domestic violence advocate, or advocate for victims of sexual assault.

For more information, please visit https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Victims_of_Domestic_Violence_Leave_Notice.pdf

Employees who are volunteer firefighters, reserve peace officers, or emergency rescue personnel are eligible to take unpaid time off if required to perform emergency duty. Employees who are healthcare providers must notify Human Resources at the time they are designated as emergency rescue personnel and then again when they learn that they will be deployed for emergency duty.

An employee who reveals a problem of illiteracy may request the University’s assistance in enrolling in an adult literacy education program. The University will make a reasonable effort to accommodate such requests, but will not be required to do so if an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on its operations. The University will also make a reasonable effort to safeguard the privacy of an employee who reveals a literacy concern.

The University provides eligible employees up to 30 days of paid leave to donate an organ to another person and up to five days of paid leave to donate bone marrow to another person. For organ donation, eligible employees are entitled to an additional unpaid leave of absence of up to 30 days.

To be eligible, employees must have been employed with the University for 90 days immediately preceding the commencement of leave. The University requires written certification from the medical provider that the employee is a bone marrow or organ donor and that the procedure is medically necessary.

The leave may be taken in increments during any one-year period. The one-year period starts on the first day of leave. Paid Organ and Bone Marrow Donor leave does not run concurrently with either FMLA or CFRA leave and are not counted against an employee's annual family/medical leave entitlement.

Employees should request leave under this policy with as much advanced notice as practicable. In support of their request for leave under this policy, employees should submit a leave of absence request form and provide Human Resources with appropriate written certification that they are an organ or bone marrow donor and that there is a medical necessity for the donation.

During leave under this policy, employees will be retained on the University’s group health insurance and welfare plans under the same terms and conditions that applied before the leave commenced. To continue coverage under health and/or welfare benefit plans, the employee must continue to make any premium payments (including premium payments for dependent coverage) that he or she would be required to make if not on the leave. If the employee fails to return from the leave for a reason other than the recurrence or continuation of the health condition that brought about the leave or other circumstances beyond the employee's control, the University can recover any health insurance premiums paid by the University on the employee's behalf.

Upon returning from leave under this policy, employees will typically be restored to their position, or an equivalent position, with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms and conditions.

Employees may take time off to appear at their child’s or ward’s school if required in connection with a suspension from a class or school. Employees may use accrued vacation time to attend this type of meeting or request leave without pay.

Employees may also take time off to participate in school activities of their child’s school or a licensed child-care provider (examples include parent-teacher conferences, open houses, and child presentations and performances). This includes time off to find, enroll, or re-enroll a child in a school or with a licensed child-care provider. It also includes time off to address a child-care provider or school emergency. Employees may use either accrued vacation time or request leave without pay to attend school activities.

Employees are eligible under this policy if they are the parent, guardian, stepparent, foster parent, or grandparent of a child or stand “in loco parentis” to a child in kindergarten through 12th grade or placed with a licensed child-care provider. To avoid disruption of University operations, employees must give reasonable advance notice to their supervisor and schedule meetings around work responsibilities as much as possible. 

The University reserves the right to limit time off to participate in school activities to 8 hours in any calendar month or forty (40) hours each calendar year. This limitation does not apply to time off requested for school-related emergencies such as a child’s suspension or expulsion.

Employees who do not have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote in any statewide election may take up to two paid hours of working time to vote, at the beginning or end of their shift, whichever will allow the most free time for voting and the least time off work. Where possible, the employee must notify their supervisor at least two days in advance. Upon returning from voting leave, the employee may be asked to present a receipt or other certification.