Editor's
notes:
POLICY TITLE:
DATE OF ISSUANCE: The PTO policy was originally issued on April 23, 1990 as
Organization Announcement #323,
ACCOUNTABLE DEPARTMENT/UNIT: Benefits Office. General questions concerning this policy or its intent should be directed to Benefits, ext. 8-2047. Specific questions about an individual's PTO should be directed to her or his supervisor.
ABSTRACT: Defines Paid Time Off, including uses of, entitlement and accrual.
MISC: See also:
- the Benefits Staff Handbook on Time Off and Leaves
Carnegie Mellon University
Full-time Staff
The Paid Time Off Policy provides regular, full-time staff members with an entitlement of days away from work with pay. Paid Time Off (PTO) days may be used for vacation, personal time, illness or time off to care for dependents. PTO must be scheduled in advance and approved by your supervisor, except in cases of illness or emergency. The PTO Policy does not cover scheduled university holidays, floating holidays, time off for jury duty or bereavement leave. Questions about PTO earned and used should be referred to your supervisor.
Paid Time Off is earned on an employment year basis and is earned on the first day of each month following your date of employment. Paid Time Off is based on the following schedule:
|
Completed Years
of Employment: |
Paid Time Off: |
|
Up to and including year 3 |
17 days (1.42 days per month) |
|
Beginning year 4 |
20 days (1.67 days per month) |
|
Beginning year 8 |
25 days (2.08 days per month) |
|
Beginning year 16 |
30 days (2.50 days per month) |
Note: Staff members employed at the time the Paid Time Off Policy was implemented in 1990 should review the section of this policy called "Staff Hired Prior to July 1, 1990."
During your first year of employment, PTO is earned at a rate of one-twelfth of 17 days, or 1.42 days per month. Time off may only be used as it is earned, except in the case of illness. In no instance may a supervisor permit a staff member to take more than five (5) days unearned PTO. After your first employment anniversary, you may schedule Paid Time Off at any time during your employment year. You may schedule PTO in whole or half days but not less than a half day.
Carryover of Paid
Time Off
Earned, unused PTO may be carried over into the next year but the number of days carried over may not exceed your entitlement for the current year. Example:
|
|
PTO Entitlement
Carryover |
Used |
Unused |
PTO Actual
Carryover |
|
1st Year |
17 |
13 |
4 |
4 |
|
2nd Year |
17+4=21 |
15 |
6 |
6 |
|
3rd Year |
17+6=23 |
10 |
13 |
13 |
|
4th Year |
20+13=33 |
13 |
20 |
20 |
|
5th Year |
20+20=40 |
19 |
21 |
20 |
The number of PTO days carried over from one year to the next may not exceed your entitlement for the current year; days not used or carried over may be added to your sick day bank and used as days at 100% pay (Reserve Sick Days) in lieu of benefits through the Short Term Disability Plan. (A maximum of 130 Reserve Sick Days may be banked.)
Paid Time Off at
Termination
Terminating employees will be paid either for their earned but unused PTO or their annual entitlement, whichever is less. Unused PTO carried over will be used in this calculation.
Examples:
- A terminating employee with two years and six months of service who has used no PTO days during the current employment year and who has two unused days of PTO carried over from the previous year will be entitled to payment of 10.5 days - 8.5 days earned in the current year plus two carried over. (1.42 X 6 + 2 = 10.5)
- A terminating employee with four years and ten months of service who has used no PTO days during the current employment year and who has six unused days of PTO carried over from the previous year will be paid for 20 days of PTO - the current annual entitlement. (1.67 X 10 + 6 = 22.7 = 20 days annual entitlement.)
If you have used all of your PTO entitlement for the employment year and terminate your employment before you have earned all the PTO you have taken, payment for the unearned days will be deducted in the computation of your final paycheck.
The university does not make payment for unused PTO to employees who are terminated for the violation of university rules and/or regulations (see Staff Handbook), Employment and Employee Services), to employees who resign without appropriate notice as described under Voluntary Termination in Staff Handbook, or to the beneficiaries of employees who die while employed at the university. In the latter case, the Month-After-Death Benefit is provided. (Unused Reserve Sick Days are not paid at termination.)
An emergency or unexpected work requirement might cause you to forego scheduled Paid Time Off already approved by your supervisor. When such an event means that you cannot carry over PTO to which you would have been entitled if you had taken your scheduled Paid Time Off, special arrangements may be made by your department head and should be confirmed in writing. The agreement may provide for Paid Time Off to be carried forward or some other arrangement appropriate to the circumstances.
Staff
Hired Prior to July 1, 1990
Staff members hired before July 1, 1990 continued to receive their current allocation of vacation days plus sick days as PTO days, as shown on the Transitional Schedule*. A staff member continued to earn that number of days each year until his/her completed years of employment put the staff member at a step on the Paid Time Off Schedule.**
For example, if you had completed five years of service and were in your sixth year of employment, you would earn 25 PTO days (15 vacation and 10 sick) under the Transitional Schedule. In the seventh year of employment, you would also earn 25 PTO days. Upon completing seven years of employment, in your eighth year, you would be at the "beginning year 8" step in the PTO schedule (25 days per year). You would continue to earn 25 PTO days each year until you completed 15 years of service, and then would begin to earn 30 PTO days per year.
Transitional Schedule*
|
Years of Service |
Transitional PTO
Days |
Current Vacation
and Sick Schedule |
|
Less than 1 |
17 days |
10 vacation + 5 sick |
|
Beginning year 2 |
20 days |
10 vacation + 10 sick |
|
Beginning year 4 |
25 days |
15 vacation + 10 sick |
|
Beginning year 8 |
30 days |
15 vacation + 15 sick |
|
Beginning year 16 |
35 days |
20 vacation + 15 sick |
Paid Time Off Schedule**
|
Completed Years
of Employment |
Maximum Annual
PTO/Days Earned Per Month |
|
Less than 3 |
17 days (1.42 days per month) |
|
3 through 6 |
20 days (1.67 days per month) |
|
7 through 14 |
25 days (2.08 days per month) |
|
15 or more |
30 days (2.50 days per month) |
Staff members who completed 15 or more years of service at the time the Paid Time Off Policy was implemented have 35 PTO days (calculated as follows: 20 vacation plus 15 sick) through the duration of their full-time employment.
Staff hired prior to 1969 were given the option of continuing in their current vacation and sick day programs or opting into the PTO program at 35 PTO days per year.
Earned, unused vacation days were converted to PTO days when the PTO policy was implemented in 1990. Any sick days accumulated under the old Paid Sick Day plan were saved as days at 100% of pay to be used in lieu of short-term disability benefits (Reserve Sick Days).
