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This section sets forth the compensation policy for certain university close-downs on days other than university holidays as previously described. Such close-downs shall be only as declared by the Board of Trustees and/or the President of the university and shall include declared days of mourning and days set aside to honor a specified person or event. The policy is applicable to unique, one-time close-downs that are generally of not more than one day's duration.
An employee who is scheduled to work but does not work due to the closing of the university for the reasons indicated will be paid according to the hours he or she was scheduled to work that day. (In other words, an employee will not suffer a loss in pay due to the closing of the university.) The hours for which an employee was scheduled to work but did not work due to the closing of the university are not counted as hours worked during the applicable workweek for purposes of overtime compensation for nonexempt employees. An employee who is in pay status but not scheduled to work will receive compensation according to his or her pay status. An employee who is not scheduled to work because of a scheduled day off or layoff status will not receive compensation.
If required to work to maintain essential or necessary services on the declared day, a staff employee will receive the regular rate of pay for the regularly scheduled workday plus the normal rate of pay for the hours actually worked. The employee will be considered to have worked or have been scheduled to work on the declared day if the majority of the regularly scheduled shift falls on the declared day.
This policy does not apply to close-downs or reductions in work force related to university vacation periods, energy or resource shortages, or other conditions beyond the university's control.
4.1.2 Court Duty
If an employee is summoned for jury duty or subpoenaed as a court witness during the employee's regularly scheduled working hours, time off will be granted upon presentation to the supervisor of a copy or other evidence of the subpoena prior to such duty. Also, the employee must submit a copy or other evidence of the subpoena to the Office of Payroll and Employee Benefits. The employee will be allowed time off with pay for required jury duty or when subpoenaed to testify in a court case except when the employee is a party to such action.
A third-shift employee shall not be required to work his or her scheduled shift immediately prior to the first morning of jury duty. If a third-shift employee is released by the court by 5:00 p.m. and is not scheduled for jury duty the following day, he or she shall be required to work his or her scheduled shift that night. If released after 5:00 p.m., he or she shall not be required to work his or her scheduled shift that night.
A court appearance of a personal nature must be taken as time off without pay or as paid vacation if scheduled in advance with the supervisor.
4.1.3 Funeral Leave
Funeral leave may be taken in the event of the death of an employee's immediate family or household: husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, grandchild, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, and stepdaughter. Funeral leave is also extended to qualified same sex domestic partners if they meet certain requirements as defined in the Board Report dated July 18, 2003.
The distance of funeral services from Muncie determines the period of leave as follows:
3 workdays - within a 150-mile radius of Muncie
4 workdays - between 150- to 300-mile radius of Muncie
5 workdays - beyond a 300-mile radius of Muncie
7 workdays - outside of North America.
(The additional days for travel are granted only when the employee travels to the services.)
Funeral leave may also be taken in the event of the death of a Staff Personnel member's other relative: brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather-in-law, stepmother-in-law, uncle, aunt, nephew, and niece. Paid leave is limited to 1 workday. With the exceptions as noted, the following rule applies:
If an employee is on a paid or unpaid leave at the time of the death of a family member (as defined within the funeral leave policy), funeral leave is not available to that employee.
Exception One: If an employee has taken an Emergency Leave, a non-intermittent Family and Medical Leave, or Sick Leave (limit of 40 hours per fiscal year) to care for a qualified family member, that leave terminates upon the death of the qualified family member and funeral leave would be available.
Exception Two: The employee is on an intermittent Family and Medical Leave.
Time off with pay may be granted to attend the funeral of a fellow employee. Such time off must be approved by the department head and University Human Resource Services and will be limited to the employees in the same work unit as the deceased employee. The interpretation of work unit will be the responsibility of the department head.
4.1.4. Holiday Pay when Shift Overlaps Two Calendar Days
If the workshift overlaps two calendar days, the calendar day on which the majority of the shift falls will be designated the official holiday for pay purposes.
4.1.5 Holidays
The following 9 holidays are recognized as university holidays: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day following Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and one additional holiday to be celebrated on a day declared by the President of the university. The university-designated holiday may or may not be on the same day as the calendar holiday. An employee will be entitled to the equivalent of 8 hours of pay for each of the aforementioned designated holidays provided the employee is in pay status for 40 hours (including holiday pay) during the workweek of the designated holiday.
The standard university workday is 8 hours; and the standard university workweek is 5 days. For most employees, the standard workweek occurs Monday through Friday; and the standard workweek is 40 hours.
The university, however, must provide some services on a 12, 18, or even a 24-hour per day basis and, in certain instances, must provide those services up to 7 days per week. Thus, the "normal" schedule for some employees varies considerably from the listed standards, although the total number of hours scheduled within the workweek is 40 hours. To accommodate the number of possible variations in work schedules under such a flexible system and to ensure equity among employees without regard to job assignment, all employees with holiday benefits will be eligible for the equivalent of 72 hours of holiday pay per year (8 hours per day times the 9 designated university holidays).
The vast majority of employees will be scheduled to work on the designated holiday, but they will not be required to work. This is the standard. However, there will be exceptions to that standard. For example,
1. Some employees may be regularly scheduled to work less than 8 hours on the day designated by the university to celebrate the holiday. Thus, they should be given time off on another day during the workweek equivalent to the difference between their actual scheduled number of hours and the standard 8 hours. For example, an employee is regularly scheduled for 6 hours, so he or she receives 6 hours holiday pay/time off that day and 2 hours holiday pay/time off another day during that workweek.
2. Some employees may be regularly scheduled to work more than 8 hours on the day designated by the university to celebrate the holiday. Thus, they should have their weekly schedule adjusted so that the difference between their actual scheduled number of hours and the 8 hours granted for the designated holiday is made up. For example, an employee is regularly scheduled for 10 hours, so he or she receives 8 hours of holiday pay/time off that day and is required to work the other 2 regularly scheduled hours on that day or on another day during that workweek.
3. Some employee may not be regularly scheduled to work on the day designated by the university to celebrate the holiday. Thus, they are still scheduled to work a 40-hour workweek and are not receiving a day off for the designated holiday. These employees should be given 8 consecutive hours off work on another day during that workweek.
4. Some employees may be required to work their regularly scheduled shift on the day designated by the university to celebrate the holiday. Thus, they are working a 40-hour workweek and are not receiving a day off for the designated holiday. These employees should be given 8 consecutive hours off work on another day during that workweek.
5. Some employees may be required to work more or less than 8 hours on the day designated by the university to celebrate the holiday. Regardless of the number of hours actually worked on the designated holiday, the equivalent time off/holiday pay granted during the workweek should equal 8 hours.
For each of these exceptions, it will be the responsibility of the supervisor to adjust the employee's schedule during the workweek within which the designated holiday falls to ensure that the employee receives the equivalency of exactly 8 hours of holiday pay. If an employee works on the designated holiday and is not given equivalent time off during that workweek, the employee will receive 8 hours of holiday pay to compensate the employee for the missed designated holiday.
When required to work on a calendar day on which a holiday falls but not required to work the university-designated holiday which falls either preceding or following the calendar holiday, an employee will be entitled to receive premium pay on the calendar holiday. When required to work on the university-designated holiday but not required to work on the calendar day on which the holiday falls, an employee will be entitled to receive premium pay on the university-designated holiday. If required to work a normal 8-hour shift on a calendar day on which a holiday falls and also required to work on the university designated holiday, an employee will be entitled to receive premium pay on the calendar holiday only. An employee cannot receive premium pay for both the university-designated holiday and the calendar holiday.
If an employee terminates employment, no pay will be received for a designated holiday occurring after the last day worked even though the holiday falls within the period of the employee's projected terminal vacation leave (if any).
On the last university workday preceding both the designated Christmas holiday and New Year's holiday, the work shift for regular, full-time employees will normally be reduced by 2 hours. The reduced work shift permits time off with pay for employees who work a full 6 hours on these days to prepare for the holiday. Employees who work on these days and cannot be granted the 2 hours off will receive 2 hours additional pay at the regular straight-time rate.
4.1.6 Maternity Leave
Maternity Leave is leave taken at the time determined by an employee and her physician to be when she is unable to work due to pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. It is treated the same as any other sick leave. Vacation days earned and available for use may be taken contiguous to paid sick leave days. A Maternity Leave will be counted against any leave entitlement required under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
4.1.7 Paid Sick Leave
The university sick leave policy is intended to encourage the accumulation of sick leave to cover extended illness. It is recognized that employees may become ill or injured, and, therefore, are unable to perform their assigned duties. Accumulated sick leave should not be considered as earned time off with pay and may not be granted for any reason other than for an absence due to illness or injury of the employee, including maternity-related conditions, the employee's own dental or medical appointments, or for the care of a family member during an illness or injury of that family member. The total paid sick leave hours used for medical or dental appointments or for the care of a family member shall not exceed 40 hours in any fiscal year. Paid sick leave applies only if the employee is actively employed at the time of illness or injury. Abuse of sick leave may be deemed justification for discharge of the employee.
It is urged that all employees be impressed with the value of accumulating a balance of up to 720 paid sick leave hours to cover potential periods of extended illness or injury. An employee needs approximately 520 hours of accumulated sick leave to cover the 60-calendar day waiting period plus 30 calendar days for processing time before receiving a check for long-term disability benefits under the university's salary continuance program. Additional processing time may be needed by the salary continuance insurance company for certain health care situations.
Paid sick leave is accrued beginning on the employee's effective date of employment; but for a new employee, it is not available for use until the beginning of the reporting period following satisfactory completion of the probationary period. Only paid sick leave hours accrued and reported on the paycheck stub may be used. Paid sick leave must be used in 1-hour increments. A maximum of 720 hours of accumulated paid sick leave may be used during a fiscal year. For accrual rates, see the B.S.U. Benefits Handbook or benefits website: www.bsu.edu/web/cbs.
If absent from work because of illness or injury, an employee must notify his or her supervisor according to departmental regulations for reporting absences. Failure to notify his or her supervisor within the departmental prescribed time may result in disapproval of sick leave benefits and/or disciplinary action up to and including discharge. If there is no specific departmental regulation, the employee is required to notify his or her supervisor no later than 30 minutes after the beginning of the workshift.
The university may require for any sick leave, and particularly sick leave requested on the day before or after a paid holiday or vacation period, a medical statement from a health care provider confirming the illness of the employee before granting sick leave benefits. At its sole discretion, the university reserves the right to assign the unused sick leave balance or any portion thereof toward time taken off which would otherwise qualify for sick leave. Whenever an employee is on sick leave, including sick leave for maternity-related conditions, the employee may be required to submit to the university periodic statements from the employee's health care provider. Failure to provide requested evidence may result in disapproval of sick leave benefits and/or disciplinary action up to and including discharge.
Sick leave payments will cease whenever an employee enters a layoff status.
4.1.8 Vacation
Vacation is accrued beginning on the employee's effective date of employment; but for a new employee, it is not available for use until the beginning of the reporting period following satisfactory completion of the probationary period. Only vacation hours that are accrued and reported on the paycheck stub may be used.
The vacation year will start on the beginning date of the pay period for which the first check will be issued in July (date adjusted annually to coincide with the biweekly pay period) and end on the last date of the last pay period paid in June of the following year. All vacation accrued in a vacation year must be used before the end of the following vacation year except balances of less than one 1 will be carried forward to the next vacation year.
Holidays recognized by the university are not counted as a part of vacation. Extra pay in lieu of vacation is not allowable.
For accrual rates, see the B.S.U. Benefits Handbook or the benefits website: www.bsu.edu/web/cbs. Vacation is accrued through the last day worked by the employee, regardless of the effective date of the resignation.
Vacations are to be scheduled in advance and at a time agreeable to the supervisor and in accordance with the needs of the department. Vacation is to be used in 1-hour increments; however, the request to use vacation in 1-hour increments will not be approved by the supervisor if the absence of the employee from the workplace would require that a substitute or replacement be employed. At its sole discretion, the university reserves the right to assign an employee's available vacation balance toward time off.
