Memorandum

In consultation with the Office of State Human Resources, the University of North Carolina System has updated its work and leave provisions. Those provisions will take effect July 1, 2021 unless revised or rescinded. The revised guidance includes the following:

Interchangeability of Leave

The UNC System will extend the provision allowing leave-earning employees to use accrued sick leave, vacation and bonus leave for approved absences related to COVID-19 through Dec. 31, 2021.

COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave

 Paid administrative leave will be available to employees through the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Employees can receive 80 hours of cumulative leave time and use those hours for approved absences related to COVID-19.

• Effective July 1, 2021, paid administrative leave will be limited to employees who:
  • Experience adverse reactions from the COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Are subject to a quarantine order.
• Employees under COVID-19 isolation orders and those exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 will no longer be eligible for paid administrative leave. Employees must use accrued personal time for these absences.
• If an employee exhausts their 80 hours of paid administrative leave and their personal leave, the university may provide that employee with up to 80 hours of additional paid administrative leave for eligible absences.

COVID-19 Vaccinations

All permanent and temporary employees can get their first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine during the university’s normal hours of operation, and they will receive paid work time for doing so. Employees must obtain their supervisor’s approval to get the vaccine during work hours. This paid work time does not count against COVID-19 paid administrative leave.

Adverse Vaccine Reactions

Employees who experience an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine on the day they are vaccinated or the following day are eligible for paid administrative leave. Employees may request paid administrative leave by logging into MyPack Portal and selecting the COVID-19 paid administrative leave tile.

COVID-19 Compensatory Time

 Mandatory employees exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act will have until March 1, 2022, to use or get paid for accrued compensatory time.

COVID-19 Special Voluntary Shared Leave

NC State will discontinue the use of the special COVID-19 Voluntary Shared Leave Bank on June 30, 2021. The university will return any unused donations as of that date to the donors on a prorated basis.

COVID-19 Community Service Leave

 Employees have until June 30, 2021, to use the 80 hours of community service leave granted to them for COVID-19-related volunteering. They will forfeit any unused portion of those hours after June 30, 2021. These hours are not part of the annual allotment of community service hours given to employees.

Community Service Leave for Mentoring and Tutoring

Employees can continue to use community service leave to tutor and mentor students and volunteer in a literacy program during the COVID-19 state of emergency and when a school mandates or offers virtual classes.

Extension of Temporary Employee Appointments

Temporary appointments that have exceeded 11 months must end within 30 calendar days of the end of the state of emergency.

Additional Information

If you have general questions regarding the COVID-19 special provisions, please contact your college, division or unit HR representative or University Human Resources at ncsuleaveteam@ncsu.edu. For more COVID-19 guidelines and resources, visit UHR’s pandemic website.