Memorandum

To: Deans, Directors, and Department Heads
From:

Marie Y. Williams
Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources
Subject: Special Bonus Leave
Date: August 15, 2017

In the 2017 Appropriations Act, the North Carolina General Assembly granted eligible State employees a one-time additional three days (24 hours) of Special Bonus Leave, effective July 1, 2017.  This Special Bonus Leave shall remain available during the length of employment, notwithstanding any other limitation on the total amount of annual/vacation leave that may be carried forward. If not used prior to the time of separation or retirement, the special bonus leave cannot be paid out and will be lost.

Eligibility

Employees must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible to receive the Special Bonus Leave:

  • SHRA employees, EHRA employees and Postdocs (1.0 FTE/40 hours per week)
  • Employed (in pay status) with the State of North Carolina on July 1, 2017
  • Eligible to earn annual leave on July 1, 2017
  • Have a permanent, probationary, or time-limited appointment type

Full-time, leave-earning employees who work less than 12 months (9, 10, or 11-month employees) and permanent part-time employees (half-time or more) shall receive a pro-rata amount of the three days (24 hours).

The Use of Special Bonus Leave

  • Special bonus leave will be loaded in the WolfTime system by the end of August. This leave will be accounted for separately in WolfTime from all other types of leave and will be labeled Special Bonus Leave.
  • To use special bonus leave, leave adjustments may be made retroactive to July 1, 2017 in the WolfTime System, but these adjustments must occur by September 27, 2017.
  • This leave may be used for any purpose for which vacation leave is used, but cannot be donated as Voluntary Shared Leave, and must be used prior to using donated Voluntary Shared Leave.
  • An employee may choose to use special bonus leave prior to earned compensatory time (holiday comp, overtime comp, gap-hours comp, on-call comp, and travel comp), vacation leave, bonus leave and sick leave.
  • This leave cannot be used to resolve negative leave balance liabilities that were the result of leave that occurred prior to July 1, 2017.
  • Any balance of special bonus leave on the last day of the calendar year will be retained by the employee and transferred to the next calendar year.

Special Bonus Leave

 

  • Special bonus leave shall not be combined with vacation leave to determine the 240 hour maximum vacation leave payout upon separation.
  • Special bonus leave shall not be subject to conversion to sick leave.
  • Any balance of special bonus leave shall be transferred with the employee who transfers to another State agency into a position appointment that meets the eligibility requirements for this leave.

If you have questions, please contact the Benefits Office at 515-2151.

MYW:csw

cc:        Warwick A. Arden, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Scott R. Douglass, Vice Chancellor, Finance and Administration