Human Resources

Administrative Vacation/Leave Policies

All non-union full-time employees, and part-time employees are covered by the below policy. Vacation and sick day entitlement for union represented employees is covered in the applicable collective bargaining agreement.

Full-time administrators: All full-time administrators accrue 1.83 days of PTO time for each full month of employment for a total of 22 days of PTO in each year of employment. 

Part-time administrators: Part-time administrators who work a regular schedule of 17.5 hours per week or more (“Part-Time Administrators”) accrue .9 days of PTO time for each full month of employment for a total of 11 days PTO in each year of employment. 
PTO time accrues as of September 1st of each year and is prorated from the date of employment for the academic year in progress. PTO time may be taken in full day or half day increments in advance of accrual, subject to adjustment where applicable upon separation. All time accrued must be used by August 31st which represents the end of the academic year. Unused time is not carried forward to the new academic year.

Vacation time must be scheduled with and approved by the administrator’s department head. Requests for vacation time should be submitted as far in advance as possible. 

In the event of the separation of the administrator from employment with the University, unused PTO time accrued as of the date of termination will be paid in the final paycheck or shortly thereafter. Any advanced PTO time will be adjusted as appropriate and will not be required to be repaid if time used was for a qualifying Permitted Use.

In addition to PTO time, the University has long-term and short-term disability policies for eligible administrators and paid University Holidays, which days are published annually.

Sick Time
Full-time and part-time administrators may take up to a maximum of seven (7) days (56 hours) for permitted uses each academic year. The seven (7) days are included within the 22 days of PTO already allocated to administrators.  (Permitted Uses are outlined below and are defined in the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law (NYSPSL)). NYSPSL time becomes immediately available at the beginning of each Academic Year for the Permitted Uses, can be taken in full day or half day (4 hour) increments and is not subject to accrual. Employees who wish to avail themselves of NYSPSL should make a request to their supervisor prior to taking any such leave, at least a week in advance, where practicable. 

  • Permitted Uses
  • Employees may use accrued leave for the following reasons:
    • For mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of an employee or the employee’s family member, regardless of whether it has been diagnosed or requires medical care at the time of the request for leave; or 
    • For the diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of, or need for medical diagnosis of or preventive care for the employee or the employee’s family member. 

When an employee or employee’s family member has been the victim of domestic violence, a family offense, a sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, employees may use accrued leave for an absence from work, as the absence relates to the domestic violence, family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, for any of the following:

  • To obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program for relief from a family offense matter, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking; 
  • To participate in safety planning, temporarily or permanently relocate, or take other actions to increase the safety of the employee or employee’s family members from future family offense matters, sexual offenses, stalking, or human trafficking; 
  • To meet with an attorney or other social services provider to obtain information and advice on, and prepare for or participate in any criminal or civil proceeding; 
  • To file a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement; 
  • To meet with a district attorney’s office; 
  • To enroll children in a new school; or 
  • To take any other actions necessary to ensure the health or safety of the employee or the employee’s family member or to protect those who associate or work with the employee. 

Under NYSPSL, family members mean an employee’s child (i.e., a biological, adopted or foster child, a legal ward or a child of an employee standing in loco parentis), spouse, domestic partner, parent (i.e., a biological, foster, step or adoptive parent, or legal guardian of an employee, or a person who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a minor child), sibling, grandchild, grandparent, or the child or parent of an employee’s spouse or domestic partner.

PTO taken for any of the above reasons should be recorded as sick time.

Part-Time Non-Union Hourly Employees

Part-time, non-union hourly employees are not eligible for vacation days. However, in accordance with the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law (NYSPSL), hourly part-time employees will accrue sick days at the rate of one (1) hour of sick time for every thirty (30) hours of time worked up to a maximum of fifty-six (56) hours per academic year for Permitted Uses. Employees who wish to avail themselves of NYSPSL should make a request to their supervisor prior to taking any such leave, at least a week in advance, where practicable. Accrued and unused NYSPSL time may not be taken in less than four (4) hour increments and is not payable upon termination of employment.   

Floating Holidays
In addition to vacation time, full-time administrators may also elect two (2) floating holidays to be taken as religious holidays or during spring recess, in accordance with their supervisor’s approval and operating requirements of the department. These floating holidays may not be taken in half-days or hours. Full-time administrators hired on or after March 1st are eligible for one (1) floating holiday in their first year of employment.

All full and part-time administrators are eligible for bereavement leave. An administrator may take up to five (5) days of paid leave for a death in the immediate family. Immediate family includes spouse, eligible same-sex domestic partner, child, mother, father, sister, brother, mother and father-in-law, brother and sister-in-law, grandparent and grandparent-in-law. If additional time is needed, vacation leave or unpaid leave may be taken with supervisory approval. Bereavement leave must be authorized by the administrator’s supervisor.

Administrators must notify their manager of the need to use bereavement leave as soon as reasonably possible. Administrators may be required to provide verification of need when requested (obituary, death certificate, etc.).

Full-time administrators who are called to jury duty will be paid for up to 10 days in any calendar year. Any time in excess of the applicable maximum may be charged to vacation/leave time or leave time without pay. 

Part-time administrators who are called to jury duty will be paid for up to 3 days of service, but only to the extent of time they are scheduled to work during jury service.

The administrator is responsible for informing the court about any hardships created by being assigned to cases that may extend beyond the allotted 10 (or 3) days of jury duty pay. Administrators should provide reasonable advance notice to their supervisor of their jury duty summons and, upon request of their supervisor, must provide a proof of service from the court. 

Administrators should return to work each day or portion of day they are not selected for service.

An administrator who is subpoenaed to appear in court or who elects to appear in court for a non-work related matter will not receive paid time off.  Vacation time should be used in these instances.

Notice of Summons/Subpoena
The administrator should immediately notify their supervisor upon receipt of the notification to serve on a jury or to act as a court witness. The administrator is required to provide copies of the jury summons or subpoena to their supervisor and the Human Resources Department. 

These policies do not form a contract of any kind and can be modified at the discretion of Hofstra University or in accordance with the law without notice.