DISCRETIONARY LEAVE

About This Policy

Policy Statement

All employees are awarded one hour of paid discretionary leave for every thirty hours worked. Discretionary leave accrues per pay period up to a maximum of 48 hours in a calendar year.  Employees may carry accrued but unused discretionary leave time which shall not exceed 80 hours at any given time.

Discretionary leave will be granted to all employees for any of the following reasons:

• Treatment, recuperation, or preventative care for a medical or mental health condition, illness or injury of the employee or covered family member.
• To seek law enforcement, counseling, or other services for domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking suffered by the employee or covered family member.
• Care for family member during emergency closure of school or place of care, including for inclement weather or public health emergency.
• Closure of North Central University by order of a public official due to a public health emergency.

Employees must request and document discretionary leaves through our human resources management system. All discretionary time will follow the employee through any position or departmental changes.  At termination of employment, accrued hours of discretionary leave are not paid out.

All discretionary leave will run concurrently with any other leave or time off that the employee is legally entitled to under university policy or applicable law.

Personal Business
Full time benefits eligible employees may also request discretionary leave to conduct personal business. Faculty, part time employees, temporary workers and student workers cannot use discretionary leave to conduct personal business.

Usage of discretionary leave for personal business may be subject to supervisor approval due to departmental workload.

Notice of leave
For discretionary leave that is foreseeable, North Central requests 7 days advance notice. For discretionary leave that is unforeseeable, North Central University requests notification as soon as is practicable.

Exceptions
Per the City of Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, North Central University chooses to exercise our right to prohibit usage of discretionary leave during the first 90 days of employment.

Employees will not accrue discretionary time off while out on an approved leave of absence.

The university reserves the right to investigate suspected abuse of discretionary leaves and to deny leaves that to no qualify. Managers, supervisors, and employees who violate this policy are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Reason For Policy

This policy exists to define the accrual rate and usage of discretionary time off for all employees. Additionally, this policy complies with the City of Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time Ordinance (Ord. No. 2016-040, § 1, 5-27-16).

Policy Scope

This policy applies to the following categories of employees who work at least 80 hours in a year for North Central University:

• Full time benefits eligible employees.
• Permanent part time employees.
• Temporary employees.
• All student employees, including work study and departmentally paid.

Procedures

• Recording Discretionary Time

Forms

• There are no forms associated with this policy.

Appendices

• There are no appendices associated with this policy.

Additional Contacts

Definitions

Family Member
For discretionary leave, North Central University abides by the definition of family members as outlined in the City of Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time Ordinance: “The employee’s child, step-child, adopted child, foster child, adult child, spouse, sibling, parent, step-parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, guardian, ward, members of the employee’s household or registered domestic partner.”   North Central University states that “members of the employee’s household” do not include unrelated individuals who share common or associated space in university housing.

Full-Time Benefits Eligible
The Affordable Care Act and the IRS define a full-time employee as one who works at least 30 hours a week or 130 hours a month on average.

University Housing
Includes, but is not limited to, university-owned or university-provided dormitories and apartments.

Responsibilities

Employees
Utilize and record discretionary time as needed.

Human Resources
Explain and administer this policy to all employees and supervisors.

Payroll
Implement this policy by tracking discretionary leave accruals and hours requested and used.

Responsibilities

Related Legislation

• City of Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time Ordinance (Ord. No. 2016-040, § 1, 5-27-16)

Other Related Information

• City of Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time Information Site

History

Amended
2020-02-07 – Clarity concerning faculty, part time, temporary, and student worker use of discretionary leave for personal business.

2019-07-11 – Clarity and editorial updates. Clarified the definition of a family member. Added definition of University Housing.  Added responsibility for Employees.

Issued
2019-04-18