Administrative Leave

Administrative leave may be granted for the following:

Athletic Competition

Any employee of the university who qualifies as a member of the United States team for athletic competition on the world, Pan American, or Olympic level in a sport contested in either Pan American or Olympic competition shall be granted athletic competition leave for the purpose of preparing for and engaging in the competition. In no case shall the athletic competition leave exceed the period of the official training camp and competition combined or 30 calendar days in a calendar year, whichever is less. The term “United States team” includes any group leader, coach, official, or athlete who is a member of the United States official delegation for athletic competition to world, Pan American, or Olympic competition.

Approval

This type of administrative leave is approved by the department. If an employee meets the criteria outlined above, a department is obligated to provide the employee with time off from work.

Under these provisions, the employee is provided administrative leave for all of his or her normal workdays occurring during the 30 calendar days described.

Documentation

An employee should provide documentation from the U.S. team as to his or her involvement in the competition. This documentation should be kept in the department along with the employee’s application for leave requesting administrative leave.

Civil Disorder or Disaster

An employee who is a member of a volunteer emergency response team may be granted up to two days (maximum of 16 hours if full-time) of civil disorder or disaster leave on any one occasion by the university president or designee, in proportion to the employee’s FTE, for civil disorder or disaster. A volunteer emergency response team is defined as members of the Salvation Army, Southern Baptist Relief Organization, Catholic Charities, or American Radio Relay League (HAM operator).

An employee who is a member of a volunteer fire department, police auxiliary or reserve, or civil defense unit may be granted civil disorder or disaster leave as described above when such an employee is called to perform duties in times of civil disturbances, riots, and natural disasters.

Employees who are members of the Civil Air Patrol or Coast Guard Auxiliary may be granted civil disorder or disaster leave as described above when assisting in emergency search and rescue missions.

Approval

This type of administrative leave is approved by the University of Florida president or designee, pending departmental support of an employee’s leave request. A department is not obligated to accommodate this request but is encouraged to be responsive to an employee’s civic responsibility.

A request to the university president or designee for this type of leave should be signed by the appropriate dean, director, or department chair. It should specify the time frame for which the leave is to be granted. It should be addressed to the president or designee but submitted to UF Benefits, which will facilitate the approval process on behalf of the department.

If an employee requires the time off from work prior to receiving approval from the president or designee, a department may grant the employee vacation leave for the specified time frame. Once approval is provided by the president or designee, the department can “back out” the vacation leave usage (return the vacation leave to the employee) and substitute administrative leave to cover the time. If the president or designee does not approve the leave, the employee’s vacation leave usage would remain.

If the department does not wish to grant the employee vacation leave prior to receiving notice from the president or designee, it may grant the employee leave without pay. Upon receiving approval, the department would retroactively pay the employee for the administrative leave provided.

Documentation

Employees should provide documentation from the volunteer emergency response team as to his or her involvement. This documentation should be kept in the department along with the employee’s application for leave requesting administrative leave. A copy should be submitted to UF Benefits along with the request to the president or designee.

Death in the Immediate Family

USPS and TEAMS employees may be granted up to two days of administrative leave upon the death of an immediate family member. This benefit is pro-rated based on the employee’s FTE, with a maximum benefit of 16 hours for full-time employees.

Sick leave also may be used in reasonable amounts by TEAMS and USPS employees upon the death of an immediate family member for events related to the family member’s death.  Academic Personnel who accrue sick leave may also use sick leave upon the death of an immediate family member for related events.  This benefit is available to employees who are eligible for the benefit at the time of the family member’s death.

Approval

This type of administrative leave is approved by the department.

While the regulation says “may be granted” rather than “shall,” we typically consider a department to be obligated to provide this leave. Extenuating circumstances, of course, could mitigate this obligation (i.e., third death in a month for the same employee).

USPS and TEAMS employees also may use sick leave in reasonable amounts due to the death of a member of the employee’s immediate family. Supervisors decide what constitutes “reasonable”; any standard should be applied consistently throughout the work unit.

Documentation

An employee requesting administrative leave due to the death of an immediate family member may be required to submit a copy of the death certificate or other appropriate documentation (obituary, etc.) as certification. This documentation should be kept in the department along with the employee’s application for leave requesting administrative leave.

Academic Personnel are not eligible for this type of administrative leave. They may use accrued sick leave in reasonable amounts due to the death of a member of the employee’s immediate family. Supervisors decide what constitutes “reasonable;” any standard should be applied consistently throughout the work unit.

Florida Disaster Volunteer

An employee who is a certified disaster service volunteer of the American Red Cross may be granted paid leave for up to 15 workdays (8 hours per day) each fiscal year to participate in specialized disaster relief services for the American Red Cross. Such paid leave may be granted upon the request of the American Red Cross and with the approval of the employee’s supervisor. An employee granted paid leave under this section shall not be deemed to be an employee of the university for purposes of workers’ compensation. Paid leave under this act shall be granted only for services related to a disaster occurring within the boundaries of the state of Florida.

Approval

This type of administrative leave is approved by the department. A department is not obligated to accommodate this request but is encouraged to be responsive to an employee’s civic responsibility.

Documentation

The employee should provide documentation of his or her certification and also should provide a copy of the American Red Cross’s request for his or her assistance. This documentation should be kept in the department along with the employee’s application for leave requesting administrative leave.

Official Emergency Closing

Guidelines for administrative leave for off campus locations

An employee shall be provided leave for official emergency closing of University of Florida facilities. Except for those employees determined by the University of Florida to be necessary for providing essential service, employees assigned to those facilities which have been closed shall be released from duty and granted paid leave for the period the facility is closed. Such official emergency closing leave shall not be reduced. As a result, any hours to be compensated over a USPS or non-exempt TEAMS employee’s FTE shall be compensated via special compensatory leave.

Special compensatory leave also shall be provided to USPS or non-exempt TEAMS employees required to perform essential services during the emergency closing. An employee who was on a prior approved leave of absence or scheduled holiday during the emergency shall not have the leave of absence changed to official emergency closing leave.

Approval

Administrative leave for an official emergency closing typically is provided due to natural disasters—for example, hurricanes, tropical storms. In these instances, relocation of affected employees is the first course of action to be taken. If, however, a Governor’s executive order is in place (to close a county, for example) or relocation is not an option, the following applies.

With a Governor’s Executive Order
If a Governor’s executive order is in place, no approval beyond the order is necessary. Employees will be granted administrative leave. However, this process still should be coordinated through UF Benefits.

Please note that the language of the Governor’s orders varies—sometimes the executive orders provide administrative leave based on where an employee works; other times, the orders provide leave based on where an employee lives. Given that it is not always possible to get specific information in a timely manner, in appropriate situations and in the absence of good information, employees should be authorized vacation leave pending further information about whether that vacation leave may be changed to administrative leave. In the event, the vacation leave cannot be changed to administrative leave (the Governor’s order specifies work site and the employee used leave based on where he or she lives, for example), the employee would have used his or her vacation leave appropriately.

Without a Governor’s Executive Order
In the absence of a Governor’s executive order, administrative leave for the official emergency closing of university facilities is approved by the Vice President for Human Resource Services—except for IFAS facilities outside of Alachua County. For these IFAS facilities, approval has been delegated to the center directors (unless a Governor’s executive order is in place for the county, in which case it takes precedence as described above).

In all cases, UF Benefits or the appropriate personnel satellite office should be contacted prior to approving the leave.

Documentation

The names of the employees to whom the leave has been granted and the number of hours granted should be provided to UF Benefits. Again, UF Benefits or the appropriate personnel satellite office should be contacted prior to approving the leave.

Additional Information

If an employee already is on approved paid leave, he or she shall not be eligible for administrative leave.

USPS and non-exempt TEAMS employees who are required to provide essential services during the time of an official closing are eligible for special compensatory leave beyond being paid for hours worked. For example: Employees at outstation X are provided 8 hours of administrative leave due to an official emergency closing. Two outstation employees, however, are required to work 2 hours on the day of the closing to care for livestock. These two employees, pending their working 32 hours during the remainder of the workweek, would be entitled to two hours of special compensatory leave.

34 hours physically worked (32 hours during normal workweek; 2 hours on day where all other employees are provided 8 hours of administrative leave) + 8-hour administrative leave benefit (benefit provided to all other employees) = 42 hours for which employees need to be compensated.

Because the employees did not physically work more than 40 hours (and thus be eligible for overtime), they are, instead, eligible for special compensatory leave (hour-for-hour benefit) for all hours over 40.

Voting

Normally, employees should vote during non-work hours. In emergency situations, however, one or two hours of administrative leave may be granted for voting provided the employee has obtained approval from his or her immediate supervisor. An employee shall not be granted administrative leave or leave not affecting accrued leave balances to work at the polls during elections. An employee may use either accrued leave or leave without pay upon supervisor’s approval.

Approval

This type of administrative leave is approved by the department. A department is not obligated to accommodate this request but is strongly encouraged to be responsive to an employee’s civic responsibility.

Documentation

No documentation is required, but an employee should have prior approval.