Classified employee time off and leave

If you are a full-time nonexempt employee, you may be entitled to eight hours of holiday pay. (Under certain circumstances, an employee may earn additional holiday pay). To qualify, you must be in “paid status” for a portion of your scheduled shift before the holiday. As a part-time nonexempt employee, you may qualify for holiday pay if the holiday falls on your scheduled workday and you were in “paid status” during any portion of your shift immediately preceding the holiday. If this is the case, you will be paid the equivalent amount you would have been paid if there had not been a holiday. Check with your supervisor or personnel representative if you have a question regarding eligibility for pay. (NRS 236.015 and NAC 284.0742)

If you are a full-time nonexempt employee and your day off coincides with a legal holiday, your appointing authority may adjust your work schedule for the week, credit your account with eight hours of compensatory time at the straight-time rate, or pay you for the holiday.

Exempt employees receive their regular salary during a week in which a holiday occurs, regardless of whether they work or have the day off.

The State of Nevada and the University of Nevada, Reno offer 12 paid holidays. The following dates are paid holidays for all State of Nevada employees:

• January 1: New Year's Day
• Third Monday in January: Martin Luther King Day
• Third Monday in February: Washington's Birthday
• Last Monday in May: Memorial Day
• June 19: Juneteenth
• July 4: Independence Day
• First Monday in September: Labor Day
• Last Friday in October: Nevada Day
• November 11: Veterans' Day
• Fourth Thursday in November: Thanksgiving Day
• Friday following the Fourth Thursday in November: Family Day
• December 25: Christmas Day

If January 1, June 19, July 4, November 11, or December 25 falls upon a:

1. Sunday, the Monday following must be observed as a legal holiday.
2. Saturday, the Friday preceding must be observed as a legal holiday.

See NRS 236.015.

Employees working a full-time schedule, earn 10 hours of annual leave for each month of continuous full-time service. After six months of full-time service you are eligible to use leave at this time. If you are a part-time employee, you will earn a prorated amount of annual leave based on full-time equivalent service.

If while on annual leave a classified staff employee becomes ill or injured, the employee remains on annual leave for the duration of the original request. Annual leave cannot be converted to sick leave after the annual leave has commenced, unless the illness or injury is approved as FMLA leave.

After ten years of continuous service you will earn up to a maximum of 12 hours of annual leave per month; and, with 15 years of service, up to 14 hours per month.

Employees working a full-time schedule, earn 10 hours of annual leave for each month of continuous full-time service. After six months of full-time service, you are eligible to use leave at this time. If you are a part-time employee, you will earn a prorated amount of annual leave based on full-time equivalent service.

If while on annual leave a classified staff employee becomes ill or injured, the employee remains on annual leave for the duration of the original request. Annual leave cannot be converted to sick leave after the annual leave has commenced unless the illness or injury is approved as FMLA leave.

After ten years of continuous service you will earn up to a maximum of 12 hours of annual leave per month; and, with 15 years of service, up to 14 hours per month.

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Employees earn 10 hours of sick leave for each month of full-time service. Part-time employees earn a prorated amount based on full-time equivalent service. Sick leave can be used as soon as it is accrued. (NRS 284.355, NAC 284.113 and 284.544)

Sick leave may be taken for personal illness, disability, medical, optometric, or dental service or examinations, child-bearing or temporary disability upon the approval of the appointing authority.

Nonexempt employees must report any sick leave taken, even if it is for an appointment or part of the day.

If there is an illness or a medical, optometric or dental service or examination in your immediate family requiring your attendance, you may use your accumulated sick leave not to exceed 120 hours in any one calendar year.

Sick time | Sick leave is accumulated at the rate of ten hours for each full month of service. After a classified employee has accumulated 90 working days of sick leave credit, the amount of additional unused sick leave credit which he is entitled to carry forward from one year to the next is limited to one half the sick time earned within the year minus the amount of sick time used. The remaining one-half shall be placed in a separate account to be used by the classified employee under certain conditions as stated in NAC 284.546.

Annual time | Annual leave that is accrued in excess of 240 hours must be used by January 1, after which it will be forfeited. To avoid forfeiture, a request for permission to take annual leave must be submitted to your supervisor by October 15. Annual leave in excess of the 30 working days, which is requested by this date, but denied in writing, is eligible for payment. Payment for unused leave will be made by January 31.

Sick time payout | A classified employee who terminates after a minimum of 10 years of service through no fault of his or her own is entitled to payment of accrued sick leave in excess of 30 days pursuant to NRS 284.355.

Years of service and maximum payoff amount

• 10 but less than 15: $2,500
• 15 but less than 20: $4,000
• 20 but less than 25: $6,000
• 25 or more years: $8,000

Additionally, an employee may be eligible to receive a portion of his or her unused sick leave accrued but not carried forward (also known as special sick) when he or she leaves State service. To determine the amount of payoff, you may use the following formula: (special sick leave hours accrued and not carried forward + 120 hours accrued regular sick leave) /(divided by) 2 X (multiplied by) rate of pay = payment amount

Annual time payout | If you separate from State service and have worked at least six months, you will be paid for any unused annual leave you have accumulated. (NRS 284.350 and NAC 284.113 and 284.538 to 284.5395) Managers may direct employees to use annual leave after a resignation is tendered.

An appointing authority may grant administrative leave with pay to employees:

• To relieve them of duties during the active investigation of a suspected criminal violation or an alleged wrongdoing.
• When the appointing authority initiates the leave, not to exceed 30 days, in order to obtain the results of an examination concerning the employee's ability to perform the essential functions of his position.
• To remove him or her from the work environment, not to exceed 30 days, when he or she has committed an act of violence or threatened to commit an act of violence.
• For up to 2 hours to donate blood.
• To relieve them of duties until the appointing authority receives the results of a screening test for alcohol or drugs. (NRS 284.4065)

An appointing authority or the Department of Personnel may grant administrative leave with pay to an employee for:

• Participation in, or attendance at, activities which are directly or indirectly related to the employee's job or employment with the State, but which do not require participation or attendance in an official capacity as a State employee.
• Closure of office or work site caused by a natural disaster or other similar adverse condition when the employee is scheduled and expected to be at work.
• Appearance as an aggrieved employee or a witness at a hearing of the Employee-Management Committee.
• Appearance as an appellant or a witness at a hearing to determine reasonableness of dismissal, demotion or suspension. (NRS 284.390)
• Appearance to provide testimony at a meeting of the Personnel Commission. 

An appointing authority shall grant administrative leave with pay to an employee for:

• The initial appointment and one follow-up visit to receive counseling through the Employee Assistance Program.
• Attendance at a health fair authorized by the board of the Public Employees' Benefits Program.
• Serving as a representative of State employees on a statutorily created board or commission.
• Up to eight hours to prepare for a hearing regarding the employee's suspension, demotion or dismissal. (NAC 284.589)

A leave of absence without pay may be approved for one year by the appointing authority for any satisfactory reason. The Personnel Commission, upon recommendation of the appointing authority, may grant a leave of absence without pay in excess of one year for purposes deemed beneficial to the public service. (NAC 284.578)

Absences without the benefit of a formal leave status are normally considered unauthorized and may be subject to disciplinary action. There are certain formal leave statuses that will authorize an employee to be away from work without leave accruals such as leave under the Family Medical Leave Act and Military Leave.

Being in "Leave without Pay" status affects an employee's pay and benefits.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a "rolling" 12-month period for specified family and medical reasons.  See Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Overview.

Eligibility

Must have worked:

• For the State of Nevada for 12 months or more (need not be continuous); and
• At least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months (all hours in "paid status" are used for calculation purposes).

Qualifying events include:

• The birth of a child, or to care for the newborn;
• Placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care, or to care for a child after placement;
• Care for a spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition; 
• Serious health condition that makes you unable to perform your job; or
• Qualifying exigencies related to the foreign deployment of a military member who is the employee’s spouse, child, or parent.

My pay and benefits

• FMLA leave runs concurrently with the use of eligible employee’s paid time off accruals (i.e., sick time, annual time, compensatory time).
• FMLA leave will be unpaid if the employee is not eligible for accrued time off.
• Group health insurance coverage will be maintained during FMLA leave. If you normally pay a portion of the premiums for coverage or have dependent coverage, these payments continue to be your responsibility.
• Upon return from leave, you must be restored to your job, or to an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions (unless you would not otherwise have been employed in such a job). (NAC 284.5231 through 284.5239, 284.558, 284.566, 284.581 through 284.5813)

How to Apply

FMLA requests for the University of Nevada, Reno are initiated through Workday. The leave request can be initiated through the Time Off Worklet under Request and Leave of Absence. Once the request is submitted, the required medical certification will be delivered to the employee’s Workday inbox. The medical certification is to be printed and provided to the treating medical provider. Upon completion, the medical certification is to be uploaded into the employee’s Workday inbox task for final submission. Medical certification is due within 15 days of the initial request for FMLA.

Employees who are members of Federal Reserve forces or the Nevada National Guard are entitled to serve without loss of regular compensation for a period not to exceed 15 working days in any calendar year. Additional military leave may be granted for periods in excess of 15 working days.

See Board of Regents Handbook, Title 4, Chapter 3, Section 20.

Civil leave with pay will also be granted for the following reasons:

• If you meet the conditions of NRS 293.463 and need time off to vote;
• If you meet the conditions of NRS 284.357 as a volunteer firefighter, emergency medical technician, volunteer ambulance driver or attendant, or reserve member of a police department or a sheriff's department;
• If your absence from the job is necessary to meet a disaster or emergency and it is approved by your appointing authority. (NAC 284.587)
• If you are required to perform active military service during your employment with the State of Nevada, you will be granted a leave of absence for the period of your military service plus a period up to 90 days. If your gross State pay is more than your gross military pay, you will be eligible to receive differential pay to supplement your military pay. If you serve less than 90 days of active military service, you will be restored to your same position, at the grade and step you would have held had you not served in the military. If you serve longer than 90 days, you must be reemployed in your former position or a comparable position having seniority and pay equal to that which you would have held had you not served in the military. (NRS 281.145, NRS 284.359)

May take up to 5 working days of sick leave in the event of the death of a person within their immediate family. The appointing authority may approve additional time in instances where extended travel is involved.

Civil Leave with Pay will be granted in most cases. If you serve on a jury or as a witness in court or at an administrative hearing, you will be given civil leave with pay.

You may keep all jury or witness fees paid to you unless you are a witness in an action to which you are a party, in which case you will not receive civil leave with pay unless it is job related. (NAC 284.582).

You may qualify for catastrophic leave if you or a member of your immediate family is affected by a serious illness or accident which is life threatening or which requires a lengthy convalescence or there is a death in your immediate family. For this purpose:

• "Lengthy convalescence" means a period of disability that an attending physician expects to exceed 10 consecutive weeks.
• "Life threatening" means a condition which is diagnosed by a physician as creating a substantial risk of death.
• "Immediate family" has the meaning ascribed to it in NAC 284.562.

In addition to the above requirements, an employee must have exhausted all of his or her accrued sick leave, annual leave and compensatory time, and the employee must receive approval from his or her appointing authority or the Committee on Catastrophic Leave to be eligible for catastrophic leave donations. The maximum number of hours of catastrophic leave an employee can be approved to use in a calendar year is 1,040.

As an employee of the State, you are permitted to donate up to a maximum of 120 hours of annual leave and sick leave each calendar year.

Your sick leave balance, however, must not fall below 240 hours as a result of such donation.

Catastrophic leave may be donated directly to an employee on approved catastrophic leave in any branch of State government or to the University of Nevada, Reno’s general pool. If leave donated exceeds the amount approved for use by the employee, it must be returned to donor.

If you have questions regarding the approval of leave or donation of leave to an account, you should contact your personnel representative. (NRS 284.362 through 284.3629 and NAC 284.575 through 284.577)

The University of Nevada, Reno campus has established catastrophic leave general procedures for their employees.