It’s been among the most-asked questions since the Medical University of Ohio and The University of Toledo became one. When will vacation accruals match between campuses?
University leadership is now able to answer that question.
Effective March 28, a new vacation policy, designed to increase parity between non-union employee groups, will take effect.
Members of bargaining units will continue to operate under vacation time accrual rates as outlined in their agreements, but non-union employees will accrue vacation at the same rate, regardless of campus of origin.
Unclassified salaried, administrative contract and limited contract employees will earn 22 paid vacation days per year, or 6.77 hours per pay period, with a maximum total accrual of 352 hours.
Classified and hourly non-union employees fall under a different set of accrual rates, based on years of service.
Faculty administrators and non-union faculty members with year-round assignments will earn 24 days per year, with a maximum based on their date of hire.
“While this represents additional vacation for some, it also represents a slight decline for others,” said President Lloyd Jacobs. “However, we believe that the more symmetry we are able to bring about, the greater the synergy we’ll create.”
Extensive benchmarking of other Ohio institutions was conducted before a final number of vacation days was decided upon.
“UT’s professional staff employees are not only on par with their peers across the campuses, but also with those around the state,” Jacobs said. “We are fortunate to have such a tremendous benefits program at the University, and it is particularly pleasing to see a new level of equality between like groups.”
“A great deal of effort has gone into streamlining this extremely complicated issue,” said Bill Logie, vice president for human resources and campus safety. “Through due diligence and teamwork, we’ve arrived at what we hope will be a long-lasting model for vacation accrual. We are grateful to everyone who has been involved in this process.”
The University is allowing employees who are currently carrying vacation balances beyond the maximum hours one year to use their overage.
“It is to the benefit of the entire University that our employees use their allotted vacation,” Logie said. “There are not only financial advantages, it has been proven to have a positive impact on employee productivity and performance. We encourage all our managers to enable employees to utilize their earned vacation time.”
Details on accrual rates, maximum accruals, vacation payouts and related information for all employee groups are available on the Human Resources Web site at www.utoledo.edu/depts/hr/main/benefits/vacation.html.
