| Policy Title | Time and Attendance Rules For Classified Employees (Including Guidelines on How Time is Earned and Should Be Used) |
|---|---|
| Responsible Office | Human Resources |
| Policy Type | Personnel and Payroll |
| Policy Number | 610 |
| Last Revision Date | 11/1/2023 |
Purpose
The Time and Attendance rules help provide equitable treatment of State Classified Service employees and uniformity in matters of attendance and leave, consistent with the efficient conduct of the University’s business.
SUNY employees serving in the unclassified service (faculty and professional employees) are subject to the time and attendance regulations listed in the Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York, and the provisions of the contract between United University Professions and the State of New York (reference management procedure #608).
These rules for Classified Service employees are derived from the Rules of the New York State Civil Service Commission and the policies of the University. From time to time these rules are modified as the result of negotiation between the State and its employees. You should, therefore, review your union contract (appropriate unit of CSEA, Council 82, NYSCOPBA, and PEF) as it applies to attendance and leave.
Applicability
These Time and Attendance Rules apply to the following employees in the Classified Service:
- All employees who are compensated on an annual salary basis and who work a fixed number of hours, 5 days a week.
- All employees compensated on an hourly basis who are employed on a regularly scheduled work week of at least 3 ¾ hours per day and 5 days per week — OR — work at least ½ time per pay period, and who have been employed continuously for 19 pay periods without a break in service exceeding one full payroll period.
Basic Work Week
Depending on the job, the basic workweek for full-time annual salaried employees is 37.5 or 40 hours per week and the pay cycle runs from Thursday to Wednesday. The pay cycle for those employed on an hourly basis is Wednesday to Tuesday.
Record of Attendance
Employees are required to maintain a daily record of their attendance at work on forms specifically designed for that purpose.
Some departments use a time clock to maintain this record; others use a handwritten time sheet or a sign-in sheet. Attendance records are the basis on which employees are paid and must be submitted to the Payroll Office following the completion of each payroll period. Proper compliance with the procedure will assure paychecks which are accurate and on time.
Please Note: Falsification of an attendance record is grounds for disciplinary action.
Supervisory Responsibilities
Supervisors of employees required to maintain daily time and attendance records are required to review and authenticate the accuracy of these records each bi-weekly pay period in order to assure compliance with these rules for accurate record-keeping.
Tardiness
Tardiness is a serious matter that places an unfair burden on co-workers. Once supervisors instruct employees where and when to report to work, they are expected to arrive on time. In the event that an employee is unavoidably late, he should immediately notify his supervisor who may then excuse the tardiness by noting approval on the employee’s time sheet/card. The lateness is then charged to leave credits and not treated as tardiness. When the tardiness is not excused, automatic penalties involving leave credit deductions will be imposed according to the following schedule:
Penalty
| Tardiness | Penalty |
| (within each two-week pay period) | None |
| 1 or 2 latenesses not to exceed a total of 14 minutes | |
| More than 2 latenesses not exceeding 14 minutes | ¼ hour |
| 1 or more latenesses totaling 15 minutes or more |
¼ hour for each 15 minutes of fraction thereof up to 2 hours |
| Excess over 120 minutes | ½ hour for each 15 minutes or fraction thereof |
These deductions from leave credits are made from compensatory time, vacation leave, or personal leave in that order. If no leave credits are available, the latenesses are deducted from the employee’s pay. In addition to these penalties, an Unsatisfactory performance rating may be given and/or disciplinary action may be taken where appropriate where a pattern of tardiness may exist, including counseling and formal discipline.
Overtime and Compensatory Time
The supervisor must approve all overtime, compensatory, and extra time in advance.
For overtime computation, the basic workweek for the State University of New York at Binghamton is from Thursday A.M. through Wednesday P.M. for annual salaried employees. Those employed on an hourly basis is Wednesday through Tuesday.
Hours worked in excess of a 40-hour workweek shall constitute overtime for which eligible persons are entitled to overtime compensation at time and one-half, subject to the rules established by the Division of the Budget.
For employees whose basic workweek is 37 ½ hours, time worked between 37 ½ and 40 hours is compensable by equivalent time off. Accumulations and liquidation of compensatory time shall be in units of no less than ¼ hour. Employees who separate from State service will be paid for unused compensatory leave credits up to a maximum of 30 days.
Holidays
Unless required to work, employees are entitled to the following legal holidays as days off without charge to leave credits: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Lincoln’s Birthday*, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Election Day*, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Employees who are required to work on a holiday will receive holiday pay (straight time) unless they have elected to receive time instead. (Refer to union agreement for more specific information on holiday pay and the process for electing to receive time during open enrollment periods.) Employees who are required to work on Thanksgiving and Christmas will receive holiday pay at time and a half unless they have elected to receive time instead.
When a holiday falls on an employee’s regular day off (pass day), he is entitled to equivalent time off in lieu of the holiday. Employees absent from work on sick leave at ½ pay, Leave Donation Program, Workers’ Compensation leave without charge to credits, or leave without pay are not entitled to charge any absence during such leave as a holiday, nor credit themselves with time off in lieu of a holiday. Employees are required to use holiday leave time within one year of the date earned or it is forfeited. Employees are not paid for unused holiday leave time.
*Floating holidays
A complete listing of legal holidays can be found at:
https://www.binghamton.edu/human-resources/time-attendance/holiday-calendars.html.
Request and Approval for the Use of Leave Credits
Vacation, Personal Leave, Compensatory Time & Holiday Leave
Employee requests for leave to be charged to vacation, compensatory and/or holiday leave credits should be directed, preferably in writing, to the immediate supervisor at least 48 hours before the requested leave would begin. Some departments, such as University Police, may require that leave be requested as much as five days in advance. Departments should establish policies and procedures that ensure consistency for submission of leave requests.
Employees must not assume that all leave requests will be approved and they must be sure that approval has been granted before using any vacation, personal leave or holiday credits.
Supervisors must respond to employee leave requests promptly and must be sure that the employee knows if the request has been approved or disapproved.
Vacation Leave
Requests for vacation leave should be submitted in writing and must be approved in advance by the employee's supervisor.
An employee paid on an hourly basis, who qualified for coverage under these Rules on the basis of nine months of continuous employment (19 pay periods), shall earn and accumulate vacation at the same rate as annual salaried employees. All hourly employees shall, on the date on which they become subject to these Rules, be credited with the number of days of vacation which were earned during the preceding 19 pay periods. Personal leave anniversary date is the first date of the 20th pay period. Vacation anniversary date is first day of employment.
Upon completion of thirteen bi-weekly periods of service, annual salaried employees are credited with 6-1/2 days of vacation and thereafter earn vacation credits at the rate of ½ day per bi-weekly pay period provided they are in full-pay status for at least seven working days during such bi-weekly pay period.
Part-time employees who are required to work a fixed number of hours, five days per week — or — at least ½ time per pay period on a regularly scheduled basis, shall earn pro-rated annual leave accruals according to the number of hours they are scheduled to work.
Upon the completion of each full year of continuous service, employees are also credited
with additional vacation in accordance with the following schedule:
| Completed Year of Continuous Service | Additional Vacation Credits |
| 1 | 1 day |
| 2 | 2 days |
| 3 | 3 days |
| 4 | 4 days |
| 5 | 5 days |
| 6 | 6 days |
| 7 | 7 days |
After seven complete years of service, vacation accruals are earned at the rate of 20 days per year. Individual bargaining unit Agreements contains schedules of additional credits earned upon completion of further years of continuous service.
A leave of absence without pay, or a resignation followed by reinstatement or re-employment in State service within one year following such resignation, shall not constitute an interruption of continuous service. However, a leave without pay for more than six months or the period between resignation and reinstatement or reappointment during which the employee is not in State service, shall not be counted in determining eligibility for additional vacation credits.
Upon separation from service by retirement or death, an employee or the employee’s estate or beneficiary, as the case may be, shall be compensated in cash for up to 30 days unused vacation credits.
Sick Leave
Sick leave is the absence with pay necessitated by the illness or other physical disability of the employee.
In addition to personal illness of the employee, the following types of absence, when approved by the University, may be charged against accumulated sick leave credits: illness or death in the employee’s family, provided, however, that charge for such absence shall not exceed a maximum of fifteen days in any one year, and personal visits to a doctor or dentist. Proof of the need for such absences, satisfactory to the University, may be required.
Most employees earn sick leave credits at a rate of ½ day per pay period providing they arein full pay status for at least seven workdays during the bi-weekly pay period. This is the equivalent of 13 days per year. Professional, Scientific and Technical Unit employees appointed on or after April 1, 1982 earn 10 days per year, and classified Management/Confidential employees hired after January 1, 1986 are granted 8 sick leave days annually under the M/C Income Protection Plan. Part-time employees, who are eligible, earn sick leave credits on a pro-rated basis. (Refer to negotiated agreements for information on maximum sick leave accumulations.)
Employees who are ill and unable to report for work as scheduled should notify their supervisor no later than 2 hours after the beginning of their work day. Before absences may be charged against accumulated sick leave credits, employees may be required to submit a doctor’s certificate or be examined by a State-appointed physician. If satisfactory evidence of illness is not submitted on request, such an absence may be considered unauthorized leave and result in a payroll deduction. Abuse of sick leave privileges shall be cause for disciplinary action.
The University may require an employee who has been absent because of personal illness to be examined by a State appointed physician to establish that the employee is able to perform normal duties and that a return to work will not jeopardize the health of other employees.
It is the policy of the State University of New York at Binghamton that doctor and dentist appointments may be charged against sick leave. However, if you have no accumulated sick leave credits, doctor and dentist appointments will be charged to personal leave.
Except for doctor’s appointments, absences due to pregnancy prior to the commencement of the leave of absence cannot be charged to sick leave according to State policy, but must be charged to vacation or compensatory time. (See Maternity Leave Policy).
When an employee is transferred, the accumulated sick leave credits may be transferred with the employee to agencies covered by reciprocal agreements. When an employee is separated from service for other than disciplinary reasons and is subsequently reinstated or re-employed within one year after such separation, the sick leave credits accumulated and unused at the time of separation shall be restored.
Where reinstatement occurs more than one year following separation, sick leave credits accumulated and unused at the time of separation may be restored at the discretion of the State Civil Service commission.Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, an employee reinstated from a preferred list shall be entitled to restoration of all sick leave credits accumulated and unused at the time of suspension.
All hourly paid employees shall, on the date on which they become subject to these Rules, be credited with the number of days of sick leave which were earned during the preceding 19 pay periods.
Extended Sick Leave
The University may, at its discretion, advance up to five days of sick leave credits to an employee absent due to personal illness who has exhausted accumulated sick leave, vacation, personal leave, and compensatory time credits. Such advance sick leave credits shall be repaid, as soon as practicable after the employee’s return to duty, from subsequent accumulations of time credits. The outstanding unrepaid sick leave credits advanced to any employee under the provisions of this rule shall not at any time exceed a total of five days.
Upon termination of the employee’s services any such advance of sick leave not offset by subsequent accumulations of sick leave, vacation, and compensatory time credits, shall be deducted from salary or wages due the employee.
Sick Leave at Half-Pay
Employees who have completed more than one year of service and who have exhausted all accumulated leave credits may be eligible for sick leave at half-pay for personal illness for a duration determined by their years of permanent service. Each bargaining union Agreement contains specific information regarding eligibility requirements.
Requests for sick leave at half-pay are considered on an individual basis and approval is subject to supporting medical documentation. The amount of sick leave at half-pay that any employee may be granted during his or her entire State service is one bi-weekly payroll period for each completed six (6) months of service.
Although employees on sick leave at half-pay receive personal leave and bonus vacation credits on their anniversary date, they do not earn vacation and sick leave credits normally earned each payroll period. Personal leave and vacation dates are not affected by sick leave at half-pay.
Maternity and Child Care Leave
When an employee becomes pregnant, the University encourages them to report the existence of the pregnancy, but the employee is not required to do so.
Contact Human Resources to fill out a petition for FMLA leave.
For any or all of that portion of a leave of absence for maternity purposes during which the employee is medically disabled from the performance of her duties, such an employee will be allowed to charge her sick leave and other accrued leave credits in the same manner as an employee who is disabled by reason of illness or accident not arising from the performance of her duties.
Before a disabled employee is allowed to charge sick leave credits, satisfactory medical documentation of disability may be required. In no case, however, will charges to sick leave be allowed after six weeks after delivery without satisfactory medical certification of disability of the employee.
Child care leave shall not be extended beyond seven months from the date of delivery without approval of the employee’s department head and the Senior Associate Director of Human Resources.Department heads shall notify Human Resources of the requests for maternity leave prior to the commencement of such leave. Adoptive parents are eligible for child care leave in the same manner and to the same extent.
An employee who resigns their position rather than requesting a leave, will be paid for their accrued vacation and compensatory time in a lump sum six (6) weeks after her effective resignation date and may be eligible to be reinstated to her same pay grade status within one year if a position is available.
Personal Leave
Personal leave is leave with pay for personal business, which cannot be taken care of after business hours, including religious observance. Most classified employees are credited with five days of personal leave on the effective date of their appointment and each year thereafter on their anniversary date.
Personal leave is not cumulative, and any personal leave credits remaining unused on the anniversary date upon which the employee is entitled to receive new personal leave credits shall be cancelled. Unused personal leave shall not be liquidated in cash at the time of separation, retirement, or death.
Personal leave may be used only when (convenient to) and approved in advance by the supervisor. Personal leave may be granted for days of religious observances.
It is the policy of the State University of New York at Binghamton that doctor’s and dentist’s appointments will be charged to personal leave only if the employee has no accumulated sick leave credits.
Leave for Subpoenaed Appearance and Jury Attendance
On proof of the necessity of jury service or reasonable travel time attending court pursuant to subpoena or other order of the court, an employee shall be granted a leave of absence with pay by the University. This section does not apply to any absence by an employee occasioned by such an appearance if he is party to the action. Hourly employees are also covered by provisions covering jury duty where scheduled workdays and jury duty coincide.
Leave for Civil Service Examination
Employees shall be allowed leave with pay without charge to credits to take New York State Civil Service promotion or open competitive examinations at the appropriate center, provided that due notice is given by the employee to the University. Time off without charge to credits is also granted to employees being interviewed for State positions as a result of the establishment of eligible lists. For more specific information, please refer to the New York State Attendance & Leave manual, Section 21.10.
Military Leave
Members of the National Guard, the Naval Militia, or an organized reserve unit are entitled to leave with pay up to 30 calendar days or 22 work days, whichever is greater, during one calendar year when they are ordered to perform this essential service. The University requests copies of official orders as verification of the necessity for such a leave. Additional military leave may be granted by Civil Service Commission.
After exhausting the military leave with pay, employees are entitled to leave without pay.If entering active military duty for voluntary service, employees are entitled to a leave of absence without pay from their position, while engaged in, and while going to and from, military duty for up to a cumulative total of four years. This applies to reservists and volunteers.
Training Programs, Conferences and Conventions
A reasonable amount of time off without charge to leave credits may be granted to attend Binghamton University sponsored training programs, seminars, workshops, or courses that supervisors approve as being related to present or future job duties. In some cases, employees will not be required to charge accruals for State sponsored programs that are approved by their supervisor.
Approval may be withheld if the supervisor feels that the absence would interfere with the efficient operation of the office or work area. Under such circumstances, shared-time arrangements may be made to permit the fullest use of training opportunities.
Lost Time Deductions
Whenever an employee is absent from work without the required advance approval or without proper notification and verification (when requested) in the case of sick leave, such absences will not be charged to the employee’s leave credits and shall be deducted from earnings as authorized leave.
Whenever an employee has more absences than can be covered by the available leave credits, the absences that cannot be charged to credits will be treated as leave without pay. The Human Resources Office will periodically review all leave records and notify employees and their supervisors when their leave credits appear to be so low as to make lost-time deductions a possibility.
When salary adjustments are required under the above, the University may either:
- Make the necessary adjustments in a subsequent payroll period.
- Return the pay check if the employee is not expected to return to work.
Inability to Report to Work
Employees who are unable to report to work as scheduled because of personal illness, family illness, or some other unforeseen circumstances, must notify their supervisor or other person designated by management no later then two hours after they were to report to work. Employees assigned to continuous shift operations, such as University Police and the Power Plant, must give notice of their inability to report for work at least two hours before the normal starting time of their assigned shift.
Absences required by personal illness or family illness may be charged to sick leave, subject to medical verification if the supervisor and the Human Resources Office determine it is required.
Absences for reasons other than personal illness or family illness may be charged to vacation and/or personal leave only if the employee provides an explanation of the absence and why the time off could not have been requested and approved in advance. Absences that are not adequately explained or justified will be considered to be unauthorized and will result in lost-time deductions. Repeated violations may result in disciplinary action.
Weather Related Absences
It is important to remember that state facilities may be closed only by order of the Governor; however, University Presidents are authorized to cancel classes and recommend that all but essential employees not report to work in some situations.
Unless weather conditions are so severe that the University issues special instructions regarding opening or remaining open, all staff are expected to report to work as scheduled. In the event of severe conditions, the University will make announcements on local radio stations.
Announcements can also be accessed by calling your voice mailbox or 607-777-7700. Employees should monitor announcements for updates and changes as weather conditions change.
The following represents a review of state attendance rules for your information:
- It is expected that all employees will make every effort to arrive at work in a timely fashion. However, there may be occasions when road conditions create an undue hazard. In these cases, supervisors, managers and department heads are authorized to excuse a reasonable amount of tardiness (that is, to treat it as an approved absence charged to leave credits) and not to assess penalties.
- Full-day absences resulting from hazardous weather conditions may not be excused, but need to be charged to appropriate leave credits if the department is satisfied that it was not possible for the employee to report to work. Requests to charge such absences to sick leave may be subject to medical documentation.
- If weather conditions arise during the course of the workday, employees may request
permission to leave early and charge appropriate accruals. Supervisors and managers
will make every effort to approve such requests within operational need.
If severe and extraordinary weather conditions arise during the workday and the University is closed by order of the Governor, directed early departures are not charged to leave accruals.
Contacts:
Director of Human Resources, 607-777-4939
Associate Vice President for Human Resources, 607-777-2187
