Frequently Asked Questions

"Your Time Away" is the name we are using to communicate the new time-off components covered in the Comprehensive Leave Program.

The Texas Education Code allows the governing board of a university system to create a comprehensive leave policy that meets the needs of their institution and employees.

No.

Sick leave hours previously accrued but not used by employees as of Sept. 1, 2024, will be deposited into a new Prior Sick Leave Bank. Employees will be able to use their Prior Sick Leave Bank after the exhaustion of their PTO. The hours in your Prior Sick Leave Bank will never expire.

Vacation leave hours previously accrued but not used by employees as of Sept. 1, 2024, will be deposited into a new Prior Vacation Leave Bank. Employees will be able to use their Prior Vacation Leave Bank once they exhaust their PTO. These hours will also be eligible for payment at separation from UTSW, up to the current maximum cap. The hours in your Prior Vacation Leave Bank will never expire.

Yes. Many leave options (e.g., State Parental Leave, Emergency Leave, Military Leave, voting leave) will remain available in Your Time Away.

Yes. There is no change to longevity pay.

No.

UTSW will not accept sick, vacation, or holiday balances for employees transferring from other state agencies. (Those balances will be paid out by the state agency the employee is leaving in accordance with that agency’s policies and state law.)

An employee who separates from UTSW employment will have their Prior Sick Leave Bank balances restored if they are reemployed by UTSW within 90 days immediately following the date of separation from UTSW employment.

The state leave program divides paid employee time away from work into specific vacation and sick leave accruals. Employees earn a specific number of hours for each category, and sick leave can only be taken for specific purposes.

A PTO program does not divide leave into categories. It uses a single pool of time off to give employees more control over how they spend their paid time away from work – whether it is for vacation, an illness, a field trip with a child, or any other personal reason.

Our current leave program (that will conclude at the end of August) divides your earned time off between vacation (flexible use for personal time, leisure, etc.) and sick time (restricted use for illness or caring for an ill family member). PTO is designed to allow you to use your entire accrual for the purpose you choose (personal time, leisure, or for illness or caring for an ill family member). Combining your accrued time off into a single PTO bank might have a lower total than the current vacation + sick time, but it will increase the number of hours you have available for your flexible use, without the restrictions included with sick time.

Also, to ensure that all existing employees retain current sick and vacation accrual banks, you will be able to use these prior balances moving forward, in addition to the new accrued PTO. In September, your sick and vacation time balances will be converted to a Prior Sick Leave Bank and a Prior Vacation Leave Bank, which will be available for your use and will never expire. Further, your Prior Vacation Leave Bank will be available for payout upon separation, as it is today.

Your Time Away will coordinate with the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and State Parental Leave and will not affect the criteria for taking this type of leave. Employees’ paid leave will continue to run concurrently with FMLA and State Parental Leave.

Employees earn an additional 4 hours of PTO per year of service. The accrual rate is based on total state service as calculated by the Office of Human Resources. The accrual rate will increase annually on the first pay period following the employee’s anniversary date until they reach 20 years of service.

Yes. The new PTO maximum balance cap equals 135% of the employee’s annual accrual rate. For example, the max cap for an employee who accrues 200 hours of PTO per year is 270 hours (200x135%). See PTO accrual table. Employees stop accruing once the cap is reached.

Once an employee reaches the maximum cap limit (at any point in the year), they will stop accruing PTO until their PTO balance falls below the maximum cap limit.

No.

No. PTO is accrued per pay period. Employees who are paid monthly will begin receiving their monthly PTO accrual on Sept. 2, 2024. Employees who are paid biweekly will begin receiving their biweekly PTO accrual on Sept. 8, 2024.

No. Due to the plan structure, Floating Holiday and PTO hours will be used first. PTO has a max accrual cap, and when employees reach this cap, they will stop accruing PTO. Once the employee uses PTO hours and falls below the max accrual cap, they will resume earning PTO. Therefore, we will use PTO prior to Prior Sick Leave Bank and/or Prior Vacation Leave Bank to help employees stay below the PTO max accrual cap.

Employees may view their PTO balances in myTime after Sept. 1, 2024.

PTO can be taken in 15-minute increments.

Time-off requests submitted through myTime before Sept. 1, 2024, for scheduled vacation/sick day(s) will automatically be changed to the appropriate leave code, and no further action will be required by the employee.

Employees who move from a part-time to a full-time PTO-eligible position will begin receiving the PTO accrual rate proportionate to their FTE (full-time equivalent) on the first day of the pay period following the change. Employees who move from a full-time to part-time PTO-eligible position will receive in the PTO accrual rate based on their new FTE status beginning the first day of the pay period following the change.

The available PTO balance of an employee who transfers from a PTO-accruing position to a position that does not accrue PTO (e.g., per diem/PRN) is frozen at the time of the transfer, and the PTO balance is not available for use until the employee returns to a PTO-eligible status. Employee are entitled to separation pay of unused vacation balances, if applicable

An employee who moves from a non-PTO-eligible position to a PTO-eligible position will begin accruing PTO on the first day of the pay period following the status change.

Previously frozen PTO balances will become available once the employee returns to a PTO-eligible position.

No. Employees who are on leave without pay on the first day of the pay period and do not return to paid status during the pay period do not accrue PTO hours for that pay period.

PTO and Prior Vacation Leave Banks will be paid out at separation by UTSW according to UTSW policy.

No. Employees can use their PTO as accrued.

Employees must use all their PTO accruals before using their Prior Sick Leave Bank. The use of Prior Sick Leave Bank is subject to review and approval by the employee’s manager and/or Human Resources.

Once the employee exhausts their PTO hours, additional absences will be automatically deducted from their Prior Vacation Leave Bank.

No.

Employees must use all available PTO and Prior Sick Leave Bank prior to short-term disability benefit.

No. Years of service for TRS purposes will continue to be based on the number of years in TRS. For more information, review the retirement information on the TRS website.

No.

Yes. The PTO accrual rate will be prorated based on FTE status. Employees who are below 0.5 FTE do not accrue PTO.

No. Eligible employees starting UTSW employment on or after Sept. 1, 2024 must have at least 3 years of continuous UTSW employment to receive payment for the available PTO accrued but unused as of the date of separation.

No.

Yes. Employees who separate from UTSW and then return must meet the three years of continuous UTSW employment to receive payment for the available PTO accrued but unused as of the date of separation.

Floating holiday hours may be scheduled with approval of the employee’s immediate supervisor, just like PTO.

Yes. Employees must follow their departmental process for requesting time away from work.

Employees who are required to work on a designated or observed holiday will get holiday compensatory time to take time off another day. Employees earn holiday compensatory time on an hour-for-hour basis. However, the holiday compensatory time employees earn for work on a designated or observed holiday cannot exceed the number of holiday hours they are allotted for the holiday, which is proportional to their FTE.

Eligible employees who are not scheduled and do no work on a holiday will be granted the same number of holiday hours each year as employees who do work the official work hours of the institution, proportionate to their FTE status. The granted holiday hours will be added to the employee's floating holiday bucket, which will not expire.

Unused floating holiday time will be rolled into the Prior Vacation Leave Bank at transition to Your Time Away. Employees who separate prior to Sept. 1, 2024, will be paid their floating holiday hours in accordance with current policy.

No.

Their floating holidays are frozen until the employee returns to a benefits-eligible status or terminates employment.

The holiday shift differential (also known as holiday premium pay) will be updated to include all nine holidays.

Holiday compensatory time will be paid at the end of each the fiscal year. Upon separation, unused holiday compensatory hours will be paid.

They will be available through Aug. 31, 2025 for all employees except peace officers, who may access theirs through Jan. 31, 2026.

No.

Employees who have 3 months of continuous UTSW service immediately prior to using Paid Parental Benefit and experience one of the following Qualifying Events are eligible for Paid Parental Benefit:

• Birth of a child (including birth of a child via surrogacy)
• Placement of a minor child with the employee for adoption or foster care

Yes.

Yes. Prior to accessing the Paid Parental Benefit, an eligible employee’s time away from work for a Qualifying Event will be deducted from program accruals as follows:

• Prior Sick Leave Bank balances (up to 480 hours); and
• 1 week or 40 hours of floating holiday time, PTO, or Prior Vacation Leave Bank, or unpaid time.

• Eligible nonexempt employees may receive a maximum of 6 workweeks of PPB at 50% of their base pay rate.
• Eligible exempt employees may receive a maximum of 6 work weeks of PPB at 50% of their base salary.
• Eligible faculty members may receive a maximum of 6 work weeks of PPB at 50% of their total salary

Employees with an FTE status of 0.5 or greater are eligible for Paid Parental Benefit proportionate to their FTE.

Their pay will be reduced for time not available in accrual balances. Deductions not covered during this time will go into arrears and will be deducted from the employee’s next available check.

No. All deductions will continue from the employee’s check.

Yes.

Using the form available from Leave Administration.

Using the form available from Leave Administration.

No.

No. Employees may donate only PTO or Prior Vacation Leave Bank hours to the Medical Hardship Leave Pool.

No. The employee-to-employee donation program will be discontinued with the start of Your Time Away and the establishment of the Medical Hardship Leave Pool.

No. The Catastrophic Leave Pool will be discontinued with the start of Your Time Away and the establishment of the Medical Hardship Leave Pool.

Awarded hours will remain in the employee’s bank and will be available for use as Prior Sick Leave Bank hours.

No.

Yes, as long as they hold a position of at least 0.5 FTE and are not a temporary or PRN employee.

Yes. Eligible employees who were employed by UTSW before Sept. 1, 2024 who separate from UTSW for any reason (including retirement) will receive payment for accrued but unused PTO and Prior Vacation Leave Bank up to the maximum PTO and Prior Vacation Leave Bank accrual payout based on years of service.

Eligible employees starting UTSW employment on or before Sept. 1, 2024, who have at least 3 years of continuous UTSW employment and who separate from UTSW for any reason (including retirement) will receive payment for the available PTO accrued but unused as of the date of separation.

Yes. Employees have the option to defer any portion of their unused PTO hours up to the cap (within IRS limits) to a 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity and/or 457(b) deferred-compensation account. To defer unused PTO hours, employees must have an account established with an approved provider prior to separation. See the Deferring Annual Leave website for more details.

Yes. However, there is a misconception about this TRS benefit. Although 400 hours of accumulated state sick and/or personal leave time (can include the new PTO accrual time) is one of the eligibility requirements to purchase service credit, it does not equate to service credit. The cost to purchase a year of service varies based on the employee. We recommend that any interested employee contact TRS directly or use the calculator located on the TRS website to see an estimate of their cost to purchase service credit.

No. However, employees may contribute to the Medical Hardship Leave Pool.