Policy Statement

Duke provides vacation time to eligible university staff for personal, family, community, and other outside needs and obligations. Vacation time must be both approved and recorded by the staff member’s supervisor/department to ensure appropriate staffing while providing a balance of the interests of both the institution and its staff.

Policy Details

• Guidelines
• Accrual (Hourly)
• Accrual (Monthly)

Vacation Guidelines

Eligible university staff receive vacation based on the following guidelines for eligibility, accrual, and usage:

Eligibility

Duke provides vacation time for all university staff who are scheduled to work 20 or more hours per week. Vacation is accrued but cannot be used during the first 90 calendar days of employment – that is, during the Orientation and Evaluation Period.

Maximum and Minimum Accruals

The total amount of accrued but unused vacation may not exceed two times the staff member’s rate of annual accrual. The amount is determined at the end of each pay period. Staff who work an abbreviated schedule (less than 40 hours and greater than 20 hours per week) shall accumulate unused vacation to a pro-rated maximum of two times their annual accrual rate.

Increments

With the approval of a supervisor, hourly-paid staff may use vacation time in increments of one-tenth of an hour. Monthly-salaried staff should use vacation in increments of half days or more.

Calculation of Pay for Accrued and Unused Vacation

Upon termination of employment, retirement, or death, unused accrued vacation is paid to the staff member or the estate based on a staff member’s final rate of pay.

Vacation Accrual

Accrual is based on years of service. No vacation is earned on overtime hours. See Vacation Accrual for Hourly-Paid Staff and Vacation Accrual for Monthly-Salaried Staff for more information.

Request for Vacation

All vacation time must be requested and scheduled in advance at a time agreed upon by both the staff member and supervisor.

Vacation Accrual Schedule for Hourly-Paid Staff

For staff performing hourly-paid work, vacation time accruals are based upon the total number of hours paid during a biweekly pay period (with a maximum of 80 hours during a biweekly pay period) and the staff member’s length of service. Please refer to the table below for accrual rates:

Vacation Accrual Schedule for Monthly-Salaried Staff

The chart below reflects the accrual rates for monthly-paid staff scheduled to work 40 hours a week in full-time positions. Those who are scheduled to work more than 20 but less than 40 hours per week will have prorated accrual rates.

Note: Staff in classification levels above 25 or 00 should click here to review a spreadsheet for vacation accruals