This document serves to establish the administration of payout of vacation, vacation carryover, and an employee’s “Banked Leave” upon movement, retirement, or termination of employment at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. “Banked Leave” is defined as vacation leave that is banked pursuant to UW System Administrative Policy SYS 1210 (formerly called Annual Leave Reserve Account (“ALRA”) leave for unclassified staff and classified sabbatical for university staff employees).

In accordance with UW System Operational Policy SYS 1210, Faculty, Academic Staff, and University Staff who retire or terminate employment are eligible to receive a lump sum payment for any remaining vacation and/or Banked Leave hours accrued under that policy. UW System Operational Policy SYS 1210 also provides that, if the termination of employment is not the result of layoff or dismissal for cause, it is in the institution’s discretion to allow employees to extend their termination date beyond the last day worked by utilizing vacation and/or Banked Leave hours.

As of July 1, 2016, UW System required institutions to collect a charge, based on payroll and at the cost of employing departments, to create an institution-wide pool to pay for lump sum payouts of Banked Leave. This left departments in the position of determining whether to require employees to take Banked Leave via lump sum that is paid centrally, or to allow employees to use Banked Leave to extend employment, at the cost of the employing unit. In light of this new required pool to fund Banked Leave payouts, this policy limits the use of accrued leave to extend employment beyond the last day worked, as described below, to mitigate the additional costs to units. It also defines when Banked Leave may be transferred to or from a UWM employing unit.

For employees hired by UW-Milwaukee from another UW institution or State of Wisconsin agency, any vacation earned to date during the current calendar or fiscal year shall transfer to the new leave-eligible appointment. All carryover vacation and/or Banked Leave hours must be paid out by the prior employer. UW-Milwaukee will not accept carryover vacation and/or Banked Leave liability for employees transferring from another UW institution or State of Wisconsin agency.

If a UW-Milwaukee employee moves from one leave-eligible position to another leave-eligible position within UW-Milwaukee, the employee will retain all accrued vacation, vacation carryover, and/or Banked Leave hours. If an employee moves to an appointment that is not eligible to earn vacation, the balance of accrued vacation and vacation carryover will be paid out by the last employing department. The balance of Banked Leave hours will be paid out at the conclusion of the vacation-earning appointment by UW-Milwaukee, using the Banked Leave pool, as described further below.

If a UW-Milwaukee employee moves to another UW institution or another State of Wisconsin agency, any unused vacation accrued during the current calendar or fiscal year will transfer to the new leave-eligible appointment. The new employer will determine if it chooses to accept vacation carryover and/or Banked Leave hour balances for the new employee pursuant to its own policies, which would mean that, if accepted, the new employer will be responsible to pay those leave hours without reimbursement from UW-Milwaukee. UW- Milwaukee will not transfer funds to another institution to pay for any transfer of accrued leave. Any unused vacation carryover and/or Banked Leave hours not accepted by the new employer, as of the date the employee’s last date of employment at UW-Milwaukee, will be paid by UW-Milwaukee as a lump sum on the employee’s final paycheck.

Any employee who resigns from UW-Milwaukee without retiring (“retire” means to activate one’s retirement annuity with Wisconsin Employee Trust Funds), or whose employment ends as result of termination for cause or layoff regardless of whether retirement is activated, will be required to take a lump sum payout of accrued vacation and Banked Leave at the conclusion of the last date worked at UWM.

Any employee who retires from UW-Milwaukee for reasons other than termination for cause or layoff (an “eligible employee”) will be permitted to take either a lump sum payout of accrued vacation and Banked Leave or the employee may use some or all accrued vacation and Banked Leave to extend his or her termination date beyond the last day actually worked at UW-Milwaukee as follows:

1. Eligible employees who were employed at UWM on January 1, 2018, and had more than 800 hours of Banked Leave on January 1, 2018, may use accrued vacation and Banked Leave to extend employment for up to 26 weeks after the last date actually worked or December 31, 2018, whichever date is later. Any remaining accrued vacation or Banked Leave remaining will be paid out in a lump sum.
2. Eligible employees who were employed at UWM on January 1, 2018, and had 480 to 800 hours of Banked Leave on January 1, 2018, may use accrued vacation and Banked Leave to extend employment for up to 20 weeks. Any remaining accrued vacation or Banked Leave will be paid out as a lump sum.
3. All other eligible individuals may use accrued vacation and/or Banked Leave to extend employment for up to 12 weeks. Any remaining accrued vacation or Banked Leave will be paid out as a lump sum.

An employee who elects to extend employment by using accrued vacation or Banked Leave as described above will be required to first utilize accrued vacation or vacation carryover, and then Banked Leave hours (ALRA or classified sabbatical). Any leave that is not taken to extend employment will be paid out via lump sum. Per UW System Administrative Policy SYS 1210, institutions may decline to allow an employee to use leave to extend employment. UWM has determined that employees should generally be allowed to use leave to extend employment subject to the rules and limits outlined above. Should an employing unit determine that allowing use of leave to extend employment as outlined in this policy is not feasible, such as due to budgetary constraints or lack of continued salary funding for the position, that unit’s Dean or Division Head shall consult with the Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administrative Affairs for review of the circumstances and approval prior to denying use of the leave to extend employment. Prior to approving or denying the request, the Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administrative Affairs will discuss any request from academic units with the Provost.

Employees may have options for mitigating the tax consequences of a lump sum payout, such as cashing out banked leave in the years prior to retirement (available on a limited basis for certain university staff), using lump sum payouts to contribute to a retirement annuity, or retiring earlier in a calendar year before a full year’s worth of salary is earned in order to avoid exceeding a certain income level. Employees should consult with UWM Benefits staff regarding these options and with their own tax advisors as to individual tax consequences.

The institution-wide pool will be used to pay for the cost of Banked Leave that is taken by lump sum. The cost of paying out Banked Leave taken by extended employment, as well as vacation and vacation carryforward (regardless of whether paid via lump sum or extended employment), will be the responsibility of the employing unit.

Per UW System Administrative Policy SYS 1210, to be eligible for a lump sum payment of vacation and/or Banked Leave at termination, the employee must be expected to remain terminated from all UW System leave- eligible employment for at least 30 days.

The formula for lump sum payouts is established by UW System Administrative Policy SYS 230.

As stated above, this policy is effective on January 1, 2018. There shall be no exceptions to any provision in this document except by written approval of the Chancellor.

1. Effective July 1, 2019

   On July 17, 2019, UW System Administration issued a final decision (Employee Banked Leave Decision) about how leave, including banked leave, for employees of the former UW Colleges will be handled by receiving institutions. For UW Milwaukee, this addendum applies to employees of the College of General Studies (CGS) and any other former employees of UW Colleges and CGS who transferred to UWM between July 1, 2018 and July 1, 2019.

2. Status of Leave Balances for Former UW Colleges Employees

   Employees with leave in the form of vacation, vacation carryover, personal holiday, legal holiday, sick leave, and banked leave (formerly known as Annual Leave Reserve Account (ALRA) for unclassified staff and Sabbatical for classified staff) will have all of their balances transfer to UWM.

3. The Use of Leave to Extend Termination Beyond the Last Day Worked in the Event of Resignation or Retirement

   In the event of resignation that does not involve retirement or in the event an employee terminates as a result of termination for cause or layoff regardless of whether retirement is activated, accrued leave balances with the exception of sick leave will be paid out as a lump sum. Sick leave is treated in the same manner as it would for any UW employee who is terminating employment.

   Any employee who retires for reasons other than termination for cause or layoff (“eligible employee”) may use leave to extend their termination date provided the last day working for the employee occurs by December 31, 2019. This follows the former UW Colleges practice of giving strong consideration to any request from a retiring employee to use leave to extend their termination for up to six months.

   Post December 31, 2019:

   1. Eligible CGS employees who were employed at UWM on July 1, 2019, and had more than 800 hours of Banked Leave on July 1, 2019, may use accrued vacation and Banked Leave to extend employment for up to 26 weeks after the last date actually worked or December 31, 2019, whichever date is later. Any remaining accrued vacation or Banked Leave remaining will be paid out in a lump sum.
   2. Eligible employees who were employed at UWM on July 1, 2019, and had 480 to 800 hours of Banked Leave on July 1, 2019, may use accrued vacation and Banked Leave to extend employment for up to 20 weeks. Any remaining accrued vacation or Banked Leave will be paid out as a lump sum.
   3. All other eligible individuals may use accrued vacation and/or Banked Leave to extend employment for up to 12 weeks. Any remaining accrued vacation or Banked Leave will be paid out as a lump sum.

   All other components of the UWM policy Payout of Vacation and Banked Leave at Termination of Employment apply.