Time Off Benefits Summary

Printable Version of Time Off Summary

RIT reserves the right to modify or terminate all or any portion of the employee benefits package at any time with or without notice. Such changes automatically will apply to you and your employment relationship with RIT. Participation in these plans is provided to eligible employees and does not constitute a guarantee of employment, and requires continued employment and eligibility.

Introduction:

RIT understands how important it is to balance both your career and personal life. We have developed a total compensation package that includes paid time-off for all regular full-time and part-time employees.

Important Note About Passwords:

Password security is critical due to the confidential, private, and financial data that is available online. The employee is responsible for maintaining security of their passwords and adhering to RIT information security polices and standards.

Regular full-time and part-time staff and 12-month faculty are eligible for paid vacation. This summary does not apply to faculty members with contracts that are for less than 12 months; faculty members on contracts of less than 12 months follow Policy E4.0, Faculty Employment Policies. Use of vacation is subject to advance supervisor/manager approval.

RIT’s vacation benefit is an accrual plan, which means eligible employees earn vacation during the fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). Vacation accrues each pay period. Vacation is earned in any pay period in which an eligible employee is employed for the entire period, with exception of new hires who accrue during their first pay period. The amount of vacation earned annually is based on the employee type and the employee’s length of service as outlined in the chart below. In addition, the total vacation time is based on the employee’s scheduled weekly hours and scheduled months or weeks per year. Vacation is prorated as explained below for those who are scheduled to work less than 12 months per year. Accruals increase based on years of service as explained below.

Vacation Eligibility Chart for Employees Scheduled to Work 12 Months Per Fiscal Year:

Employees scheduled to work 12 months per fiscal year accrue (earn) vacation per pay period.

The amount earned increases in the pay period which the anniversary date occurs.

Staff Employees Scheduled for Less Than 12 Months Per Fiscal Year:

Vacation will be prorated for new hires who are scheduled to work for less than 12 months per fiscal year or for employees who reduce their scheduled months per year, except as outlined below for those grandfathered as of August 1, 2012. Refer to the Vacation Accrual below.

Grandfathered Employees: Staff employees who were scheduled to work less than 12 months per year as of July 31, 2012 will be grandfathered and will not have prorated vacation time in the following scenarios:

• The employee remains in the grandfathered position with the same scheduled months,
• The employee remains in the grandfathered position with an increase or decrease in their scheduled months, or
• The employee changes jobs and increases their scheduled months.

If the grandfathered employee changes jobs and decreases their scheduled months or leaves employment and is later rehired into a less than 12-month position, the vacation time will be prorated.

Exempt and non-exempt eligible employees accrue vacation based upon their scheduled hours worked each week and scheduled weeks (or months for exempt) worked per year. Vacation is accrued per pay period.

Semi-monthly accrues over 24 pay periods. Bi-weekly accrues over 26 pay periods.

To determine how much you accrue each pay period:

Determine both your proration factor and accrued hours of vacation each year:

Non-exempt employees: Weeks Scheduled to Work Per Year / 52 weeks = proration factor

Exempt employees: Months Scheduled to Work Per Year / 12 months = proration factor

Examples:

Non-exempt employees:

Non-exempt employee scheduled for 52 weeks / 52 weeks = 1 proration factor

Non-exempt employee scheduled for 44 weeks / 52 weeks = .84615 proration factor

Non-exempt employee scheduled 39 weeks / 52 weeks = .75 proration factor

Exempt employees:

Exempt employee scheduled 12 months / months = 1 proration factor

Exempt employee scheduled 10 months / 12 months = .83333 proration factor

Exempt employee scheduled 11 months / 12 months = .91667 proration factor

Both exempt and non-exempt then determine Hours Worked Per Week / Annual Weeks of Vacation = Hours of vacation accrued each year

Examples:

Scheduled to work 40 hours/week * Receives 5 weeks of annual vacation = 200 hours of vacation accrued/year

Scheduled to work 35 hours/week * Receives 4 weeks of annual vacation = 140 hours of vacation accrued/year

Scheduled to work 30 hours/week * Receives 3 weeks of annual vacation = 90 hours of vacation accrued/year

Scheduled to work 20 hours/week * Receives 2 weeks of annual vacation = 40 hours of vacation accrued/year

Scheduled to work 10 hours/week * Receives 3 weeks of annual vacation = 30 hours of vacation accrued/ year

Once the above numbers are determined, then calculate: (Annual hours of vacation per year / Semi-monthly or bi-weekly total pay periods) * proration factor = hours accrued per pay period

Non-exempt employee examples

Bi-weekly employee with a proration factor of 1 and accrues 120 hours of vacation/year:  120 hrs/ 26 pay periods = 4.615hrs * 1 = 4.615hrs accrued per pay period.

Bi-weekly employee with a proration factor of .75 and accrues 120 hours of vacation/year: 120 hrs / 26 pay periods = 4.615hrs * .75 = 3.462hrs accrued per pay period

Bi-weekly employee with a proration factor of .84615 and accrues 90 hours of vacation/year: 90 hrs/ 26 pay periods = 3.46hrs * .84615 = 2.928hrs accrued per pay period

Exempt employee examples

Bi-weekly employee with a proration factor of .8333 and accrues 120 hours of vacation/year: 120 hrs / 26 pay periods = 4.615hrs * .8333 = 3.845hrs accrued per pay period.

Bi-weekly employee with a proration factor of .8333 and accrues 30 hours of vacation/year: 30 hrs/ 26 pay periods = 1.153hrs *.8333 = .9615hrs accrued per pay period.

Semi-monthly employee with a proration factor of .91667 and accrues 200 hours of vacation/ year: 200 hrs/ 24 pay periods = 8.333hrs * .91667 = 7.638hrs accrued per pay period

Note that Workday rounding may cause minor variation to calculations.

Vacation accrual increases according to the Vacation Eligibility Chart and occurs during the pay period in which the anniversary occurs. 

Time Off Results by Period Report

For 2026 and beyond, employees can verify their pay period accruals, usage, balance, and projected lost time moving into the new fiscal year by pulling their Time off Results by Period Report in Workday. This includes vacation, sick, grandfathered sick bank.

Until July 1, 2026: The Beginning Year Balance, Carryover Balance, Accrued Year to Date columns may be inaccurate on your report. These columns will be correct when RIT moves into the new fiscal year on July 1, 2026.

To pull your report in Workday, follow these steps:

Select your photo in the top righthand corner of the main screen> View Profile> Actions > Time and Absence > View Time Off Results by Period >Time Off Plans > All Time Off Plans > Vacation (or sick or grandfathered sick bank)> Periods >2026> highlight all desired periods>OK

Your report will look like the below:

Employees should schedule their vacation in advance and obtain supervisor/manager approval. Earned, unused vacation time will be forfeited at the end of the fiscal year except as described in the Vacation Carry-Over section below.

All employees submit vacation in Workday.

Exempt employees must use paid time off in half or full day increments only.

Employees are encouraged to use all of their vacation. For situations where this does not occur during the fiscal year, employees may carry over up to one-half of their annual vacation. The prior year’s carry-over from the prior fiscal year is not included in determining the amount.

The amount you can carry over is based on your annual vacation balance as of July 1 of the new fiscal year. If you reach a service milestone (such as 5 years) during the next fiscal year, the higher vacation amount does not increase your carry-over limit. If you reached a milestone during the prior fiscal year, the higher vacation amount in effect on July 1 is used to calculate the carry-over. Any vacation above the allowed carry-over limit is forfeited. For example, for fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, your carry over amount is based on your annual vacation calculated as of July 1, 2025.

Example 1: regular full-time employee (40 hours per week, 12 months per year) earned 3 weeks per fiscal year (120 hours) in the current fiscal year and will in the next fiscal year (i.e., they will not reach a milestone anniversary); the employee carried over 60 hours from the prior fiscal year:

Example 2: regular full-time employee (40 hours per week, 12 months per year) reached their 20^th work anniversary on September 6 of the current fiscal year. From July through September, the employee’s monthly accrual was based on 4 weeks of vacation per fiscal year (160 hours); from September through June, the employee’s monthly accrual was based on 5 weeks of vacation per fiscal year (200 hours).

The maximum carry over is based on the annual vacation as of upcoming July 1 or 200 hours, so the maximum carry over is 100 hours.

Example 3: regular full-time employee (40 hours per week, 12 months per year) will reach their 20^th work anniversary on November 5 of the upcoming fiscal year. From July through October, the employee’s monthly accrual will be based on 4 weeks of vacation per fiscal year (160 hours); from November through June, the employee’s monthly accrual will be based on 5 weeks of vacation per fiscal year (200 hours).

The maximum carry over is based on the annual vacation as of July 1 or 160 hours, so the maximum carry over is 80 hours.

It is important that the correct carry-over amount be reported. The vacation carry-over is a financial obligation of the university that must be reported on RIT’s financial statements.

Carryover is automatically done and no action by employees is required.

There are very rare and unique circumstances when an employee has been on Short-Term Disability, Workers' Compensation, New York State Paid Family Leave, and/or FMLA, in which an exception to carry-over more than one-half the annual accrual may occur. Items that would be considered include, but are not limited to the following:

• Duration of the absence
• Timing of the absence
• Departmental operations
• Planned vs. unplanned disability/FMLA
• Planned vs. unplanned vacation

Managers must contact their Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) no later than June 15 of the fiscal year to review the facts and circumstances. The request must include details about why the employee could not use the vacation time. In addition, managers and the employee must have a plan in place to ensure the employee can use the extra vacation time in the next fiscal year; an exception will not be granted in the subsequent year because the employee could not take all the extra vacation time. The HRBP will review the employee's situation with the RIT Benefits team.

RIT generally observes eleven paid holidays per year: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and four RIT-designated holidays; the RIT-designated holidays dates are determined annually, but are generally used to close RIT between December 25 and January 1 of each year. The Human Resources Department issues the holiday schedule annually.

If a holiday falls on a Saturday, RIT will generally close the preceding Friday. If a holiday falls on Sunday, RIT will generally be closed on the following Monday, with the exception of the Christmas and New Year holidays. Observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays are established annually.

There are two dates each calendar year that are just before a University-designated holiday that are set as “early release closure dates.” On those dates, the university will officially close at 2:00 p.m. The dates are set in conjunction with the approval of the holiday schedule. One of these dates will be set as the day before Thanksgiving; the other day will be the day before the first University-designated holiday in December.

If an employee is terminating employment, they must work on the Early Release Closure Date to be paid for the three hours of early release time. If the employee does not work on the Early Release Closure Date, their termination date is the last day they worked and they would not be eligible for the three hours of early release time.

If an employee is retiring from RIT and their retirement date is December 31, they will be eligible for the three hours of pay for the Early Release Closure Date

Nonexempt Employees: Essential nonexempt employees who must work during the official early close period will be provided with the equivalent amount of time off as “approved with pay” within 30 days of the early release closure date, with supervisor/manager approval. Those employees whose schedules will not allow for an early release on the official date (e.g., the day is not a scheduled work day, the employee works the B or C shift), would be provided with 3 hours of time off as “approved with pay” within 30 days of the early closure date, with supervisor/manager approval.

If a nonexempt employee wants additional time off on the early release day, he/she must use Vacation and/or Sick/Personal Leave, with supervisor/manager approval. For a nonexempt employee, the early release time would be “approved with pay” for the time the employee would have worked after 2:00 p.m. If the employee’s regular shift ends before 5:00 p.m. (which results in less than the standard three hours of approved with pay time), the employee would be eligible to use the difference in approved with pay at another time, with supervisor/manager approval within 30 days of the early closure date.

Exempt Employees: Essential exempt employees who must work during the official early close period will be provided with the equivalent amount of time off within 30 days of the early closure date, with supervisor/manager approval. Those employees whose schedules will not allow for an early release on the official date (e.g., the day is not a scheduled work day, the employee works the B or C shift), would be provided with 3 hours of time off within 30 days of the early closure date, with supervisor/manager approval.

If an exempt employee requests a full vacation day on the early release closure date, he/she would be provided with 3 hours of time off within 30 days of the early closure date, with supervisor/manager approval.

Employees Scheduled to Work 12 Months Per Fiscal Year:

Exempt staff who are scheduled to work 12 months per year, nonexempt staff who are scheduled to work 52 weeks per year, and 12-month faculty will have holiday time based on the employee’s scheduled weekly hours. Therefore, the number of hours of holiday time per fiscal year is the scheduled hours per week multiplied by a factor of 2.4.

Employees Scheduled for Less Than 12 Months Per Fiscal Year:

Effective August 1, 2012, holiday time will be prorated for new hires and for existing employees who change jobs if scheduled for less than 12 months per fiscal year for exempt employees and less than 52 weeks per fiscal year for nonexempt employees. Employees who are scheduled to work less than 12 months per year as of July 31, 2012 will be grandfathered and will not have prorated holiday time, as long as they stay in that grandfathered position.

For example, a nonexempt employee scheduled to work 35 hours per week, 44 weeks per year will have 65.45 holiday hours each fiscal year.

44 weeks / 52 weeks = .85 proration factor

35 x 2.2 holiday factor = 77 hours x .85 = 65.45 holiday hours

For example, an exempt employee eligible who is scheduled to work 40 hours per week,10 months per fiscal year, will have 73.04 holiday hours each fiscal year.

10 months / 12 months = .83 proration factor

40 x 2.2 holiday factor = 88 hours x .83 = 73.04 hours or 9.13 days

Annual holiday hours will load into Workday during the pay period in which it occurs for all employees. Managers must adjust the populated hours as necessary.

If the holiday falls on a scheduled workday, the employee will have the day off and will be paid for the regularly scheduled hours for that day. If the holiday falls on a day that is not a scheduled workday, the employee will not receive holiday pay for that day.

For employees who do not work the same number of hours each day and/or do not work a regular Monday- Friday workweek, use the holiday calculator found on the HR website in the Taking Time Off section at www.rit.edu/benefits to help plan holiday time for the entire fiscal year. This planning is important because, depending on an employee’s schedule, there may be holiday hours remaining after Memorial Day (the last holiday of the fiscal year) or there could be fewer hours than is regularly paid for the Memorial Day holiday. If there are hours remaining after Memorial Day, the employee should use that time, with supervisor approval, in May or June and the time should be reported as Holiday time.

The Reduced Schedule Time is for regular exempt full-time and part-time staff who are scheduled to work at least nine months per year but less than 12 months per year. This section outlines the calculations and practices used to track and record the time when the employee is not scheduled to work. This is separate from vacation or holiday time off and is tracked separately. Some employees take this time off throughout the year and others take it in a block of time. For example, an 11-month employee may take the month of July off or could take the equivalent amount of time off throughout the year. The time off must be used within the fiscal year; the time cannot be carried over to the next fiscal year. Therefore, it is recommended that an employee use this time before using vacation time.

The Reduced Schedule Time Off is calculated in hours based on the employee’s scheduled weekly hours and scheduled months per year and is tracked on a fiscal year basis (July through June). The time is tracked in Oracle Employee Self-Service using the My Absences functionality. The employee enters the time used in Oracle and the entry routes to the employee’s supervisor for approval. Refer to the Employee User Guide in the Taking Time Off section of the benefits website for details on entering the time in Oracle.

For those hired after July 1, the Reduced Schedule Time Off hours will be prorated based on the number of months remaining in the fiscal year. If the employee is hired on or before the 15 th of the month, the employee will get credit for that month; if the employee is hired on or after the 16 th of the month, that month will not count in the calculation. Depending on the employee’s schedule and when they were hired after July 1 st, the employee may not use any or all of the pro-rated Reduced Schedule Time Off.

The Reduced Schedule Time Off hours are loaded in Oracle each July 1 (or upon hire) and are calculated as follows. We have also provided some examples to help you understand the calculation.

((scheduled weekly hours*52) - (scheduled months per year * (52/12)) * scheduled weekly hours) * (months in fiscal year where person will work at least 15 days / 12)

Like vacation time, it is important that the time is entered and approved no later than June 30 each fiscal year.

You should talk to your supervisor to understand when you would use this time.

If you have any questions about Time Off benefits, contact the RIT Service Center (RSC). To get answers to your benefits questions, please:

• Visit the RIT Service Center portal at help.rit.edu where you can ask questions and find answers immediately.
• If you cannot find what you are looking for, you can:
  • chat online with a representative through the RSC portal,
  • click on Report Issue / Ask Question to submit your question, or
  • call the RSC at 585-475-5000.

You can access the RSC online portal 24 hours a day. The RSC staff is available for online chats and by phone Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.