Leave Benefits

Earned Time

Earned time is a form of paid time off and combines sick and vacation time. This form of paid time off gives the most flexibility to staff to use their valued time away. The College encourages the use of earned time as a necessary time for staff to recharge. The use of earned time should be planned and scheduled when at all possible. Individual departments may develop departmental procedures for scheduling and approving time off.

Policy

Eligibility: Regular full-time administrative staff and regular part-time administrative staff (24 hour per week or more). Effective: First day of employment

Twelve Month Hourly Employees
Administrative employees hired on or after October 1, 2000, are eligible for the following earned time benefit. Accrual rates are per pay period.

Once an employee has reached the maximum Earned Time balance, the accrual will be suspended until the balance falls below the maximum. A maximum of 168 earned time hours for full-time employees and 113 earned time hours for part-time employees may be carried over into the new fiscal year. For full-time employees, unused earned time above these amounts will be converted into LTI (See Long Term Illness).

Full-Time Nine (9) and Ten (10) Month Hourly Employees
Administrative employees hired on or after October 1, 2000, are eligible for the following earned time benefit. Accrual rates are per pay period.

Once an employee has reached the maximum Earned Time balance, the accrual will be suspended until the balance falls below the maximum. A maximum of 126 hours for full-time nine (9) month employees and a maximum of 139 hours for ten (10) month employees may be carried over into the new fiscal year. Unused earned time above these amounts will be converted into LTI (See Long Term Illness).

Employees should plan time off only when they have enough earned time to cover their absence.

Full-time Salaried Employees:
Accrual rates are per pay period.

Once an employee has reached the maximum Earned Time balance, the accrual will be suspended until the balance falls below the maximum. A maximum of 24 days for full-time twelve (12) month, 19 days for ten (10) month and 18 days for nine (9) month employees may be carried over into the new fiscal year. (The fiscal year ends on June 30.) Unused earned time above these amounts will be converted into LTI (See Long Term Illness).

Employees should plan time off only when they have enough earned time to cover their absence.

Long Term Illness (LTI)

Regular full-time administrative staff are eligible to participate in the Long Term Illness plan. Long Term Illness is a sick pay benefit that is meant to accrue over time to fill in the gap between the use of Earned Time and the qualification for Long Term Disability benefits. For each leave period there is a five-workday waiting period.

Bereavement Leave

Any regular full-time or regular part staff may take up to five (5) working days of bereavement leave upon request. This leave is to be used to make arrangements for and to attend services for an immediate family member. Bereavement days are meant to be taken consecutively.

Family Medical Leave

Both the Federal government and the State of Maine have passed laws defining family medical leave benefits. The eligibility and benefits for each plan differ slightly. When an employee is considering a leave, the Human Resource Office will review both family leave benefits with him/her to determine and explain which will apply and why. Leaves will generally run concurrently.

Faculty Short Term Medical Leave with Pay

Eligibility: Regular full-time ordinary and full-time nonordinary faculty, prorate and part-time faculty.
Effective: Date of Contract

The College provides a salary continuance benefit for faculty members who are on an approved short-term medical disability leave. The benefit schedule is as follows:

Requests for short-term medical leaves with pay are submitted in writing to the Director of Human Resources. This leave is available once every three years. For this purpose, years are counted from the beginning of the last approved short-term medical leave with pay.

Jury Duty and Appearance Witness Leave

Full-time and regular part-time employees who, during their regular working hours, actively serve on jury duty or are under subpoena as a witness, when not a principal, continue to receive their regular pay. When requesting jury duty pay, employees should attach a copy of their subpoena to their time sheet. Employees shall return to work within a reasonable time on days released from such duty.

Military Leave

Reservists and members of the National Guard. Full-time and regular part-time employees serving in the reserve or National Guard will be granted military leave to enable them to attend training as reservists or guard members. Regular employees will be eligible for unpaid leave for up to ten days of training leave each year.

Active Duty. Employees entering active duty either voluntarily or through the draft will be granted unpaid leave. Upon completion of service, those employees who satisfy the reporting, notification, reapplication, and honorable service provision of USERRA will be accorded the reemployment and benefits rights as provided by USERRA. In general, you must return to your regular work schedule without delay.

Employees who will require leave are expected to show their orders to the Human Resource Director as soon as they are received.

Violence Leave

A full-time or regular part-time employee who is a victim of violence, or any act that would support an order for protection may have necessary leave without pay to:

• Prepare for and attend court proceedings;
• Receive medical treatment; or attend to medical treatment for a victim who is the employee’s daughter, son, parent or spouse; or
• Obtain necessary services to remedy a crisis caused by domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

Such leave are subject to reasonable notification to the College and be granted only if the College would not sustain undue hardship from the employee’s absence.