Annual Leave Exchange Guide

All classified and exempt permanent employees of the Pinellas County Unified Personnel System who have at least one year of consecutive service at the beginning of the current fiscal year (Oct. 1) are eligible to participate if they have sufficient leave time.

To Exchange Less Than 80 Hours
You must have had at least 40 hours of annual leave in your leave bank on the first pay date in October.

To Exchange 80 – 160 Hours
You must have had at least 80 hours of annual leave on the first pay date in October.

Employees can exchange annual leave earned in the future. If you elect to participate, beginning on the first pay period in January, the leave you earn each pay period will be placed in a separate leave bank that will be paid out on the frequency that you elect. Leave hours that you already have in your leave bank are not eligible for exchange.

Payment dates are determined so that employees will have had the opportunity to accumulate the leave they elect to exchange by the date of exchange. For this reason, employees who are selecting the one-time payment of 100% of their election will have that payment in the last quarter of the year. See the current Payout Chart.

1. Choose the total number of leave time hours that you wish to exchange.
2. Select one of the following payout options:
   • One Exchange Date: November
   • Two Exchange Dates: June and November (50% each)
   • Four Exchange Dates: March/April, June, September, November (25% each)

No. Elections are final. All elections to exchange annual leave will become valid as of the end of the annual enrollment period. After that date, employees may not revoke, increase or reduce their election.

All exchanges of annual leave will be for cash unless the employee separately elects to place the cash value of leave exchanged into one of the county’s four deferred compensation plans.

• Employees may place all or part of the leave exchanged into deferred compensation.
• Employees who elect participation will receive an email several weeks before each scheduled exchange date that will include a link to the Annual Leave Exchange Deferred Compensation Form to place the leave in deferred compensation. It must be submitted to your payroll department no later than the date specified. If an employee does not complete the form as noted, the exchange will be paid in cash.
• The amount deposited into deferred compensation is limited to the federal calendar year maximums.

Example 1

Susan is a classified service employee with 10 years of service. She has 238 hours of annual leave on the first pay of the fiscal year. Because of her leave balance Susan can elect to exchange up to 160 hours leave. Based on her length of service, Susan earns 184 hours of annual leave per year, or 7.08 hours per pay period. If Susan elects to exchange 120 hours of leave, she will not have earned the full 120 hours until the August payroll period. All the leave she earns in the year before that date will be restricted to be paid out in her leave exchange. Susan can use her leave earned after August for ordinary absences.

Example 2

Tom is an exempt employee with eight years of service. Tom has 58 hours of annual leave on the first pay of the fiscal year. Tom is eligible to exchange only 40 hours of leave because of the amount of leave in his bank. It might not be wise for Tom to elect to exchange leave. He earns 184 hours of leave per year, and will earn the full 40 hours he desires to exchange by early April. However, all 40 hours of leave Tom earns before that date will be restricted to his annual exchange and not be available to use for ordinary absences. While Tom technically can exchange leave, doing so leaves him in jeopardy of being without pay should he be absent more than a few days. In this case it would not be wise for Tom to exchange leave even though he is entitled to do so.

Human Resources recommends that you exercise caution if your leave balance is near the minimum required. Should you elect to exchange leave, all leave you earn in the new calendar year will only be available for your leave exchange payments until your elected hours are reached. If you experience unanticipated absences and exhaust your leave bank, you will not be able to use leave designated for and accrued towards the leave exchange. You could be in a non-pay status, like Tom in Example 2 above.

View the Annual Leave Exchange Program Procedure. You may also contact Employee Benefits at employee.benefits@pinellas.gov or (727) 464-3367, option 1.