Leave Time

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Annual Leave

  • Annual leave is provided for vacations, personal business, emergencies, illness, medical/dental appointments, etc. There is no separate leave bank for sick leave.
  • Requests for leave are made through your supervisor using OPUS (Absence Management).
  • Annual leave is earned throughout the year and may be used as accrued.
  • Annual leave is accrued at a rate of at least 120 hours per year for new employees.
  • Employees earn and accrue annual leave with pay as indicated below. For example, classified employees earn 120 hours of annual leave until completion of two years of service. They will accrue 136 hours per year starting with the pay period of their hire date anniversary that starts their third year of service.

Hours of Annual Leave Earned Per Year According to Years of Service

Employee Category1 – 2 Years3 – 4 Years5 – 9 Years10 – 14 Years15 – 19 Years20+ Years
Classified Service & Temporary Exempt (1, 2, 3, 5)120136160184208232
Airport Firefighters & Lieutenants (4, 5)144164192221250279
Exempt Service (2, 3, 5)144160184208232256
  1. Excludes temporary classified employees with less than 30 days of continuous service.
  2. Partial accumulation of annual leave is authorized for employees who are generally scheduled for less than a 40-hour workweek, in a ratio which reflects the direct proportion that the generally scheduled hours bear to a 40-hour workweek.
  3. No accumulation of annual leave is authorized for any time worked beyond a 40-hour workweek.
  4. No accumulation of annual leave is authorized for any time worked beyond the 159 hours during the established 21 consecutive work day period.
  5. A former employee who returns to employment with the County after a break in service of less than 3 years will retain their previous years of service for annual leave time accrual purposes and will earn annual leave accordingly.

  • Annual leave must be scheduled in advance according to the Appointing Authority’s requirements. Excessive use of unscheduled leave may result in disciplinary action.
  • No annual leave is earned while an employee is in a non-pay status.
  • Part-time employees earn annual leave proportionally to their workweek.
  • Annual leave may be rolled over from one year to the next. There is no maximum limitation on the number of hours that may be accrued.
  • Upon termination, you will receive a lump sum payment for unused authorized annual leave up to a maximum of three times your annual accrual rate for annual leave.
  • For complete information, see Personnel Rule 4.

Comp Time

  • Compensatory (comp) time may be granted if an employee works more than their regularly scheduled hours.
  • Comp time is accumulated at a rate of 1.5. For example, a classified employee who works 42 hours in one week will accumulate three hours of comp time.
  • Comp time must be used prior to the use of annual leave (see Comp Time Usage Policy).
  • For more information, see Overtime & Comp Time Policies.

Domestic Violence Leave

  • An employee may be granted up to three days of leave if s/he or a member of their household is a victim of domestic or sexual violence, upon presentation of appropriate documentation.
  • For more information, see the Domestic & Sexual Violence Leave Policy.

Donation of Leave – A Friend in Need

  • This is a voluntary program which allows an employee to donate leave time to assist a fellow employee.
  • An employee would exhaust all available leave balances before a donation of leave time would be used.
  • An employee may not donate to, or receive donations from, someone that s/he supervises.
  • For more information, see A Friend in Need.

Floating Holidays

  • After the first year of hire, regular status employees are granted two floating holidays with pay per year, to be used with management approval.
  • Employees who have completed 25 years of service are granted 2 additional floating holidays.
  • Floating holidays provide eight hours pay for full-time employees and a pro-rated number of hours for part-time employees.
  • The time may be taken in two hour increments.
  • Floating holidays are granted to new employees as shown:
    • Hire date from the beginning of payroll year through April 30: 2 floating holidays
    • Hire date of May 1 through August 31: 1 floating holiday
    • Hire date of September 1 through the end of the payroll year: no floating holidays
  • Floating holidays must be used during the payroll year in which they are granted. Unused time will not carry over to the next year.
  • Holiday overtime provisions do not apply to floating holidays.
  • For more information, see Personnel Rule 4.

FMLA (Family & Medical Leave Act)

Funeral Leave

  • Any permanent or probationary employee shall be granted three days with pay in the event of the death of any person residing in the employee’s household or any member of the employee’s immediate family.
  • Immediate family includes spouse, child, parent, sister, brother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepchildren, grandparents, grandparent-in-law or grandchildren of the employee.
  • For more information, see Personnel Rule 4.

Holidays

  • Employees receive 9 to 11 paid holidays per year, depending on how the holidays fall on the calendar.
  • See the current Holiday Schedule.
  • Holidays provide eight hours pay for full-time employees and a pro-rated number of hours for part-time employees.
  • For more information, see Personnel Rule 4.

Jury Duty & Witness Duty

  • A leave of absence with pay shall be granted to an employee to perform jury duty or testify as a witness when legally required, unless the employee is the plaintiff or defendant.
  • Presentation of a summons or subpoena to appear in court is required.

Leave of Absence

  • Upon approval of the Appointing Authority, other leaves of absence with or without pay may be allowed if such leave is deemed to be in the best interests of the organization.
  • For more information, see Personnel Rule 4.

Military Training & Duty

  • Leave of absence for military training and duty will be granted in accordance with Florida and Federal law.

Personal Day

  • Employees receive up to two 8-hour personal days per year as shown:
    • Exempt employees receive two 8-hour personal days immediately upon hire.
    • New classified employees hired on or before August 31 receive one personal day, and those hired on or after September 1 do not receive a personal day in the year of hire.
    • After the first year of hire, all permanent employees are permitted two 8-hour personal days per year.
  • Personal days may be taken in 4-hour increments.
  • Part-time employees will receive a pro-rated number of hours.
  • Personal days may be taken without pre-notification or prior approval. However, an employee should notify their supervisor of the intent to use a personal day as soon as practicable.
  • If this time is taken on an In-Service or other mandatory training day(s) or immediately before or after a recognized holiday, it must be approved in advance.
  • The personal days are not cumulative from one year to the next year.
  • For more information, see Personnel Rule 4.

Unauthorized Absence

  • Unauthorized absences from work for a period of three consecutive working days without notice may be considered as the employee’s voluntary resignation by the Appointing Authority (see UPS Policy #8).

Workers’ Compensation

  • Contact Risk Management (internal link for employees) if you suffer an on-the-job injury.

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