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Office of Human Resources

Summary of Leave Benefits

Clemson University provides paid and unpaid leave benefits for eligible employees. While the following information does not include all methods for taking paid or unpaid leave, it does offer a brief overview of leave benefits provided.

  • Annual Leave

    Paid time off to be used for approved absences regarded as vacations, rest and relaxation, personal business or emergencies.

    Annual Leave Policy

    12-Month Staff

    • Eligible staff members include those:
      • In a full-time equivalent (FTE) or time-limited position (TLP), and
      • Have weekly standard hours of 20 or more
    • Accruals:
      • Eligible staff members with weekly standard hours of 37.5 earn 9 hours and 22 minutes of annual leave per month (one and a quarter days’ time per month; 3 weeks per year).
      • Eligible staff members with weekly standard hours other than 37.5 accrue a pro-rated amount of annual leave based on their weekly standard hours.
      • Eligible staff members with state service time (time in an FTE position) of more than 10 years earn a bonus of one and a quarter days’ time of annual leave per year for each year of service over 10 years.

    12-Month Faculty

    • Eligible faculty members include those:
      • In a full-time equivalent (FTE) position, or time-limited position (TLP), and
      • Have weekly standard hours of 20 or more
    • Accruals:
      • Eligible faculty members with 19 years of Clemson service or less and with weekly standard hours of 37.5, earn 11 hours and 15 minutes of annual leave per month (one and a half days’ time or 18 days per year).
      • Eligible faculty members with more than 19 years of Clemson service and with weekly standard hours of 37.5, earn 18 hours and 45 minutes of annual leave per month (two and a half days’ time or 30 days per year).
      • Eligible faculty members with weekly standard hours other than 37.5 accrue a pro-rated amount of annual leave based on their weekly standard hours.

    9-Month Faculty

    • Does not apply to 9-month faculty

    Annual Leave Accruals

    The chart below represents annual leave accruals which are accrued on the 22nd of each month in the Kronos leave tracking system.

    An employee with State service time of more than 10 years earns a bonus of 1¼ workdays of annual leave per calendar year for each year of service over 10 years. After completing 10 years of service an employee shall begin earning bonus annual leave on a calendar month basis beginning the month after his leave accrual date.

    Standard work hours of 37.5
    Years of Service Decimal Minutes
    0-10 9.38 9:22
    11 10.15 10:09
    12 10.94 10:56
    13 11.72 11:43
    14 12.50 12:30
    15 13.28 13:17
    16 14.06 14:04
    17 14.84 14:50
    18 15.63 15:38
    19 16.41 16:25
    20 17.18 17:11
    21 17.97 17:58
    22 & over 18.75 18:45
    Standard work hours of 40.0
    Years of Service Decimal Minutes
    0-10 10.00 10:00
    11 10.83 10:50
    12 11.66 11:40
    13 12.50 12:30
    14 13.33 13:20
    15 14.16 14:27
    16 15.00 15:00
    17 15.83 15:50
    18 16.66 16:40
    19 17.50 17:30
    20 18.33 18:20
    21 19.16 19:10
    22 & over 20.00 20:00
  • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

    A Federal law that entitles eligible faculty and staff members to take unpaid, job-protected leave for an approved period of time for a qualifying reason.

    Eligible faculty and staff members include those:

    • Who have been employed by a State of South Carolina agency for at least 12 months,
    • Have worked at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months, and
    • Have experienced a qualifying event

    Qualifying Events:

    • Serious Health Condition
      • You are unable to work because of your own serious health condition.
      • You need to care for your spouse, child or parent who has a serious health condition.
    • Military Family Leave
      • Your leave is for specified reasons related to certain military deployments.
      • You need to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness.
    • Expanding Your Family
      • You are unable to work because of the birth of a child and to bond with the newborn child.
      • You are unable to work because of the placement of a child for adoption or foster care and to bond with that child.

    FMLA Information

    FMLA Employee Packet (PDF)

  • Grant Personal Leave

    Paid time off to be used for approved absences regarded as vacations, rest and relaxation, personal business, emergencies, personal illness or the illness of a family member.

    Grant Personal Leave Policy

    12-Month Staff and 12-Month Faculty

    • Eligible faculty and staff members include those:
      • In temporary grant project positions (TGP), and
      • Have weekly standard hours of 20 or more
    • Accruals:
      • Eligible faculty and staff members with weekly standard hours of 37.5 earn 11 hours and 15 minutes of grant person leave per month (one and a half days’ time; 18 days per year).
      • Eligible faculty and staff members with weekly standard hours other than 37.5 accrue a pro-rated amount of grant personal leave based on their weekly standard hours.

    9-Month Faculty

    • Does not apply to 9-month faculty

    Grant Personal Leave Accruals

    The chart below represents grant personal leave accruals which are accrued on the 22nd of each month in the Kronos tracking system.

    Standard work hours of 37.5
    Decimal Minutes
    11.25 11:15
    Standard work hours of 40.0
    Decimal Minutes
    12.00 12.00
  • Holidays

    A day set aside by custom or by law in which normal University activities are suspended or reduced, yet eligible faculty and staff members are paid as if the University is fully open.

    View Holiday Calendar

    12-Month Staff and 12-Month Faculty

    Eligible faculty and staff members include those:

    • In a full-time equivalent (FTE) position, and
    • Have weekly standard hours of 1 or more

    OR

    • In a time-limited or temporary grant project position, and
    • Have weekly standard hours of 20 or more

    Optional Holiday:

    • Those deemed eligible above are permitted to use the predetermined number of paid optional holidays per calendar year in addition to University paid holidays.
    • Employees must schedule with their supervisor’s approval a specific day off, referred to as an optional holiday. Optional holiday requests should be submitted through the online leave system. After supervisory approval, the request will show as pending until the agreed date passes.

    Holiday Calendar:

    • Those deemed eligible are able to observe holidays with pay as published in the University Holiday Schedule. Such faculty and staff members within the Public Service and Agricultural (PSA) division are permitted to observe holidays with pay as communicated by the vice president of PSA.

    9-Month Faculty

    • Does not apply to 9-month faculty
  • Other Leave

    Additional types of paid and unpaid leave available to eligible faculty and staff members.

    Eligible faculty and staff members include those:

    • In a full-time equivalent (FTE), time-limited position (TLP), or temporary grant project position (TGP), and
    • Have weekly standard hours of 20 or more

    Additional Leave Options:

    • Additional types of paid and unpaid leave available to eligible faculty and staff members include administrative leave, adoption leave, American Red Cross certified disaster leave, blood drive and donation leave, bone marrow/donor leave, court leave, death in immediate family leave, hazardous weather leave, military leave, organ donor leave, educational leave, and voting leave.

    Other Leave Details (PDF)

    Military Leave Policy

  • Paid Parental Leave (PPL)

    Clemson University offers Paid Parental Leave (PPL) to eligible employees for the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child on or after October 1, 2022.

    Employees occupying any percentage of a full-time equivalent (FTE) position are eligible immediately without a waiting period. Paid Parental Leave will provide paid leave at one hundred percent of any eligible employee's base pay for a child's birth, adoption or foster care placement occurring on or after October 1, 2022. Employees in non-FTE positions, such as temporary time-limited (TLP), temporary grant (TGP) and other non-FTE positions, do not qualify for PPL.

    Paid Parental Leave Details

  • Sick Leave

    Paid time off to be used due to a personal illness or an immediate family member’s illness. An immediate family member is classified as a spouse or child of the faculty or staff member, or the mother, father, brother, sister, grandparent, legal guardian, and grandchild of the faculty or staff member or the spouse.

    Sick Leave Policy

    Eligible faculty and staff members include those:

    • In a full-time equivalent (FTE) or time-limited position (TLP), and
    • Have weekly standard hours of 20 or more

    Accruals:

    • Eligible faculty and staff members with weekly standard hours of 37.5 earn 9 hours and 22 minutes of sick leave per month (one and a quarter days’ time per month; 3 weeks per year).
    • Eligible faculty and staff members with weekly standard hours other than 37.5 accrue a pro-rated amount of sick leave based on their weekly standard hours.

    Family Sick Leave:

    • In coordination with the eligible faculty or staff members accrued sick leave, eligible employees may request to use up to 10 days of their owned accrued sick leave to care for an immediate family member.
      • An employee may earn a maximum of 15 days of sick leave each year, 10 days of which may be used as family sick leave.
      • The employee's "immediate family" means the employee's spouse and children and the following relations to the employee or the spouse of the employee: mother, father, brother, sister, grandparent, legal guardian, and the grandchildren.
      • An employee may use the 10 days of family sick leave for family members' doctor appointments.

    Sick Leave Accruals

    The chart below represents sick leave accruals which are accrued on the 22nd of each month in the Kronos leave tracking system.

    Standard work hours of 37.5
    Decimal Minutes
    9.38 9:22
    Standard work hours of 40.0
    Decimal Minutes
    10.00 10:00
  • Special Leave: Leave over 30 days, Leave Pool and Extended Leave

    Eligible employees may use up to 30 days of annual leave in a calendar year. Employees using their annual leave for an illness or injury or who are caring for members of their immediate family who are sick or injured may request to use more than 30 days. The illness or injury must be certified by a health care provider and the additional leave is approved by the University President.

    Clemson University has established a Leave Transfer (Pool) Program to which eligible faculty and staff members may donate and receive paid annual or sick leave benefits. This program is used to provide a source of additional paid leave for eligible University employees who have exhausted their own paid leave balances as a result of a personal emergency or catastrophic illness or injury.

    Extended Leave and Sabbatical Leave Resources

    Extended Leave Request

    Sabbatical Leave Request Form

Office of Human Resources
Office of Human Resources | 108 Perimeter Rd, Clemson, SC 29634