The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H) recognizes that an unusual or extenuating situation may arise that warrants the granting of a period of paid leave, yet does not fall clearly under the jurisdiction of any of the existing leave policies as written (e.g., sick, extended military, funeral). Additionally, the State of Texas provides paid leave for specific circumstances that are also not covered by existing leave policies, as explained in the following. The umbrella term "administrative leave" is used to encompass all such paid leave situations for regular employees of the UTHSC-H.
Administrative leave is granted to compensate employees on occasions when the institution is declared to be officially closed due to adverse conditions. (Refer to 18.02 Suspension of Operations: Adverse Conditions.)
Employees who are volunteer firefighters or emergency medical services volunteers will be granted a paid leave of absence not to exceed five working days each fiscal year for attending training schools conducted by state agencies. This leave of absence may also be granted to volunteer firefighters or emergency medical services volunteers for the purpose of responding to emergency fire or medical situations. (The leave of absence in this case will not be charged against the employee's vacation or sick leave privileges.)a
An employee who is a foster parent to a child under the conservatorship of the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services is also entitled to administrative leave for the purpose of attending staffing meetings held by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services regarding the child under the foster care of the employee, or to attend the admission, review, and dismissal meeting held by a school district regarding the child under the foster care of the employee.b
An employee who is a certified disaster service volunteer of the American Red Cross or who is in training to become such a volunteer, with the authorization of his or her supervisor, may be granted administrative leave not to exceed 10 days each year to participate in specialized disaster relief services for the American Red Cross, on the request of the American Red Cross and with the approval of the governor's office, without loss of pay, vacation time, sick leave, or earned overtime, and/or compensatory time. Notwithstanding this provision, the pool of state employees certified disaster volunteers must not exceed 350 participants at any one time. A list of such employees will be coordinated with the Division of Emergency Management and governor's office. Within 60 days of any request made by the American Red Cross, a report shall be prepared by the American Red Cross for the Legislative Budget Board setting forth the needs for any request made.c
An employee who is blind is entitled to an administrative leave of absence for the purpose of attending a training program to acquaint the employee with a seeing-eye dog to be used by the employee. This leave of absence is not to exceed 10 working days in the fiscal year and is in addition to other leave to which the employee is entitled.d
An employee is eligible for up to 5 days of administrative leave per fiscal year to serve as a bone marrow donor, up to 30 days in a fiscal year to serve as an organ donor, and up to 4 blood donation times per year with pay, with documentation.g
As delegated by the UTHSC-H president, a department head may grant administrative leave to classified employees as a reward for outstanding performance as documented by employee performance appraisals, but only to a maximum of 32 hours in any fiscal year.e Employees who are awarded administrative leave for meritorious performance must use this leave within the fiscal year in which it was awarded; the employee may not carry over an award of administrative leave to the next fiscal year. If an employee terminates employment before using some or all of the administrative leave award, the employee is not eligible to be paid in lieu of receiving the leave.
Additionally, full-time employees with five or more years of service to UTHSC-H will receive eight hours of paid administrative leave each fiscal year, to be taken on their date-of-hire anniversary date or within one calendar year of their anniversary date. Less than full-time, benefit eligible employees will accrue administrative leave on a proportional basis. For example, employees appointed at 75 percent time will receive 6 hours of paid administrative leave; those appointed for 50 percent time will receive 4 hours of paid administrative leave; and so on. This leave award is in recognition of their service to the UTHSC-H.
When administrative leave is awarded for meritorious job performance or granted to compensate employees when the institution is declared to be officially closed due to adverse conditions, the authority to grant this leave has been delegated by the UTHSC-H president directly to department heads. An employee who takes administrative leave in such cases must note it as such on his or her official time record.
Note: When awarding administrative leave for meritorious job performance, departmental timekeepers must ensure that a copy of the employee's performance appraisal form is readily available and easily cross-referenced to time records if the department is audited.
In other cases where the head of a department determines that an administrative leave is appropriate, he or she will submit a written request, or written notification, as appropriate, to the respective dean or director specifying the justification for granting such a leave. In these cases, the authority to grant this leave has been delegated by the UTHSC-H president directly to the dean or director; and, the dean or director has final responsibility for approving the request. Administrative leave will be considered as time worked for the purposes of computing pay; vacation and sick leave accruals; longevity pay; and holiday eligibility.f
aCurrent Appropriations Act.
bId.
c Texas Government Code Section 661.907
dId.
eId.
fId.
g 78th Legislature
Updated 09/05