Voluntary Personal Leave
The Voluntary Personal Leave Plan (PLP) offers the opportunity for eligible employees to take additional leave while producing cost savings to individual departments or units. Employees who participate in the program apply for 5, 10 or 15 days of unpaid leave with the cost being deducted from their pay in equal installments beginning August 1, 2023, and ending July 31, 2024. All leave days must be taken before July 31, 2024.
Eligibility
Staff under the following agreements or handbooks who accrue vacation leave rather than receive pay in lieu of vacation and who have an appointment commencing on or before August 1, 2023, and ending on or after July 31, 2024, are eligible to apply for the plan.
| Academic Staff |
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|---|---|
| Support Staff |
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| Excluded Staff Types |
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Not Eligible
- Employees in recurring, auxiliary (hourly), or casual positions.
- Employees with an end date during the Plan Period.
- Support staff with more than one year's vacation accrual in their vacation bank on January 1, 2023 without an agreed upon plan to use it. Ask your HR Service Partner to provide the employee’s vacation accrual balance.
- Other employees (non-support staff) who have carried vacation forward from 2022/2023 to 2023/2024. Ask your HR Service Partner to provide the employee’s accrual balance.
Part-time Employee Eligibility
Part-time employees are eligible for the plan however those who participate apply for days of leave without pay based on their full-time equivalent (FTE). Please refer to examples below:
Examples
If an employee who works a 0.8 FTE (working four days a week) is approved for the five-day PLP, they would then receive four days leave without pay.
If an employee works 0.6 of a 40 hour week and chooses to apply for 10 days of PLP, they would have 48 hours of PLP to use (40 hours/week x two weeks (10 days) x 0.6 FTE).
Reporting PLP
*New process for support staff effective August 8, 2023*
Support staff participating in the program will need to enter their PLP days in their timesheets. Enter your PLP hours and select the Personal Leave Plan code 015 from the drop-down menu. PLP hours will route to the supervisor for review and approval.
Note: Academic and MAPS staff are not able to enter PLP days. Supervisors of these employee types will need to enter PLP days on their behalf.
Frequently Asked Questions
You would be eligible for PLP only for the eligible appointment.
- Fill out the Voluntary PLP Application form to indicate how many days you would like to take as PLP over the plan period. Have your supervisor review and sign the form before you submit it to the Staff Service Centre
- When you want to use your PLP days, request the time off from your supervisor. Scheduling is subject to supervisor approval and operational requirements, including being subject to department blackout periods. PLP days may be taken in half-day increments. You can use up to five PLP days at a time.
- After taking your PLP days, enter your days off in your timesheet using the Time and Labour Code 015. Time entries will be routed to your supervisor for review and approval.
- The deduction on each pay period varies between 1.92% up to 5.76% depending on the number of leave days selected and will be applied to base compensation.
- PLP is deducted in equal installments beginning August 1, 2023, and ending July 31, 2024.
- PLP deductions do not apply to overtime.
- Pensionable earnings are not affected by the PLP.
- All statutory, Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, and tax deductions are calculated on salary less the personal leave deductions.
The savings from staff who participate remain with the faculty, department or unit.
The personal leave deduction applies to the base salary you receive in that pay period.
Once approved, the decision to participate in the plan is irrevocable.
All applications will be reviewed on an individual basis and are subject to manager/supervisor or trust-holder approval based on employee eligibility and operational requirements.
Scheduling is subject to supervisor approval and operational requirements, including being subject to department blackout periods. PLP days may be taken in half-day increments.
PLP days may be used over a period of time. You can use or apply only five days of PLP for each instance of requested time off.
However, all personal leave days must be taken before July 31, 2024. Any leave days not taken before the end of July are forfeited and cannot be carried forward or reimbursed.
Subject to approval, you are able to apply for a minimum of five days or increments of five up to a maximum of 15 days. For leave periods longer than 15 days, please refer to the Leave Without Pay clause of the appropriate collective agreement or handbook.
If you leave your employment during the plan period for any reason, or if you commence long-term disability leave during the plan period, a reconciliation of deductions taken against PLP days used will be completed and either paid or recovered on your final paycheque with the university or in the pay period in which your leave commences.
PLP leave balances are not available in PeopleSoft at this time. It is the responsibility of the employee and supervisor to monitor PLP days taken. If you require a list of your PLP absences already reported, supervisors or general administration staff can capture this data through operational reports. The total PLP days you have been approved for and semi-monthly/monthly deductions will appear on your pay statement. View instructions on how to access your paycheque .