Administrative Leave

POLICY STATEMENT

 

Administrative leave is discretionary leave with or without pay, other than personal leave or major medical leave, which may be granted for jury duty and witness, extreme weather conditions or disaster, and special circumstances which do not fall under existing University policies.

 

DEFINITIONS

 

Employee: This generally includes faculty and staff employees who are working on paid appointments by the University. It generally excludes students or temporary employees. For specific information on who is considered an employee, contact the Human Resources Department. 

 

Supervisor: An employee designated by management who exercises major supervisory functions over another employee or employees. These functions include hiring, evaluating, assigning work, and disciplining employees.

 

PROCEDURES and RESPONSIBILITIES

 

Policy

Administrative leave is a leave of absence (paid or unpaid) initiated to manage special circumstances where it is in the University’s best interest to retain the employee relationship for a period of time to be determined by the University. Such leaves may be initiated by the University or requested by the employee. When an employee requests and administrative leave, the school or unit must assue that such leave does not fall within existing leave policies and does not cause a hardship to the operations of the school or department. Examples of special circumstances may be, but are not limited to:

 

  • Necessity to remove an employee from the work place while an internal or external investigation/review ensues;
  • Emergency conditions where no other admistrative option exists;
  • Jury duty and witness: The unit head shall grant administrative leave with pay to employees who are called upon for service on a jury or as subpoenaed witnessess, other than as a plantiff or defendant, in a judicial or administrative proceeding. Such service must be verified by the Clerk of the Court.
  • Weather or Disaster: The President of the University may grant administrative leave with pay in the event of extreme weather conditions or in the event of a man-made, technological, or natural disaster or emergency. Such administrative leave when approved by the President is not counted against the earned personal leave credit of employees. In the event of weather conditions or disaster in which the President does not grant administrative leave, employees may use earned personal leave if approved.

Procedure:

The decision of whether an administrative leave initiated by the University shall be paid or unpaid, and whether benefits shall continue, rests with the University and depends on the circumstances surrounding the request for leave. Administrative leave approval shall be at the University’s discretion; and in collaboration with the Director of Human Resources or designee, the department manager, and may also include legal counsel. Administrative leave requested by the employee may be paid if the employee chooses to utilize accrued time off, or unpaid if the employee has no accrued time or chooses not to use any accrued time. If the administrative leave is unpaid, the Associate Director of Human Resources shall consult with the employee to make arrangements for benefits continuation. Administrative leaves do not qualify for the Leave Donation Program. An administrative leave for investigative/review or disciplinary purposes shall not be given for a predetermined length of time, but shall be in effect long enough to conclude the investigation/review.

  1.  Employees requesting an administrative leave shall ensure that no other policy option exists for their special circumstances and must submit same in writing to their immediate supervisor. The request must include a detailed statement explaining the reason, with supporting documentation, and be submitted thirty (30) days in advance of the expected date of leave, where practicable.
     
  2. The supervisor must contact the Director of Human Resources, who will collaborate with the appropriate administrative parties.
     
  3. A decision either granting or denying the leave generally will be provided to the employee with ten (10) days, where practicable and where no emergency exists.
     
  4. Adminstrative leaves initiated by the University shall be decided in collaboration with the University President, the Director of Human Resources, and any and all other administrative parties as needed. In certain circumstances, the University may seek legal counsel.

Benefits During Administrative Leaves

For employee-requested administrative leave, vacation and sick time will continue to accrue only until the remainder of the month in which the leave commences, provided that the employee is still in active pay status as of the sixteenth of that month. Otherwise, an employee will not accrue vacation or sick time during the leave. An employee on administrative leave generally will retain the seniority he/she held prior to the commencement of the leave. 

When an employee returns from leave, vacation and sick time will begin to accrue for the month in which the employee returns to work provided he/she returns on or before the fifteenth of that month. If an employee returns from a leave after the fifteenth of the month, then vacation and sick time will start to accrue at the beginning of the following month.

An employee on unpaid leave will be responsible for pre-paying the entire premium (the employee and employer portions) for the health insurance benefits he/she may wish to continue. Prior arrangements must be made by the employee with the Human Resource Office to ensure proper health insurance coverage during the leave. Employees will not accrue retirement credit while on administrative leave without pay.

 Return from Administrative Leave

For employee-requested administrative leaves, the employee must give at least two (2) weeks notice of his/her intention to return to work. If an employee fails to return to work or notify his/her supervisor in writing of his/her intentions within two (2) business days after the date the employee-requested leave expires or the employer-initiated leave is discontinued, he/she will be considered absent without official leave and subject to termination. As soon as possible after the employee advises that he/she is ready to return to work or the University determines that the employee may return, the employee’s department must forward a completed EAF (Employment Action Form) to the Human Resources office, along with any required documentation. The EAF must indicate the employee’s return date. Please be reminded that a failure to process the employee’s return from leave can result in the employee not receiving a paycheck. Unless specified otherwise in writing, the employment of all University employees is “at will,” which means employment may be terminated at the option of the employee or the University, at any time, for any reason, with or without cause. In this regard, an administrative leave carries no promise of reinstatement or future employment and the University specifically reserves the right to terminate the employee while he/she is on leave or upon the employee’s return from leave for any reason, including situations where the position the employee occupied prior to commencing his/her leave is not available upon his/her return from leave. In addition, as noted, an employee may be separated for any reason, including, but not limited to, if during the administrative leave, he/she accepts other employment without prior approval of the University, or files for unemployment compensation, or if, upon return from leave, he/she refuses a job reassignment from the University.

  

RELATED DOCUMENTS

  • Board of Trustees Policies and Bylaws, Miss. Code Ann., Sec. 25-3-92