Summary of Leave Benefits

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), time-limited position (TLP) or temporary grant position (TGP), 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, time-limited position (TLP) or temporary grant position (TGP), 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

• 9-month faculty are not eligible for annual leave.

Annual Leave Accruals

The chart below represents annual leave accruals which are accrued on the 22nd of each month in the University's 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.

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 Policy

***NOTE: As the University transitions to Workday on July 1, the process for requesting FMLA leave has changed. Leave requests submitted on or after July 1 will be processed through Workday. The FMLA webpage is updated with new instructions to complete the process, at that time. 

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

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

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

***NOTE: As the University transitions to Workday, the process for requesting Paid Parental Leave has changed. Leave requests submitted on or after after July 1 will be processed through Workday. The PPL webpage is updated with new instructions to complete the process.

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), time-limited position (TLP) or temporary grant position (TGP) 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 University's leave system.

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.

Exceptions to the 30-day maximum may be granted for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)-qualifying reasons, emergency situations, or conditions involving extreme hardship.

Faculty and staff members who occupy regular (FTE), time-limited (TLP), or temporary grant-funded (TGP) positions and who are eligible to accrue paid leave benefits may participate.

Requests for annual leave over thirty days must be submitted through Workday. Instructions for completing this process are available in the Workday Training Library (Request and Return From Leave of Absence).

A final decision regarding the request will be made by the Office of Human Resources (OHR). The decision will be routed to the employee’s and manager’s Workday notification inboxes.

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.

Leave Pool Information

All non-student University employees are eligible to apply for an Extended Leave of Absence. An employee must be in good standing with the University to be eligible to submit a request for an Extended Leave of Absence.

An extended leave of absence refers to both paid and unpaid leave to allow for an employee to be out for an extended period. These requests are typically for unpaid absences of 30 or more consecutive workdays or a renewal or extension of a past extended leave of absence.

Requests for an extended leave of absence require supporting documentation. Employees may also request an extension of an approved leave of absence by submitting additional supporting documentation to support the extension request.

Examples of supporting documentation include, but are not limited to:

• Medical documentation for medical-related leave
• Military orders for long-term military leave
• Departmental communication
• Other documentation deemed appropriate by the Office of Human Resources

In accordance with South Carolina State Human Resources Regulations, Clemson University may require supporting documentation prior to approving an extended leave of absence request.

All extended leave of absence requests are subject to review by the Office of Human Resources. A decision regarding the request will be communicated to both the employee and the employee’s manager.

These guidelines do not replace an employee’s rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employees are encouraged to contact the Office of Human Resources (OHR) to review all available leave options, as an extended leave of absence may not be the only leave option available.

These guidelines are not intended to address all leave-related situations, including leave requests associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Employees seeking leave related to a physical or mental disability should first contact the Division of Civil and Individual Rights for assistance and guidance.

Employees requesting an extended leave of absence are expected to return to their University duties upon conclusion of the approved leave period. The employee or manager will be responsible for entering the Return-to-Work Date in Workday.

Eligibility Guidelines

Non-student employees in full-time equivalent (FTE), time-limited (TLP), or temporary grant (TGP) positions are eligible to apply for an extended leave of absence.

Benefit Eligibility Guidelines During an Extended Leave of Absence

Employees requesting an extended leave of absence are responsible for understanding the potential impact the leave may have on insurance coverage, retirement benefits, and employment status and return-to-work eligibility.

The following guidelines apply:

• Insurance and retirement benefits may be affected during a leave of absence.
• A representative from the Benefits unit will contact the employee to schedule a counseling session to discuss benefit-related decisions and responsibilities.
• Employees on paid extended leave are generally eligible to continue their current insurance and retirement benefits.
• Employees on unpaid leave should review the eligibility notifications provided in the benefits chart linked below determine continued benefit eligibility.
• Employees who remain eligible for benefits during unpaid leave are responsible for paying the employee portion of all applicable premiums to maintain coverage.
• Insurance coverage may be terminated if premium payments are not received.

Requesting an Extended Leave of Absence

An extended leave of absence may be requested through Workday.Instructions for completing this process are available in the Workday Training Library (Request and Return From Leave of Absence).

Employees requesting extended leave of absence should consult with a Benefits Navigator by submitting a ServiceNow case.

Information regarding requesting sabbatical leave is available through the Provost's Office.