2-18-611. Annual vacation leave. (1) Each permanent full-time employee shall earn annual vacation leave credits from the first day of employment. Vacation leave credits earned must be credited at the end of each pay period. However, employees are not entitled to any vacation leave with pay until they have been continuously employed for a period of 6 calendar months.
(2) Seasonal employees shall earn vacation credits. However, seasonal employees must be employed 6 qualifying months before they may use the vacation credits. In order to qualify, such employees must immediately report back for work when operations resume in order to avoid a break in service.
(3) Permanent part-time employees are entitled to prorated annual vacation benefits if they have worked the qualifying period.
(4) An employee may not accrue annual vacation leave credits while in a leave-without-pay status.
(5) Temporary employees earn vacation leave credits, but may not use the credits until after working for 6 qualifying months.
(6) A short-term worker, as defined in 2-18-101, may not earn vacation leave credits, and time worked as
a short-term worker does not apply toward the person's rate of earning vacation leave credits.
2-18-612. Rate earned. (1) Vacation leave credits are earned at a yearly rate calculated in accordance
with the following schedule, which applies to the total years of an employee's employment with any agency
whether the employment is continuous or not:
Years of employment Working days credit
1 day through 10 years 15
10 years through 15 years 18
15 years through 20 years 21
20 years on 24
(2) (a) For the purpose of determining years of employment under this section, an employee eligible to earn vacation credits under 2-18-611 must be credited with 1 year of employment for each period of:
(i) 2,080 hours of service following his date of employment; an employee must be credited with 80 hours of service for each biweekly pay period in which he is in a pay status or on an authorized leave of absence without pay, regardless of the number of hours of service in the pay period; or
(ii) 12 calendar months in which he was in a pay status or on an authorized leave of absence without pay, regardless of the number of hours of service in any one month. An employee of a school district, a school at a state institution, or the university system must be credited with 1 year of service if he is employed for an entire academic year.
(b) State agencies, other than the university system and a school at a state institution, must use the method provided in subsection (2)(a)(i) to calculate years of service under this section.
2-18-614. Military leave considered service. A period of absence from employment with the state, county, or city occurring either during a war involving the United States or in any other national emergency and for 90 days thereafter for one of the following reasons is considered as service for the purpose of determining the number of years of employment used in calculating vacation leave credits under this section:
(1) having been ordered on active duty with the armed forces of the United States;
(2) voluntary service on active duty in the armed forces or on ships operated by or for the United States government; or
(3) direct assignment to the United States department of defense for duties related to national defense
efforts if a leave of absence has been granted by the employer.
2-18-615. Absence because of illness not chargeable against vacation unless employee approves. Absence from employment by reason of illness shall not be chargeable against unused vacation leave credits unless approved by the employee.
2-18-616. Determination of vacation dates. The dates when employees' annual vacation leaves shall be granted shall be determined by agreement between each employee and his employing agency with regard to the best interest of the state, any county or city thereof as well as the best interests of each employee.
2-18-617. Accumulation of leave -- cash for unused -- transfer. (1)(a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(b), annual vacation leave may be accumulated to a total not to exceed two times the maximum number of days earned annually as of the end of the first pay period of the next calendar year. Excess vacation time is not forfeited if taken within 90 calendar days from the last day of the calendar year in which the excess was accrued.
(b) It is the responsibility of the head of an employing agency to provide reasonable opportunity for an employee to use rather than forfeit accumulated vacation leave. If an employee makes a reasonable written request to use excess vacation leave before the excess vacation leave must be forfeited under subsection (1)(a) and the employing agency denies the request, the excess vacation leave is not forfeited and the employing agency shall ensure that the employee may use the excess vacation leave before the end of the calendar year in which the leave would have been forfeited under subsection (1)(a).
(2) An employee who terminates employment for a reason not reflecting discredit on the employee is entitled upon the date of termination to cash compensation for unused vacation leave, assuming that the employee has worked the qualifying period set forth in 2-18-611.
(3) However, if an employee transfers between agencies of the same jurisdiction, cash compensation may not be paid for unused vacation leave. In a transfer, the receiving agency assumes the liability for the accrued vacation credits transferred with the employee.
(4) This section does not prohibit a school district from providing cash compensation for unused vacation leave in lieu of the accumulation of the leave, either through a collective bargaining agreement or, in the absence of a collective bargaining agreement, through a policy.
2-18-618. Sick leave. (1) A permanent full-time employee earns sick leave credits from the first day of employment. For calculating sick leave credits, 2,080 hours (52 weeks x 40 hours) equals 1 year. Sick leave credits must be credited at the end of each pay period. Sick leave credits are earned at the rate of 12 working days for each year of service without restriction as to the number of working days that may be accumulated. Employees are not entitled to be paid sick leave until they have been continuously employed 90 days.
(2) An employee may not accrue sick leave credits while in a leave-without-pay status.
(3) Permanent part-time employees are entitled to prorated leave benefits if they have worked the qualifying period.
(4) Full-time temporary and seasonal employees are entitled to sick leave benefits provided they work the qualifying period.
(5) A short-term worker may not earn sick leave credits.
(6) An employee who terminates employment with the agency is entitled to a lump-sum payment equal to one-fourth of the pay attributed to the accumulated sick leave. The pay attributed to the accumulated sick leave must be computed on the basis of the employee's salary or wage at the time the employee terminates his employment with the state, county, or city. Accrual of sick leave credits for calculating the lump-sum payment provided for in this subsection begins July 1, 1971. The payment is the responsibility of the agency in which the sick leave accrues. However, an employee does not forfeit any sick leave rights or benefits he had accrued prior to July 1, 1971. However, when an employee transfers between agencies within the same jurisdiction, the employee is not entitled to a lump-sum payment. In a transfer between agencies, the receiving agency shall assume the liability for the accrued sick leave credits earned after July 1, 1971, and transferred with the employee.
(7) An employee who receives a lump-sum payment pursuant to this section and who is again employed by any agency may not be credited with sick leave for which the employee has previously been compensated.
(8) Abuse of sick leave is cause for dismissal and forfeiture of the lump-sum payments provided for in this section.
(9) An employee may contribute any portion of the employee's accumulated sick leave to a nonrefundable sick leave fund for state employees and becomes eligible to draw upon the fund if an extensive illness or accident exhausts the employee's accumulated sick leave. The department of administration shall, in consultation with the state employee group benefits advisory council, provided for in 2-15-1016, administer the sick leave fund and adopt rules to implement this subsection.
(10) A local government may establish and administer through local rule a sick leave fund into which its employees may contribute a portion of their accumulated sick leave.
2-18-619. Jury duty -- service as witness. (1) Each employee who is under proper summons as a juror shall collect all fees and allowances payable as a result of the service and forward the fees to the appropriate accounting office. Juror fees shall be applied against the amount due the employee from his employer. However, if an employee elects to charge his juror time off against his annual leave, he shall not be required to remit his juror fees to his employer. In no instance is an employee required to remit to his employer any expense or mileage allowance paid him by the court.
(2) An employee subpoenaed to serve as a witness shall collect all fees and allowances payable as a result of the service and forward the fees to the appropriate accounting office. Witness fees shall be applied against the amount due the employee from his employer. However, if an employee elects to charge his witness time off against his annual leave, he shall not be required to remit his witness fees to his employer. In no instance is an employee required to remit to his employer any expense or mileage allowances paid him by the court.
(3) Employers may request the court to excuse their employees from jury duty if they are needed for the proper operation of a unit of state or local government.
2-18-620. Mandatory leave of absence for employees holding public office -- return requirements. (1) Employers of employees elected or appointed to a public office in the city, county, or state shall grant such employees leaves of absence, not to exceed 180 days per year, while they are performing public service. Employees of an employer who employs 10 or more persons must, upon complying with the requirements of subsection (2), be restored to their positions, with the same seniority, status, compensation, hours, locality, and benefits as existed immediately prior to their leaves of absence for public service under this section.
(2) Employees granted a leave shall make arrangements to return to work within 10 days following the completion of the service for which the leave was granted unless they are unable to do so because of illness or disabling injury certified to by a licensed physician.
(3) Any unemployment benefits paid to any person by application of this section shall not be charged against any employer under the unemployment insurance law.
2-18-621. Unlawful termination. It shall be unlawful for an employer to terminate or separate an employee from his employment in an attempt to circumvent the provisions of 2-18-611, 2-18-612, and 2-18-614. Should a question arise under this section, it shall be submitted to arbitration as provided in Title 27, chapter 5, as if an agreement described in 27-5-114 is in effect, unless there is a collective bargaining agreement to the contrary applicable.
10-1-604. Leave of absence of public employees attending training camp or similar training program. A state, city, town, or county employee who is a member of the organized militia of this state or who is a member of the organized or unorganized reserve corps or military forces of the United States and who has been an employee for a period of 6 months shall be given leave of absence with pay for a period of time not to exceed 15 working days in a calendar year for attending regular encampments, training cruises, and similar training programs of the organized militia or of the military forces of the United States. This leave may not be charged against the employee's annual vacation time.
49-2-310. Maternity leave -- unlawful acts of employers. It shall be unlawful for an employer or his agent to:
(1) terminate a woman's employment because of her pregnancy;
(2) refuse to grant to the employee a reasonable leave of absence for such pregnancy;
(3) deny to the employee who is disabled as a result of pregnancy any compensation to which she is entitled as a result of the accumulation of disability or leave benefits accrued pursuant to plans maintained by her employer, provided that the employer may require disability as a result of pregnancy to be verified by medical certification that the employee is not able to perform her employment duties; or
(4) require that an employee take a mandatory maternity leave for an unreasonable length of time.