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FY24 Time Off and Leave

Time Off and Leave Programs

Montgomery College offers a variety of ways you can take time off work. The main categories include sabbatical and professional development leave, annual time off (vacation), sick time off (medical/health care), and personal time off, all listed below. Information on additional types of time off and leave such as holiday pay, disability leave, and family and medical leave, can be found on the Time Off and Leave page of the HRSTM website.

Change in Terminology

Previously, we have used the term “leave” to apply to any form of time off or absence from the College. You will find that this is no longer applicable as our new HR information system, Workday, uses different terminology. In Workday, there are two types of absences an eligible employee may use: “time off” and “leave.”  The differences between the two are as follows:

  • Time Off applies to all short-term absences, such as: annual, sick, personal, enrichment, civic, sick and safe, bereavement, professional meeting, and unpaid.
  • Leave applies to long-term absences, such as: Sabbatical (faculty), professional development (staff/administrators), family medical leave (FML), short-term disability (STD), Worker’s Compensation (WC), administrative – voluntary and involuntary, annual military reserve, and extended military service.

The last day to use annual and personal time off for staff and administrators is Friday, December 22, 2023. Employees and supervisors are encouraged to work together to ensure proper and fair use of time off throughout the year.

Annual Time Offnew window for regular staff and administrators may accumulate and carry forward unused annual leave to the next calendar year according to their annual leave accrual maximum. On occasion, the leave accrual rate may be greater depending on the number of pay dates in a given calendar year. For more information, please visit the Annual Time Off webpagenew window.

Time Off Allocation Based on Length of Service 

Weekly Accrual Rate: 4.61 hours per pay period

Annual Accrual Rate: 15 days per year (120 hours)

Carry Forward Maximum: 120 hours

Weekly Accrual Rate: 6.15 hours per pay period

Annual Accrual Rate: 20 days per year (160 hours)

Carry Forward Maximum: 160 hours

Weekly Accrual Rate: 8 hours per pay period

Annual Accrual Rate: 26 days per year (208 hours)

Carry Forward Maximum: 208 hours

*For part-time employees, the amount of time off carried forward is prorated according to the proportion that the workweek is to a 40-hour work week.

Personal Time Offnew window is provided on a yearly basis and does not carry over into the following year. An eligible employee may be granted personal time off (noncumulative) with pay up to a maximum of 24 hours for full-time employees and on a prorated basis for eligible part-time employees during each year. See personal time off guidelines for more information.

Sick Time Off new windowis granted for personal illness, injury, recovery, and quarantine, as well as for medical, dental, or optical examinations and treatment. The policy permits the use of sick time off for illness or medical/health care appointments for immediate family members when the employee's presence is required. Full-time staff and administrators earn 3.69 hours of sick time off per pay period (12 days per year). Sick time off can be used only after it has been earned. To learn more, visit Sick Time Off.

Annual Time Off for department chairs is allocated as a lump sum each year in July. The annual time off amount is allocated based on the department chairs’ years of service (see table below). Department chairs are not permitted to carry over any unused annual time off into the fiscal year and may not receive an unused annual time off payout upon completion of the assignment. The last day for department chairs to use annual time off in FY23 is Friday, June 23, 2023, the last day of the full pay period for FY23.

Time Off Allocation Based on Length of Service 

120 hours allocated in July

160 hours allocated in July

208 hours allocated in July

Personal Time Offnew window is provided on a yearly basis and does not carry over into the following year. An eligible chair may be granted personal time off  (noncumulative) with pay up to a maximum of 24 hours for full-time employees and on a prorated basis for eligible part-time employees during each year. See personal time off guidelines for more information.

Sick Time Off new windowis granted to staff, full-time faculty, and administrators for personal illness, injury, and quarantine, as well as for medical, dental, or optical examinations and treatment. The policy permits the use of sick time off for illness or medical/health care appointments for immediate family members when the employee's presence is required. Full time chairs earn 3.69 hours of sick time off per pay period (12 days per year). Sick time off can be used only after it has been earned.  To learn more, visit Sick Time Off.

Personal Time Offnew window is provided on an academic yearly basis and does not carry over into the following academic year. An eligible full-time faculty member may be granted three (3) days of personal time off for the observance of religious holidays, emergency, or special personal obligations. One (1) day of unused personal leave may be carried forward to the subsequent summer session only.

Sick Time Offnew window is granted at the commencement of each academic year. Full-time faculty members are credited with 80 hours of sick time off. Faculty who worked during the preceding summer earn additional sick time off as follows:

  • Instructional faculty teaching less than 6 ESH or non-instructional faculty working 15 days (120 hours) are credited 88 hours of time off;
  • Instructional faculty who work 6 or more or 30 or more days (240 hours) are credited 96 hours of time off.

(Time off is not credited while on sabbatical leave.) Faculty may accumulate and carry forward unused sick time off to the next calendar year.

Time Off Allocation  

*ESH for Instructional Faculty, days for non-instructional Faculty

The Maryland Healthy Working Families Act (MHWFA) requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide sick and safe leave (SSL), therefore expanding the leave program to include non-benefits-eligible employees. As a result of this legislation, part-time faculty and casual temporary and student employees may be eligible to accrue and use SSL. In December of each calendar year, SSL-eligible employees with available SSL balances will have their current available leave carried over to the new calendar year. The maximum carryover limit is 40 hours. All SSL in excess of 40 hours will be forfeited.

One hour of SSL is accrued for every 30 hours worked. SSL is accrued for every hour an employee works, as long as the employee works at least 24 hours in a pay period. Additionally, these employees may:

  • accrue no more than 40 hours of SSL in a year
  • carry over no more than 40 hours of accrued SSL
  • accrue no more than 64 hours of SSL at any time
  • use no more than 64 hours of SSL in a year

For more on SSL, please refer to the MHWFA FAQs (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.-Link opens in new window.) or contact Leave Request.

Sabbatical Leave (full-time faculty) 
Workshop date: Friday, August 25, 2023
Application deadline: Friday, November 17, 2023

Professional Development Leavenew window (administrators and staff) 
Workshop date: Friday, December 8, 2023
Application deadline: Friday, March 1, 2024