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Special & Bonus Leave

Leave Keeping

Special and Bonus Leave are determined each year by the state legislature. In the past, they have been credited to employees who were actively working. Special and Bonus Leave has been prorated based on the following criteria:

  • Full-time, leave-eligible employees who work less than 12 months
  • Permanent, part-time, leave-eligible employees (> .5 FTE)

Please read below for special and bonus leave guidelines from past years.

Special Leave

Eligible employees received a one-time additional five days (40 hours) of FY 2018-19 Special Bonus Leave. This leave:

  • Was effective July 1, 2018
  • Will remain available during the length of the employee's employment
  • Has no cash value and cannot be paid out at the end of employment
  • Is not applied to total state service
  • Can be used before exhausting comp time

Leave offsetting provision: If you have over the maximum vacation of 240 hours (prorated for less than 1.0 FTE) and you have used any of the special leave 2018 hours in the current year, the excess vacation that will roll to sick will be reduced by the special leave used and the hours will be added back to the special leave 2018 bucket.

Pro-rating:  Full-time employees who work less than 12 months (nine-, 10-, or 11-month employees) and permanent part-time employees who work less than 40 hours per week received a pro-rated amount of leave.

Eligible employees received a one-time additional three days (24 hours) of FY 2017-18 Special Bonus Leave. This leave:

  • Was effective July 1, 2017
  • Expires upon employee separation or retirement
  • Has no cash value and cannot be paid out at the end of employment
  • Can be used before exhausting comp time

Pro-rating:  Full-time employees who work less than 12 months (nine-, 10-, or 11-month employees) and permanent part-time employees who work less than 40 hours per week received a pro-rated amount of leave.

Eligible employees received a one-time additional five days (40 hours) of FY 2013-14 Special Leave. This leave:

  • Was effective July 1, 2013
  • Expired if not used by June 30, 2014

Pro-rating:  Full-time employees who work less than 12 months (nine-, 10-, or 11-month employees) and permanent part-time employees who work less than 40 hours per week received a pro-rated amount of leave

Eligible employees received a one-time additional five days (40 hours) of FY 2012-13 Special Leave. This leave:

  • Was effective July 1, 2012
  • Expired if not used by June 30, 2013

Pro-rating:  Full-time employees who work less than 12 months (nine-, 10-, or 11-month employees) and permanent part-time employees who work less than 40 hours per week received a pro-rated amount of leave

Bonus Leave

Bonus Leave Given by the State, 2002-2014
Amount of Leave Effective Date
80 Hours September 30, 2002
80 Hours July 1, 2003
40 Hours September 1, 2005
40 Hours September 1, 2014
Bonus Leave shall be used after all compensatory time has been used, and it may be used for any purpose for which regular annual leave is used.
Any balance of Bonus Leave on Dec. 31 will be retained by the employee and carried forward into the next calendar year. It will not be part of the maximum 240 hours of annual leave that can be retained, and it will not be subject to conversion to sick leave.
Any Bonus Leave balance can be transferred with the transferring employee to another state agency eligible for Bonus Leave. UNCW will accept bonus leave for EHRA and SHRA employees coming from UNC System schools or state of North Carolina agencies.

Bonus Leave balances can be paid out in addition to regular annual leave payouts if the employee separates or the employee changes to a non-leave-eligible status. Bonus Leave may be applied to negative leave balances.