Proposed Revisions to Board Policies 420.1 and 420.2; Creation of New Board Policies

In a continuation of an effort by UA System Administration to update Board of Trustees Policies to reflect current law and practice, below are new draft Board Policies that reflect updates to current Board Policy 420.1 Annual Leave for Academic and Other Non-classified Personnel and 420.2 Annual Leave for Classified Employees.

The new proposed policies split leave areas into separate policies for better application and ease of understanding. These ares include military leave (420.4), court and jury leave (420.5), leave without pay (420.6), and education leave (420.7). These policies would apply to all employees moving forward. Also included are new versions of 420.1 and 420.2 that only address annual leave (vacation) for non-classified employees and classified employees, respectively, moving forward.

Importantly, these policy revisions do not make any fundamental changes to the monthly leave accrued in place in the existing versions of 420.1 and 420.2. The revisions are meant to ensure the policies are aligned with current law and practice. Additionally, purpose statements and section headings were added to each policy to make them easier to read and follow for employees.

Feedback on these proposed policy revisions can be submitted by email to feedback@uasys.edu. These policies are scheduled for submission to the Board of Trustees at the next regular meeting on May 20-21. The links below provide redlined versions of the new policy that show changes from existing policy language:

Board Policy 420.1 Annual Leave for Academic and Other Non-Classified Employees

• Changes to the annual leave policy include clarification that the leave is accrued at the end of each month; that annual leave is not accrued while an employee is utilizing catastrophic leave; and that annual leave cannot be taken before it is accrued.

Board Policy 420.2 Annual Leave for Classified Employees

• The only change to annual leave for classified employees is additional language clarifying that leave is accrued at the end of each month.

Board Policy 420.4 Military Leave

• Similar language on military leave was previously included in Board Policies 420.1 and 420.1. The new policy revises that language to ensure the leave accrual and use related to military service align with state and federal law.

Board Policy 420.5 Court and Jury Leave

• Similar language related to jury duty and employee court testimony was previously included in Board Policies 420.1 and 420.2. The new Board Policy includes the previous language on jury duty with minor edits. The policy expands on leave issues related to employees serving as witnesses and expert witnesses to align the policy with best practices and to ensure compliance with other Board and university policies.

Board Policy 420.6 Leave Without Pay

• The previous Board Policy 420.1 had limited language regarding the granting of leave without pay. The new policy forms its basis from more extensive LWOP language in the previous version of Board Policy 420.2. The edits to that language include clarification that approval of the president is not required for LWOP requests under FMLA and ADA. Other edits are to ensure provisions of the policy align with other related board and system policies.

Board Policy 420.7 Education Leave

• This new policy on education leave comes from language previously in Board Policy 420.2 regarding educational development leave for employees that is included in Arkansas law. A second section on leave for children’s educational activities was not previously in Board Policy but is leave that is already granted to employees under state law.