Section VI - Employment Matters

VI E 13

Personal Observance Leave

To state the College’s policy on personal observance leave

Randolph Community College (RCC) will provide one day of paid leave to full-time employees for a day of personal observance to utilize on a day of significance, including days of cultural, religious, or personal observation. Moreover, some employees may have days of personal significance that are their own, outside of any cultural or religious tradition. RCC wants to ensure that employees have an opportunity to observe these days of personal, cultural, or religious importance.

Amount of Leave

Full-time permanent employees will receive eight (8) hours of Personal Observance Leave on July 1 of each year. New full-time employees are credited with the appropriate prorated amount of leave immediately upon their employment.

Use of Leave

Personal Observance Leave may be used for any single day of personal significance. This includes, but is not limited to, days of cultural or religious importance. The day used for Personal Observance Leave does not have to be a day from the employee’s own religious or cultural background. Any day that the employee identifies as significant for cultural, religious, or personal reasons qualifies under this policy.

The total amount of Personal Observance Leave awarded to an employee must be utilized in one work shift and cannot be taken hour for hour. Employees may use Personal Observance Leave prior to exhausting any accumulated compensatory time (comp time). Leave not taken within the fiscal year will be forfeited and cannot be carried forward to the next fiscal year.

Approval of Leave

Employees must submit a leave request form at least two weeks before the leave is needed unless such notice is impractical. The supervisor may require that the Personal Observance Leave be taken at a time other than the one requested, based on the needs of the college.

Limitations

Employees are not entitled to payment for this unused leave upon separation from the College. The leave has no cash value and cannot be converted to retirement credit. It may not be donated under the Voluntary Shared Leave policy and cannot be used for the same purposes as sick leave.

Adopted: 9/15/2022