Staff will receive an additional five discretionary days off to be used on days agreed upon by the employee and the employee’s supervisor, according to the Sep. 3 issue of “InBrief: Finance and Administration,” a university newsletter that is sent every other week to the Brandeis community from the administration. The email said that this new policy was announced to the faculty and staff in their Aug. 25 community check-in.
“These discretionary days have been approved by President Liebowitz in recognition of the significant efforts made by our staff to support the University’s response to COVID-19 and our scaling up plans,” reads the InBrief email.
Full-time non-union non-exempt staff who have been working at Brandeis for fewer than two years, two to ten years and more than ten years normally receive ten, fifteen and twenty vacation days, respectively, according to the Brandeis Office of Human Resources site. Full-time non-union exempt staff who have been employed at Brandeis for fewer than five years and more than five years normally receive 15 and 20 vacation days, respectively. Unionized employees have varying numbers of vacation time depending on their union contract.
These discretionary days are unlike vacation days in that they do not have cash value and will not be rolled over from year to year or cashed out if an employee leaves the university, according to the InBrief email. Additional instructions for use and documentation of these discretionary days will be included in the next InBrief email.
“These additional discretionary days will be provided to all benefits-eligible staff who accrue sick, vacation and personal time and will be pro-rated for part-time employees,” reads the InBrief email. “These days can be used together or separately and must be used, in all cases, before August 31, 2021. These discretionary days are not intended to replace other discretionary days approved by President Liebowitz, including those that have been approved between the 2020 Christmas and 2021 New Year’s holidays.”
For more information, contact the Office of Human Resources at 781-736-4474 or humanresources@brandeis.edu.
