Paid Leave
Paid leave includes holidays, vacation and sick leave and applies to university employees working at least 20 hours per week.
Types of Paid Leave
Holidays
Emory employees get 11 holidays per year in addition to two floating holidays.
Due to operational needs, some employees will be required to work on university holidays. Information regarding work performed on holidays can be found in the Holiday Policy.
Consideration must be given to employees requesting to take leave for religious observances not recognized as university holidays. This time off can be taken as vacation leave or as floating holidays and should not be denied to employees unless it creates undue hardship within a department.
Floating Holidays
Employees who are eligible for paid holidays are also eligible for one or two floating holidays per year, depending on their date of employment. Floating holidays are available at the beginning of each calendar year. Any employee hired on or before June 30 receives two floating holidays; an employee hired on or after July 1 receives one floating holiday. Floating holidays are prorated for regular part-time employees based on standard hours worked.
Floating holidays can be used by employees at any time throughout the calendar year.
Winter Recess
Emory University closes most academic and administrative offices for Winter Recess, the three days between the Christmas and New Year holidays. The intent of Winter Recess is to provide a time for many faculty and staff to relax and refresh at the end of the year, in recognition of their hard work, dedication and commitment. These three Winter Recess days are not holidays but are provided in addition to the scheduled University holidays of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.
View Winter Recess Information
Vacation Leave
At Emory, vacation leave is viewed as a benefit that enhances the employee's work and personal life; it increases productivity and morale.
Vacation leave is accrued based on employee classification, hours worked and length of service at Emory. For more information on accrual rates, refer to the policies:
View Vacation Leave Policy for biweekly employees
View Vacation Leave Policy for monthly employees
Individual departments administer vacation leave for faculty members.
Sick Leave
When unable to perform job duties due to an illness, whether yours or a dependent's, sick leave benefits may be used.
Sick leave is accrued based on employee classification, hours worked and length of service at Emory. For more information on sick leave accrual rates, review the approved policies:
View Sick Leave Policy for biweekly employees
View Sick leave Policy for monthly employees
Individual departments administer sick leave for faculty members.
COVID-19 Emory-Paid Leave
Emory offers up to 3 weeks of COVID-19 Emory Paid Leave for staff who are unable to work on campus or from home because of illness due to COVID-19. To use this leave, you must provide documentation supporting your request. For details, please refer to the policy:View COVID-19 Emory-Paid Leave Policy
Paid Parental Leave
Emory University provides paid parental leave to eligible staff employees, librarians, and post-doctoral fellows who experience the birth or adoption of a child. You are an "eligible employee" if you have completed one year of service and are a staff member, librarian or postdoctoral fellow who regularly works 20 hours or more per week. The birth or adoption must occur on or after June 1, 2016.
View Parental Leave for Staff, Librarians, and Post Doctoral Fellows Policy
Jury Duty
Jury duty leave is provided to all Emory employees who are summoned to serve during the regular workweek on a jury, or for witness service where the employee is subpoenaed and is not the defendant or plaintiff. In these cases, an employee will receive their regular rate of pay for judicial hours away from work.
View the Jury Duty Leave Policy
Bereavement Leave
Bereavement leave is a benefit that assists employees during times of need. Bereavement leave may be granted for attendance at a funeral or a comparable service, related travel time and time necessary to conduct arrangements or other business.
Regular employees working a minimum of 20 hours per week are eligible for up to ten days of paid bereavement leave for the loss of an immediate family member (spouse, parent, and child). They may receive up to five days for a family member identified as grandparent, step-parent, legal guardian, parent-in-law, step-child, grandchild, legal ward, sibling, and any other person residing in the employee’s home. In the event of the death of any other relative, absence may be compensated for up to three days.
Voting
Emory strongly encourages all employees to exercise their right to vote. Emory's Voting Policy allows staff to take up to 4 hours paid time for the purpose of voting. These 4 hours can be used for early voting as well as Election Day voting. If you intend to use this paid time in order to vote, please let your manager know ahead of time.
Living Donor
Regular full-time and part-time employees of Emory University who request time off to serve as a living donor are eligible for paid leave in addition to vacation and sick leave benefits under the living donor leave policy. The amount of time off requested is based on individual medical need.
View the Living Donor Leave Policy
Inclement Weather
Emory strives to ensure that employees are not adversely impacted by inclement weather in the event the campus is closed.