See the GAPP-Graduate Assistant Policies and Procedures (https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-5082) for Student Assistant Policies and Procedures. For questions, please reach out to the departments L&S HR contact or the Student+ Team at studentplus@ls.wisc.edu.

**Also, see Admin Topic of the Month featured Student Assistant leave! Please review the recorded session from 2/24/20222. **

Paid Vacation Leave:

Project Assistants (PA) and Research Assistants (RA) appointed on an annual pay (A-Basis) appointment earn paid vacation pro-rated based on a full-time rate of 180 hours per fiscal year.

• Vacation earned is prorated for FTE and for length of appointment.

Concurrent Appointments: 

Student Assistant can earn Paid Vacation Leave in EACH of their eligible concurrent appointments at UW-Madison per fiscal year.

Examples:

#1. 50% A-basis PA 9/1/2023- 8/31/2024 will receive 90 hours of vacation

#2: Arvin will have two concurrent appointments
a) A-Basis PA at 33.4% in Physics 9/1/2023-8/31/2024 earns 60.12 hours paid vacation in this appointment (180 x .334 = 60.12)
b) A-Basis RA at 10% in Chemistry 9/1/2023-8/31/2024 earns 18 hours paid vacation in this appointment (180 x .10 = 18). Arvin will earn a total of 78.12 hours of paid vacation in these two appointments.

#3: Theo will have a Project Assistant appointment at 33.4% from 3/10/2024 to 5/10/2024. Theo will earn 10.02 hours of paid vacation in this appointment (180 x 2/12 x .334 = 10.02).      

Other considerations for Paid Vacation Leave:

• Usage: PA = 15-minute increments, RA = 1-hour increments
• The scheduling of vacation is subject to the approval of the supervisor and must be taken during the period of the appointment.
• No vacation carryover is allowed
• Unused vacation hours will not be paid out at the end of the appointment.

Using & Counting Leave:

• Count a day's absence based on assigned FTE of the appointment, not on actual schedule for that given day

Example: for an employee with a 50% FTE appointment who is absent on a given day, count 4 hours of leave used for that day 

50% x 40 hours per week = 20 hours per week

20 hours per week / 5 days = 4 hours per day

Paid Sick Leave:

At the beginning of each appointment period, eligible student assistant employees are credited with an allocation of sick leave time, regardless of the appointment percentage.

FTE: Paid Sick Leave is not prorated for FTE

Eligibility: Teaching Assistant (TA), Research Assistant (RA), and Project Assistant (PA) including Project Assistant – Grader/Reader (PA) are eligible:

• These titles are credited with paid sick leave in the amounts noted below

Amount earned:

Amount credited is based on length of the student assistant’s appointment period. The number of hours credited to the student assistant’s sick leave allocation is based on the length of the appointment period as follows:

1. Fall or Spring Semester appointment period lasting an entire semester = 48 hours earned

2. Academic year appointment period lasting an entire academic year = 96 hours earned
3. Summer Term and all other appointment periods =   8 hours of paid leave earned for any part of a 30-day period worked. During summer and for all other appointment periods, the student assistant does not have to work a full 30 days consecutively in order to be eligible for leave.

During summer and for all other appointment periods, the student assistant does not have to work a full 30 days consecutively in order to be eligible for leave.  

Examples:  

#1: Summer: working over a period of 27 days = 8 hours of leave earned

#2: Summer: working the entire summer = 24 hours of leave earned the total maximum of sick leave which could be earned over summer is 24 hours, in all appointments

#3: Academic Year: working sporadically over a 90-day period = 24 hours of leave earned

Concurrent Appointments:

The amounts noted above are the maximum the Student Assistant employee can earn, in ALL of their eligible concurrent appointments at UW-Madison during the appointment period (not in EACH of their concurrent appointments).

#1: John will have 2 appointments in Spring: a 33.4% TA appointment in Physics and a 15% PA appointment in English. John will NOT earn 48 hours in each of the appointments.  Instead, John will earn a total of 48 hours of paid sick leave for Spring, for all of their appointments. Departments need to coordinate this when the employee has multiple appointments. In this example, Physics and English would need to coordinate how much sick leave is provided in each appointment. 

#2: Sigrid will have just one student assistant appointment in Spring- a Project Assistant Grader/Reader appointment over a 2-month period. Since they will work during a 2-month period, they will earn 16 hours of paid sick leave.     

 
Other considerations for Paid Sick Leave:

• Usage: PA = 15-minute increments, RA/TA = 1-hour increments
• Carryover is allowed from appointment to appointment within the same department and the same title, from one academic year to the next, or within the same academic year as long as the break between appointments is less than 2 weeks.  
  • Combination of carryover sick leave and new sick leave cannot exceed 96 hours.
• Unused sick leave is not paid out
  
  

Sick Leave for Care of Family Member

Employees may use accrued sick leave for temporary emergency care of ill or injured members of the immediate family, or for other family emergencies, for a limited period of time to permit the employee to make other arrangements.

• Immediate family is defined as, and limited to: the spouse, the spouse equivalent residing in the household of the employee, parents, stepparents, grandparents, foster parents, children, stepchildren, grandchildren, foster children, brothers (and their spouses), and sisters (and their spouses) of the employee or spouse, and other relatives of the employee or spouse residing in the household of the employee. 

Use of sick leave for the purposes of this Section is limited to five (5) workdays for any one illness or injury; however, the use of sick leave may be extended to cover unusual circumstances provided prior approval of the immediate supervisor is obtained.

Tracking Leave:

• Departments can use any tracking method
  • Currently leave must be tracked manually by departments, since there is no way to enter or track leave in timekeeping systems or HRS as with other appointment types.
  • A non-exempt student assistant who tracks hours on a timesheet (for example a non-exempt Project Assistant) submits their regular hours on their timesheet during the week approved for leave.
• The Graduate Student Leave Tracker template can be used to track student leave  (attached)

TA Sick Leave Coverage:

• Per Graduate Assistant Policies and Procedure (GAPP) if a TA is on paid sick leave, the TA is not required to find their replacement, make up the work or “swap” with another TA.  The department must arrange for a replacement.
• To cover for TA’s temporarily when the TA is using their paid sick leave, options the department can consider include having another TA increase their percentage/FTE to replace the TA, hiring a replacement TA for a short period of time, or finding qualified Undergraduate Assistants to act as TA’s (“Undergraduate Assistant – TA”, or hiring academic staff replacements. Consult with the HR Associate Director for Students.
• If the department needs to provide coverage for a TA on paid sick leave by changing existing TA appointments or hiring an Undergraduate Assistant or Teaching Specialist, the department approval is needed from the Teaching and Learning Team.  See L&S KB  https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/118505, “Teaching Assistants” and “Undergraduate Assistants or Teaching Specialists”).
• If an individual is taking on additional work to help cover for others, the department’s HR staff must verify the individual providing that other work will not exceed appointment maximum limitations. For example, foreign national students who already have a 50% appointment (including student help) are not able to do any additional work and/or receive any additional payments during weeks in which classes are in session.

Leave Without Pay:

• In any situation involved a leave without pay or taking a leave from an academic program, please contact the HR Associate Director for Students for assistance.  Leave Without Pay, personal leaves or a leave from the academic program could affect health insurance coverage as well as eligibility for tuition remission.

Other Leaves:

Funeral Leave | Where death occurs in the Employee’s immediate family (as defined above), sick leave may be used to attend the funeral and/or make necessary arrangements. Use of sick leave for death in the immediate family for the purposes of this Section is limited to a total of three (3) workdays, plus required travel time not to exceed four (4) workdays.

Leave of Absence Without Pay | Upon written request to their immediate supervisor, Employees may be granted leave without pay at the sole discretion of the appointing Department/ Program and Dean/Director for any reason for a period of time not to exceed the employee’s unexpired term of appointment.

In any situation involved a leave without pay or taking a leave from an academic program, please contact the HR Associate Director for Students Assistants. Leave Without Pay, personal leaves or a leave from the academic program could affect health insurance coverage as well as eligibility for tuition remission.

Family Medical Leave | The University recognizes the provisions of the Family Leave Act, s. 103.10, Wis. Stats., and the Federal (U.S.) Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, where applicable.

Jury Duty | An Employee who is absent from assigned duties because of selection for jury duty and who has not been excused by the court in order to meet their obligations, shall be paid their regular salary for the period of time they are required to serve and shall continue to receive full benefits. When not impaneled for actual service and only on call, the employee shall report to work unless authorized by the employee’s supervisor to be absent from their work assignment. During such absence there will be no loss of pay.

Employees shall notify their supervisor as soon as possible before an absence for jury duty. If a substitute is necessary, the Teaching or Project Assistant shall attempt to arrange for a University-paid substitute acceptable to the supervisor and the Director/Department chair. If the Teaching or Project Assistant is unable to find a substitute, the Department shall be responsible for finding and paying a substitute for the employee, while they serve as a juror.

Appearance as Witness in Legal Action | Where an employee is subpoenaed to testify in a legal action and the University determines that such subpoena resulted directly from the performance of the employee’s required duties, the University shall permit the employee to take time off without loss of pay to comply with the subpoena if required to appear during their regularly scheduled hours of employment; provided, however, that the employee shall turn over to the University any witness fee received.

State Legal Holidays | The University recognizes the importance of giving employees time off from work for state legal holidays, and therefore, Employees generally are not expected to work on those holidays.

Religious Observances | The University recognizes the importance of giving Employees time off for religious observances and recognizes that religious holidays do not always coincide with state legal holidays. Employees who face a conflict between a work requirement and any anticipated religious observance should be given an alternative means of meeting the work requirement, provided that the Employee notifies their supervisor in the first two weeks of the appointment period of the specific day or dates that will be needed for these