Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
For HR Practitioners
Additional Paid Time Off
1.What dates have been designated as additional paid time off?
Pursuant to the Executive Office of the Governor,Friday, December 26, 2008,and Friday, January 2, 2009,have been designated as additional paid time off.
2.Are these days off considered holidays?
No. The additional paid hours off are in the form of administrative leave and, as such, are not considered holidays. As with all types of administrative leave, such time is a paid leave type; however, it has no terminal value and does not count as hours of work for overtime purposes or toward the accrual of special compensatory leave.
3.Must employees be eligible for the paid holidays (Christmas Day and New Year’s Day) in order to be eligible for the additional paid hours off?
No. Employees who are on leave without pay status immediately preceding the designated dates are eligible for the additional paid hours off (administrative leave). This includes employees on extended leaves of absence without pay, including military leave, disability leave (whether Workers’ Compensation related or compulsory non Workers’ Compensation related) and leave under the Family Support Work Program or federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
4.Will employees required to work on the designated days earn Special Compensatory Leave?
No. The additional paid hours off are not considered holidays and are not subject to the statutory, rule or collective bargaining provisions governing holidays.
5.Will employees required to work on the designated days be allowed to use the administrative leave at another time?
Yes. Employees required to work on any or all of the designated dates shall be given until June 30, 2009 to use administrative leave equal to the amount of hours they worked on the designated date(s).
6.Will employees whose established day off falls on the designated day(s) be allowed to use the administrative leave at another time?
Yes. Employees whose established day off falls on one or both of the designated day(s) off shall be given until June 30, 2009 to use 8 hours of administrative leave per each day off that coincides with the designated day(s) off.
7. Are employees who have been previously approved for the use of accrued leave on the designated dates be permitted to use administrative leave in place of accrued leave?
Yes. Because these designated days off are not office closures under emergency conditions as provided in Rule 60L-34.0071(3)(e), Administrative Leave, F.A.C., employees on a prior approved leave of absence during the designated daysmay have the use of accrued leave changed to administrative leave.
8.Some of our biweekly employees have already turned in their timesheets in anticipation of being on paid or unpaid leave next week. May these timesheets be adjusted to reflect the use of administrative leave?
Yes. Agencies should follow normal procedures for unsubmitting timesheets that have already been submitted and/or approved.
9.What happens if the employee is not able to use the administrative leave by June 30, 2009?
Agencies should make reasonable efforts to allow employees to make up the use of the additional paid hours off; however, any paid hours off not used by the employee by June 30, 2009 shall expire.
10.May employees who must defer the use of the administrative leave use it intermittently?
Yes. Intermittent leave may be used. Agencies are reminded to make reasonable efforts to allow employees to make use of the additional paid hours off by June 30, 2009.
11.How might this impact the accrual of special compensatory leave credits?
As per the current provisions of Rule 60L-34.004(8), F.A.C., which govern the accrual of “special comp” during work periods containing a holiday, the use of administrative leave hours taken during the same work period may offset all or some of any special comp credits that would otherwise have been earned by Career Service employees.
12.How might this impact overtime eligibility and/or the accrual of regular compensatory leave?
As per Rule 60L-34.004(8), F.A.C., which addresses the State’s managerial prerogative to control overtime costs, any administrative leave hours taken during the applicable work period may offset all or some of the hours that would have otherwise been compensated as overtime for included employees in the Career Service and Selected Exempt Service or as regular compensatory leave credits for excluded Career Service employees.
13.How should this additional paid time off be recorded in on the timesheet?
These hours should be recorded usingHours Type 0056 (“Other Admin Leave”). In addition, agencies may (but are not required to) create a designated charge object code to distinguish the use of these hours from other authorized use of Hours Type 0056.
14.What are some other considerations concerning the administration of these hours?
For those employees who are unable to observe these designated day(s) and will be deferring their use of paid administrative leave, agencies will need to manually calculate how many paid administrative leave hours these employees will have available for later use, since it will be based on their regularly scheduled hours for the designated day(s).
Once it has been determined when employees will be taking their deferred paid administrative leave, supervisors should ensure that employees charge the appropriate amount of paid administrative to Hours Type 0056, and use the designated charge object code, if any, that the agency has created for this purpose.
NOTE: These deferred hours must be used by June 30, 2009, or they will be forfeited.
By using Hours Type 0056 in conjunction with a charge object, agencies canrun reports through the Data Warehouse. However:
- Even though the hours can be captured using the Data Warehouse, agencies may still have to conduct manual post audits to ensure no employee used more than the equivalent number of hours needed to cover them for the designated dates. (As this is not a normal business practice, the People First system does not edit how many hours can be charged under Hours Type 0056).
- Agencies are NOT required to use charge objects, but if an agency that normally does not do so elects to use them for this purpose, it will be a process for HR staff and employees will need to be trained. Reference the People First documents such as “Creating and Linking Charge Objects in People First” and the “Recording and Submitting Time” User Guide at
or “Timesheet with Charge Objects” at
You may also call the People First Service Center at 1-866-663-4735
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