Time and Absence

Administrative Librarian time off and leaves

Last updated: May 1, 2026

This page applies to non-represented administrative librarians. Leaves and time offs for represented librarians are governed by the Service Employees International Union 925 – Libraries collective bargaining agreement.

Employee rights and procedures

Notifying your manager

For foreseeable absences, librarians should provide notice at least ten days in advance of the absence, or as early as possible following your unit’s time off request procedure.

Documenting absences

Most leave and time off balances are recorded in Workday. Contact hrhelp@uw.edu or your unit’s Academic Partner if you need assistance submitting leave or time off requests and viewing absence records.

Maintaining benefits while on leave

To avoid interruption of benefits, librarians on leave can arrange to self-pay their insurance premiums if needed or required. Learn more on the Benefits web page or contact benefits@uw.edu with questions.

Leave Without Pay

Librarians may be granted an unpaid leave of absence (LOA) for any of the following reasons:

  • Illness, disability, or injury
  • Parental leave
  • Educational leave (e.g. going back to school)
  • Military leave
  • Leave for government service in public interest
  • Maternity-related disability and infant care leave
  • Other reasons acceptable to the employing department

Accrued paid leave must be used before going on an unpaid LOA, unless the leave is a disability, military, or parental leave, or is covered by the Family & Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) or Washington state Paid Family Medical Leave (“PFML”). LOA should not exceed one academic year. Librarians are not charged LOA for a partial day absence.

Generally, librarians returning from an authorized LOA are employed in the same job or in another job in the same class, geographical area and organizational unit. Such a return to employment, however, must not conflict with rules relating to layoff or other terms of the librarian employment program.

Should the librarian’s job be eliminated while the employee is on approved leave, at the time the employee is available to return to active status, if there is no other comparable vacancy in the unit, the employee will be terminated under the provisions for layoff – reduction in force.

Sabbatical

Librarians may be considered for sabbatical or “professional leave” consistent with the Librarian Personnel Code.

Vacation

Vacation time off is accrued by all librarians and may be used for reasons such as:

  • Personal time
  • Sick leave reasons
  • Emergency childcare situations
  • Inclement weather when the employee is otherwise scheduled to work
Accrual rate and eligibility

Librarians accrue 26 days of vacation time off per year regardless of years of service. This results in a monthly accrual rate of 17.34 hours per month. Hours accrue at the end of the calendar month and are available to use the following month. Librarians hired after the 15th day of the month will accrue vacation time off starting the following month.

Maximum accrual

Librarians may accrue a maximum of 288 hours of vacation time off. Hours that exceed the 288-hour limit are forfeited.

Request procedure

Request this through Workday.

Payout for unused time off balance

Upon termination of employment, librarians who have completed at least 6 months of continuous service are paid for their unused vacation time off balance up to the maximum of 288 hours. Hours that exceed the 288-hour limit are forfeited. Payment is based on the regular salary at the time of termination.

Holidays

Full-time (100% FTE) librarians receive 8 hours of regular pay for each UW holiday.

Part-time librarians receive holiday pay at a rate proportionate to their appointment percentage (e.g., half-time librarians receive 4 hours of regular pay for each holiday).

Eligibility

Librarians are eligible to be paid for the holiday if they are in pay status for the entire work shift on the workday preceding a holiday.

Librarians who hold appointments of less than 12 months during the calendar year are eligible to receive only those holidays that fall within their appointment period.

Holidays, Holiday Credit, and Alternate Schedules

Any schedules outside the traditional Monday–Friday, 8 hours per day are called alternate. If a holiday falls on an employee’s regularly scheduled day off, the employee receives holiday credit equal to the full-time percentage. If a holiday falls on a day when the employee would normally work more time (e.g., 10 hours) than the holiday’s hourly equivalent (e.g., 8 hours) there are special holiday time accounting considerations.

Holiday Credit Use Deadlines

All accrued holiday credit must be used or paid annually by June 30. The balance of unused holiday credit should be used or paid if an employee moves from one job to another within the University or when terminating from University employment.

Request procedures

Check with your local unit contact for guidance on requesting or extending your holiday credit use.

Personal Holiday

Full-time (100% FTE) librarians receive 8 hours of regular pay for a personal holiday. Part-time librarians are paid for the personal holiday at a rate proportionate to their appointment percentage (e.g., half-time librarians receive 4 hours of regular pay for the personal holiday).

Eligibility

The personal holiday is an annual day off work that librarians are eligible for after completing the first 4 months of employment. This is in addition to the regularly scheduled state holidays.

Using the Personal Holiday

The personal holiday is paid at a rate equivalent to the effective FTE at the time the holiday is taken (e.g. 100% FTE = 8 hrs, 75% FTE = 6 hrs, 50% FTE = 4 hrs).

The personal holiday must be used as a single day off work, unless donated to another employee as shared leave, in which case the remaining personal holiday must be used at one time.

If the personal holiday is not used by the end of the calendar year, it is forfeit.

If you move from one position to another within the University, or to a position at another state agency without a break in service, the unused personal holiday transfers with you.

The personal holiday is not paid at termination.

Bereavement time off

Librarians are granted up to 5 days of paid bereavement time off for the death of a family member or loss of pregnancy. University Libraries use the same family member definition as professional staff for both bereavement and sick time off.

Bereavement must be used in full-day increments.

Sick time off may be used for bereavement or condolence purposes if 5 days of paid bereavement time off does not adequately cover your bereavement obligations, such as having to travel a long distance.

Sick time off

Full-time librarians accrue 8 hours of sick time off per month. Part-time employees accrue sick time off hours on a prorated basis, based on their monthly FTE. Sick time off accrues at the end of the month in which it is earned and is available for use by eligible employees the following month. The sick time off accrual rate does not change due to length of service. There is no limit on the amount of sick time off that an employee may accrue. Librarians do not accrue sick time off during any calendar month when they are in unpaid status for more than 10 working days, including holidays.

For all information relating to Librarian sick time off, contact hrleaves@uw.edu.

Family member definition

For the purpose of bereavement and sick time off, “family member” is defined as a child or parent (including biological, adopted, foster, step, regardless of age or dependency, or legal guardian, or de facto parent or parent-in-law), a spouse, state registered domestic partner, spouse’s parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling, child’s spouse, or child’s registered domestic partner. “Family member” includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person, and that individual depends on the employee for care. “Family member” does not include an individual who simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the employee cares for the individual.

Parental leave

The University of Washington provides leave for Librarians who are new parents, birth and non-birth parents — regardless of how long they have worked at the University. See Leaves for academic personnel when becoming a parent for more information.

Other University leave policies

Librarians may be eligible for leave in accordance with:

Applicable Workday User Guides