The UNC System recently established a new Personal Leave Program for vacation leave accrual for EHRA leave-earning employees. All EHRA employees hired on or after January 1, 2025, will fall under the new Personal Leave Program.
As of January 1, the vacation leave an EHRA employee earns is determined by the employee’s date of hire and/or whether the employee chose to opt in to the Personal Leave Program:
- Annual Leave is the vacation leave for EHRA employees who were hired before Jan. 1, 2025, and who do NOT opt in to the Personal Leave Program. There are no changes to this leave.
- Personal Leave is the vacation leave for all EHRA employees hired on or after January 1, 2025, as well as those hired before January 1, 2025, who chose to opt in to the Personal Leave Program.
EHRA employees hired before Jan. 1, 2025, will have an opportunity to opt in to the new personal leave program later this month; the election to move to personal leave cannot be reversed. Current EHRA employees who do not opt in will continue to accrue Annual Leave as vacation leave as they currently do. EHRA staff will be contacted individually via email when the opt-in period opens.
Compare the two programs in the table below and review a set of Frequently Asked Questions. A personal leave program Power Hour will be held for all System Office and affiliate employees on Wednesday, Feb. 19, to go over the details of this program and answer questions.
The new personal leave program only affects vacation leave. Employees under the Personal Leave program continue to accrue and are entitled to other leave allotments (sick leave, civil leave, personal observance leave, etc.) according to the policies already established for those leaves and in the same way as employees in the Annual Leave program.
Review the policy requirements of the two programs in the UNC Policy Manual.
If you have questions, please email HRservice@northcarolina.edu.
Comparison Table
| EHRA employees hired before 01/01/2025 who stay at the same institution and do not opt into the new personal leave program | EHRA employees hired on or after 01/01/2025 | |
| Leave Program | Annual (Vacation) Leave | Personal Leave |
| Accruals | 26 days per year for SAAO 24 days per year for EPS | 26 days per year for all leave-earning EHRA |
| Carryforward/Rollover | Max carryforward 30 days (240 hrs) Excess rolls over to sick leave on Dec. 31 | Max carryforward 20 days (160 hrs) Excess is forfeited (no rollover to sick leave) |
| Transfer/Payout if moving to a covered position within the same institution (for System Office, also includes PBS NC and NCSEAA) | All Annual Leave transfers to new appointment (employees remain in Annual Leave program) | All Personal Leave transfers to new appointment |
| Transfer/Payout if moving to a covered position at other Institution | Annual Leave is paid out (max 30 days; excess is forfeited) As a new hire at a new institution, employees would be subject to the PERSONAL LEAVE policy at the new institution | Personal Leave transfers (maximum 20 days) to new institution Excess leave is forfeited |
| Transfer/Payout if moving to a non-covered position within state government (University or Agency) | Annual Leave is paid out (max 30 days; excess is forfeited) | All Personal Leave may be transferred subject to approval of the receiving institution; otherwise, it is forfeited |
| Leaving State Employment | Annual Leave is paid out (max 30 days; excess is forfeited) | All Personal Leave is forfeited |