WSR 17-14-096 EMERGENCY RULES OFFICE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT [Filed July 1, 2017, 12:07 a.m., effective July 1, 2017] Effective Date of Rule: July 1, 2017.
Purpose: SHB 1521 which was passed during the 2017 legislative session removes the requirement that an employee must work at least six months before using accrued vacation leave. This bill also changes "thirty working days" to "two hundred forty hours" for the maximum vacation leave accrual.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 357-31-190; and amending WAC 357-31-170, 357-31-210, 357-31-215, and 357-58-175.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: Chapter 167, Laws of 2017 (SHB 1521).
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that state or federal law or federal rule or a federal deadline for state receipt of federal funds requires immediate adoption of a rule.
Reasons for this Finding: Allows state employees to take their accrued vacation leave prior to working six months.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 4, Repealed 1.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 4, Repealed 1.
Date Adopted: June 30, 2017.
Roselyn Marcus
Assistant Director of
Legal and Legislative Affairs
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 10-23-120, filed 11/17/10, effective 12/18/10)
WAC 357-31-170 At what rate do part-time employees accrue vacation leave?
(1) Part-time general government employees accrue vacation leave ((credits)) hours on a pro rata basis in accordance with WAC 357-31-125.
(2) Part-time higher education employees accrue on the same pro rata basis that their appointment bears to a full-time appointment. Time spent on temporary layoff as provided in WAC 357-46-063 is considered time in pay status for the purpose of this subsection.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 05-08-137, filed 4/6/05, effective 7/1/05)
WAC 357-31-210 What is the maximum number of hours of vacation leave that an employee can accumulate?
Vacation leave may be accumulated to a maximum of ((thirty working days (240)) two hundred forty hours(())). Exceptions to this maximum are described in WAC 357-31-215.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 09-23-057, filed 11/12/09, effective 12/15/09)
WAC 357-31-215 When may vacation leave be accumulated above the maximum two hundred forty hours?
There are two circumstances in which vacation leave may be accumulated above the maximum of ((thirty working days ())two hundred forty hours(())).
(1) If an employee's request for vacation leave is denied by the employer, and the employee is close to the maximum vacation leave (two hundred forty hours), the employer must grant an extension for each month that the employer defers the employee's request for vacation leave. The employer must maintain a statement of necessity justifying the extension.
(2) As an alternative to subsection (1) of this section, employees may also accumulate vacation leave in excess of two hundred forty hours as follows:
(a) An employee may accumulate the vacation leave ((days)) hours between the time ((thirty days)) the two hundred forty hours is accrued and his/her next anniversary date of state employment.
(b) Leave accumulated above two hundred forty hours must be used by the next anniversary date and in accordance with the employer's leave policy. If such leave is not used before the employee's anniversary date, the excess leave is automatically lost and considered to have never existed.
(c) A statement of necessity, as described in subsection (1) of this section, can only defer leave that the employee has not accrued as of the date of the statement of necessity. Any accrued leave in excess of two hundred forty hours as of the date of the statement of necessity cannot be deferred regardless of circumstances. For example:
On June 15th, an employee is assigned to work on a special project. It is expected that the assignment will last six months. Due to an ambitious timeline and strict deadlines, the employee will not be able to take any vacation leave during that time.
• On June 15th, the employee's vacation leave balance is two hundred sixty hours.
• The employee accrues ten hours monthly.
• The employee's anniversary date is October 16th.
Because the employee will not be able to use leave from June 15th through December 15th the employee files a statement of necessity asking to defer the leave accrued during this time. This deferred leave will not be lost as long as the employee uses the deferred hours by their next anniversary date (October 16th of the following year).
The twenty hours of excess vacation leave the employee had on June 15th are not covered by the statement of necessity.
REPEALER
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 05-12-069, filed 5/27/05, effective 7/1/05)
WAC 357-58-175 Can an employer authorize lump sum vacation leave or accelerate vacation leave accrual rates to support the recruitment and/or retention of an incumbent or candidate for a WMS position?
In addition to the vacation leave accruals as provided in WAC 357-31-165, an employer may authorize additional vacation leave as follows to support the recruitment and/or retention of an incumbent or candidate for a specific WMS position:
(1) Employers may authorize an accelerated accrual rate for an incumbent or candidate; and/or
(2) Employers may authorize a lump sum accrual of up to eighty hours of vacation leave for the incumbent or candidate.
Vacation leave accrued under this section must be used in accordance with the leave provisions of chapter 357-31 WAC ((and cannot be used until the employee has completed six continuous months of service)).
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