Middlebury Handbook

Occasionally staff employees may wish to take time off for personal reasons*, that is in excess of normal vacation time and/or available CTO.  In such instances, employees may apply for a Personal Leave of Absence (LOA). Personal LOAs are discretionary and require approval from both the employee’s manager and from Human Resources. The minimum duration is one full pay period, and a Personal LOA may not exceed one year in duration. (Managers may, at their discretion, approve shorter absences without the formal Personal LOA process).

During an approved Personal LOA an employee will receive no regular pay. Certain employee benefits may be negotiated with Human Resources during the approval process. These include:

• whether or not the employee will continue to be eligible for employee benefits during the LOA;
• if benefits continue, whether the employee will pay the employee-only portion of the cost or the full cost of the benefit;
• if applicable, how the employee will pay for the benefits during the LOA (i.e. pre-pay, pay-as-you-go, etc.); and
• whether or not the employee will be required to use accrued CTO time during the LOA (this is typical).

In order to request a Personal LOA, employees should contact the Human Resources office to initiate the application process.

Non-exempt and exempt employees on approved Personal LOAs do not accrue CTO time on the unpaid portion of the leave. CTO will accrue only on CTO hours used during the leave.

During an approved Personal Leave of Absence, employees have the same job protection afforded active employees.

Employees needing time off for medical reasons or to care for a family member with a serious medical condition should refer to the Family and Medical Leave Act policy.