Civil Leave

Civil Leave is a form of paid leave at the employee's normal hourly rate to compensate employees for absences required due to jury duty or to subpoenas for court appearances.

Work-Related Proceedings

For all University employees (SPA and EPA, permanent and temporary) time spent in work-related court proceedings is considered work time, not Civil Leave.  For FLSA non-exempt employees, this time is considered time worked for the purposes of determining overtime eligibility.

When an employee attends court in connection with official duties, no leave is required and all fees received are turned in to the University. If court attendance is required on a non-work day, it is considered time worked and included in the work week total.

Party to the Complaint

An employee who is a plaintiff or defendant in a court case is not eligible for Civil Leave.  The employee may, however, use other available leave or paid time off as approved by management, or take leave without pay.

Employees who are eligible for Civil Leave:

• SPA permanent employees (including probationary, trainee, and time-limited) regularly scheduled half-time or more;
• EPA Non-Faculty permanent employees; and 
• EPA Faculty who earn leave.

Employees who are not eligible for Civil Leave:

• SPA or EPA temporary employees; 
• Student employees;
• Post-Docs;
• SPA permanent employees regularly scheduled less than half-time; and
• EPA Faculty who do not earn leave.

Civil leave is not offset by additional hours worked is not considered time worked for the purposes of determining overtime eligibility.  "See Determining Time Worked" in the Related Subjects section below.

Only hours of jury duty that occur during an eligible employee's regular work schedule are considered Civil Leave.  This includes required appearance at the court during jury selection. 

Exception: Normally, jury duty hours occurring outside the employee's regular work schedule are not compensable.  However, second-shift employees are not required to work on the day that jury duty occurs, and third-shift employees are not required to work the shift that ends on the day that jury duty begins. This applies to all second or third shift employees, regardless of shift length.

When an employee is subpoenaed or directed by proper authority to appear as a witness during the employee's regular work schedule, Civil Leave is granted, and any payment received is turned in to the University. However, an employee may elect to use other paid leave (vacation, bonus, etc) for the absence and keep any fees received.

If more than half of the work day remains after the employee completes his/her court duties for the day, the employee must return to work or use other available leave or leave without pay for the absence as allowed by management.

If less than half of the work day remains after the employee completes his/her court duties for the day, the employee may return to work or may code the remainder of the day as Civil Leave, as the employee's discretion.

The employee must submit a request for civil leave to management for approval, along with appropriate documentation (summons, subpoena, etc.) as to purpose, date, and expected duration of the court-related event as soon as practicable.

There is no accrual amount for Civil Leave nor is there a maximum amount of Civil Leave an employee make apply in a calendar year.

For Departments Using the Time Information Management (TIM) System: 

Implementation of the Time Information System (TIM) to track work hours, special pay, and leave for University employees began its phased implementation in August 2007.  See "TIM Website" in the Related Subjects section below for information on recording Civil Leave.

Employee groups not yet moved into the TIM system follow the recordkeeping structure defined below. 

For Departments Using Employee Time Records:

For permanent SPA non-exempt employees who complete an Employee Time Record, Civil Leave shall be coded on the Time Record with a "C" in the Code column.

For permanent SPA exempt employees, the use of Civil Leave shall be recorded and tracked by the department's HR Facilitator or TIM Administrator.

See also "Leave/PTO Payouts & Transfers."

If you have questions about this program, contact the Benefits Specialist in the Office of Human Resources assigned to work with your department or your department's HR Facilitator.

If you have questions about entering Civil Leave in the TIM system, visit the TIM Website, or contact your HR Facilitator or TIM Administrator.