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Our thoughts and support are with those suffering from the terrible impacts of Hurricane Helene. This page outlines support resources, leave guidance and other information related the most common HR questions our Carolina community is asking in the aftermath of the hurricane. For more about how Carolina is helping those impacted by the natural disaster, see the Sept. 30 message from the chancellor.

Carolina Center for Public Service

Hurricane Helene – UNC-Chapel Hill Disaster Relief 2024

To facilitate communication about efforts and resources, the Carolina Center for Public Service (CCPS) has a dedicated website for relief efforts, updates and other resources. CCPS will continue collect and share information via this site.

CCPS Hurricane Helene – UNC-Chapel Hill Disaster Relief 2024

State & System Updates

In response to the impacts of Hurricane Helene, the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources recently issued the changes outlined below. OSHR is working on an FAQ about these new flexibilities, and we will link that document here once it is available.

  • Additional paid leave allowances to help with employees dealing with ongoing damage-related issues for their primary residence.
  • Options for straight-time overtime pay to FLSA-exempt employees for storm-related additional work.
  • Two additional days of Community Service Leave (CSL) through the end of 2024 for use with storm-related volunteer activity.
    • A new TIM accrual, Community Service Leave Opt A HR with 16 hours as of Monday, Sept. 30, and new TIM pay code, Community Service Leave Opt A HR, have been added in TIM.
  • Extended make-up time for adverse weather make-up leave, from 90 days to 180 days.

More about State & System Updates

Support Resources

Support resources are available to permanent University employees and their families anytime through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a confidential counseling and resource program. EAP assistance is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone at 877-314-5841 or online through GuidanceConnect at guidanceresources.com with a username and password or by registering with Web ID: TARHEELS.

Any employee with NC State Health Plan insurance who may need more than the three free counseling sessions provided by EAP can connect with a free counselor through Headway Behavioral Health.

GuidanceResources® Online also offers a crisis portal to provide direct access to online tools and information to any employee coping with a traumatic event; no login required. Further resources found in the Total WellBeing On-Demand Library can help with understanding how different people may react to a traumatic event.

Guidance Resources®

Leave Guidance for Affected Employees

For Employees Working from Affected Areas

Below is guidance for leave for University employees affected by damage, outages and other effects of Hurricane Helene as pertains to your work arrangements, work location and area of residence. See the UNC Adverse Weather & Emergency Closing webpage for details about the three condition levels used for communicating the status of operations.

Employees with remote working arrangements and who live in one of the affected designated disaster area counties:

  • To the extent possible, employees should be encouraged to come to campus to work while their local area is under repair and/or until their local capacity is reestablished.
  • If employees cannot come to campus and cannot perform work from their local area, they may use their available leave (vacation, bonus, or comp time) per the requirements in the policy or use the Adverse Weather Make-Up Leave to cover the absence, just as if the University was operating under Adverse Weather Condition 1.
  • For Adverse Weather Make-Up Leave, TIM Managers and Administrators have access to the pay code Adverse Weather Cond II Owed in TIM to record these hours in SHRA permanent employees’ timecards. The employee will need to pay back these hours within 180 days.
Employees with a permanently assigned work location in impacted areas:

  • These employees will be covered by Condition 3 under the Adverse Weather and Emergency Closing Policy in alignment with the university closest to their location (e.g.; UNC Asheville, Western Carolina University, Appalachian State University).
  • Given the severity of this event, impacted institutions may be operating under Condition 3 through the week of Sept. 30 or possibly longer. Should those institutions work with the System Office to extend Condition 3 coverage as needed in the coming weeks based on campus conditions and key infrastructure functionality in the local community, UNC-Chapel Hill employees with a permanently assigned work location in impacted areas would also continue to be covered.
  • TIM Administrators may enter the Adverse Weather Cond III Closed pay code and hours in SHRA Non-Exempt permanent employees’ timecards to pay them for missed work during Condition 3.

For Primary Residence or Location-Based Affected Employees

See below for TIM codes, make-up time and other information.

Additional paid leave allowances to help employees dealing with ongoing damage-related issues for their primary residence.

  • A new TIM pay code, Hurricane Helene Paid Leave, has been added in TIM for managers and TIM Administrators to use for employees who qualify.
Extended make-up time for adverse weather make-up leave, from 90 days to 180 days.

  • Only SHRA permanent employees qualify.
  • The Adverse Weather Cond II Owed make-up accrual has been extended to 180 days in TIM.
  • The TIM pay code Adverse Weather Cond II Owed may be used in TIM if allowed.
For HR Officers
Please confirm if you have work locations in the impacted areas where Condition 3 is or was declared, where those locations are, and which departments were affected.

If approved and the employee qualifies, a TIM Administrator may enter the Adverse Weather Cond III Closed pay code and hours in SHRA Non-Exempt employees’ timecards to pay them for missed work during Condition 3.

For Affected Temporary Employees

See below for TIM codes, compensation and exceptions.

  • H149 (8.1) provides that temporary employees will be compensated in the same manner they would have been compensated if they had worked on the days missed during institutional closure due to Hurricane Helene.
  • TIM Administrators may use the “Adverse Weather Cond III Closed” pay code in TIM on days the institution was closed and the temporary employee would have worked.
  • H149 (12.2) provides that temporary employees working to support disaster recovery response efforts are exempt from the mandatory separation requirement for the duration of the state of emergency related to Hurricane Helene or associated recovery efforts.
    • These employees may comply with the mandatory separation requirement within six months after the end of the state of emergency for this event (currently, March 1, 2025).
  • H149 (12.1) allows individuals who retired under TSERS on or after April 1, 2024, but before Oct. 1, 2024, to reduce the break-in-service requirement to one month if the individual returns to state employment due to the state of emergency related to Hurricane Helene or associated recovery efforts.
    • Any such work performed by these individuals between Sept. 25, 2024, and the end of the state of emergency will not be considered work for the purposes of the normal six-month separation requirement, and any earnings received in that timeframe will not be treated as earned by the beneficiary for the purposes of determining the individual’s annual earnings limit.

For Affected Mandatory Employees

See below for compensation information.

  • Under existing state policy, the University has the discretion to provide permanent SHRA exempt employees (who normally do not receive overtime compensation) hour-for-hour compensatory leave for hours worked over 40 in a work week for SHRA exempt employees who are required to work during a closing because of hurricane impacts.
  • Because this will affect a small number of employees, departments with designated SHRA exempt employees who work over 40 hours in a week will manually track the hours over 40 earned and later taken by the employee.
  • EHRA employees who are required to work during a Condition 2 or Condition 3 event do not receive additional compensation or paid time off.
  • EHRA law enforcement positions are eligible for the same compensation options as provided for SHRA employees.

Adverse Weather Make-Up Leave

For affected employees, make-up time for adverse weather make-up leave is extended from 90 days to 180 days (March 26, 2025).

For the extended make-up time for adverse weather make-up leave for affected employees:

  • Only SHRA permanent employees qualify.
  • Applies to work time missed due to the hurricane during the period between Sept. 27, 2024, and Oct. 31, 2024.
  • The “Adverse Weather Cond II Owed” make-up accrual has been extended to 180 days in TIM.
  • The TIM pay code “Adverse Weather Cond II Owed” may be used in TIM if allowed.
When employees are unable to work during Condition 1 or 2 Adverse Weather, they may:

  • Use available vacation or bonus leave,
  • Go on leave without pay, OR
  • For Adverse Weather Make-Up Leave, TIM Managers and Administrators have access to the pay code Adverse Weather Cond II Owed in TIM to record these hours in a SHRA permanent employee’s timecard. These hours will need to be paid back within 180 days.

Employees have up to 90 calendar days to make up the time from the point of use.


Other Management Approved Leave (OMAL)

Management may approve paid time off for employees to participate in specified state-related activities or because of natural or other emergencies. For more information, including eligibility, see the Other Management Approved Leave OMAL policy from the Office of State Human Resources.

  • An employee may be eligible for Other Management-Approved Leave (OMAL) if a permanent employee’s living situation is still evolving due to either:
    1. Ongoing safety risks from damage to their primary residence, OR
    2. Other serious hurricane-related impacts.
  • As a short-term step, for the period of Friday, Sept. 27, through Thursday, Oct. 3, up to 40 hours of OMAL will be made available to the employee.
  • The employee will be responsible for providing documentation of their hardship to their manager and should work directly with their HR Officer or HR Representative on any requests for OMAL.
  • HR Officers must ensure that the application of this benefit is applied on a fair and consistent basis.
  • 80 hours of OMAL is available to permanent employees who are unable to work remotely either because:
    1. Road conditions due to hurricane-related impacts prevent them from getting to work OR
    2. The employee had to evacuate their residence due to hurricane-related impacts, and the area to which they evacuated is not within a “reasonable driving distance.”

    This uses the same 80-hour pool of leave as the OMAL described in the initial guidance.

    • If an employee is able to work remotely (regardless of whether they typically work remotely), the employee will not be entitled to this type of OMAL.
    • If an employee who typically works remotely is unable to work remotely but is able to work from an onsite location within a “reasonable driving distance” where they can reasonably perform their job duties, the employee will not be entitled to this type of OMAL.
    • A “reasonable driving distance,” for the purpose of this exception, is defined as being either beyond 90 minutes travel time or beyond 50 miles traveled (miles on the road, not straight line).
  • Based on available funds, the University may pay up to 80 hours of OMAL to employees who need time off to address loss of or substantial damage to their primary residence that was sustained between Sept. 27 and Oct. 4.
  • This will be available to affected employees in the first 90 calendar days after damage occurs.
  • The employee will be responsible for providing documentation of their hardship to their manager. Acceptable documentation could include meetings with contractors, job estimates, or receipts for purchased supplies.
Employees who are volunteers for an emergency response organization or the American Red Cross may receive paid time off under the other management approved leave policy to provide support services to affected areas.

Expanded Use of Sick Leave

  • If an employee who is a parent (or guardian) is required to stay home with a child (a child as defined in the FMLA policy) because of the closure of a day care facility or public/private school, the employee may use sick leave.
  • This also applies for elder care facility closings.
  • This exception will expire on Dec. 31, 2024.
  • If an employee is unable to work, either on site or remotely (from their home or other alternate work location), due to Hurricane Helene and the employee has exhausted all OMAL options, compensatory time, vacation leave, and bonus leave, then the employee may use their sick leave for absences due to direct impacts of the hurricane.
  • This exception will expire on Dec. 31, 2024.

Employees Designated to Work in Affected Areas

Some UNC-Chapel Hill employees may be designated to work in the affected areas to assist with recovery or rebuilding efforts. The following provisions apply only to these designated employees.

Designated SHRA non-exempt employees who go to work in an affected area will be allowed to count their time as hours worked.

  • Times in/out should be entered in the employee’s timecard in TIM as usual.
Designated “severe weather essential” UNC-Chapel Hill employees who work in an affected area may have the current Adverse Weather III ETO ER Emp pay code added in TIM to their hours worked if applicable.

  • This coding will grant the employee Adverse Weather ETO hours.
  • The employee’s hours worked must not be removed from the timecard.
Designated FLSA Exempt employees will have options for straight-time overtime pay to for storm-related additional work.

  • Please email payroll@unc.edu if you have any exempt employees who qualify.

Community Service Leave (CSL)

As a reminder, all permanent SHRA employees, EHRA Non-Faculty and 12-month EHRA Faculty who work 20+ hours per week receive 24 hours of Community Service Leave (CSL) – Option A per calendar year (prorated for part-time employees). On Jan. 2, 2025, OSHR granted an additional 16 hours of CSL (above the 24 hours annually allocated) to qualifying employees for volunteering with organized Hurricane Helene-related efforts coordinated by a local government entity or an established nonprofit. Manager approval is required prior to use. This additional leave must be used by Dec. 31, 2025, or it is forfeited. You can view this leave in TIM under Community Service Leave Opt A Hurricane Relief.

More about Community Service Leave (CSL)