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Absence and Leave Policies

Employees may qualify to use paid or unpaid leave time when they are absent from work on a short-term or long-term basis for a number of specific reasons.

State employees are eligible for a variety of paid and unpaid time from work. Waiting periods may apply. Benefits may vary depending on whether you are a bargaining unit employee or a manager.

Table of Contents

Family and Medical Leave Options (FMLA and PFML)

Executive Department employees who need to request a family or medical leave or to report intermittent time off for an approved intermittent leave must contact Workpartners, our absence and leave administrator.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The federal law, Family and Medical Leave Act (known as FMLA), provides up to 12 unpaid weeks of job-protected leave per year for employees in certain situations.

The Commonwealth offers its Executive Department employees more generous FMLA benefits with leave up to 26 weeks per year for certain reasons, plus some employees may access a once-in-a lifetime additional 26 weeks of catastrophic FMLA leave. We also follow the state parental leave law.

See separate Family and Medical Leave Options guide for more details.

Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) for State Employees

PFML is a statewide program that provides eligible employees job protection and temporary income replacement during certain family and medical leaves. 

When you need leave, your first step is to contact Workpartners.  They can answer your questions including concerns about eligibility and how to apply.  Learn more at www.mass.gov/workpartners.

See separate Family and Medical Leave Options guide for more details.

Family and Medical Leave Information and Agency Workpartners Liaisons

All Commonwealth HR professionals have a role in leave administration.

Agency Workpartners Liaisons within Executive Department have access to a suite of leave-related resources. If you are an agency Workpartners liaison and need additional information on administering leave at the Commonwealth, please email the Office of Leave Policy Administration. 

Additional Resources   for Family and Medical Leave Options (FMLA and PFML)

Sick Leave and Extended Illness Leave Bank (EILB)

Sick Leave

  • Employees on a biweekly basis (totaling 15 days/year) will continue to accrue sick leave each year until the state service ends. 
  • You can use sick hours for your own illness or for the illness of certain family members. See the maximum amount of hours allowed (usually 30 per calendar year) in the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and Red Book. 
  • Contract employees and intermittent employees who are not covered by the CBAs or Red Book will receive some limited leave time for every 30 minutes they work per the Massachusetts Earned Sick Leave Law. 
  • Your agency may request medical documentation when they suspect sick leave abuse, a pattern of absences, or absences that indicate you have protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
  • When you leave state service, you cannot cash out any sick leave. Your sick leave days/hours will remain on your employee account as long as you return to state service within 3 years.
  • Executive Department employees who retire can cash out 20% of their accrued sick leave.

Massachusetts Attorney General's website on Earned Sick Time Law

Extended Illness Leave Bank (EILB)

The EILB is a statewide bank created by the Human Resources Division that helps Executive Branch employees who suffered an extended injury or illness to recover a portion of their salary that they may have lost due to extended unpaid leaves of absence. It was created in 1995 Chapter 7, Section 4P, MGL and is also covered by EILB regulations.

An Executive Branch employee who has worked for at least 12 months and has had acceptable attendance may donate a day of leave (sick, vacation, or personal) to a statewide "bank" every calendar year. Members may apply to "withdraw" time from the bank if they meet the requirements of the EILB regulations. Members may not withdraw more than 120 work days in any two-year period.

    Pregnant Workers Fairness Policy

    Agencies of the Commonwealth provide accommodations to allow pregnant/prospective employees to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Agencies will not discriminate against employees/prospective employees who are pregnant or have a condition related to pregnancy including, but not limited to, lactation or the need to express breast milk for a nursing child  

    Holiday, Personal, and Vacation Leave

    Holiday Leave

    HRD (Human Resources Division) publishes a schedule memo for Executive Department employees. There are special instructions in the memo which says what happens when a holiday falls on a weekend. 

    State Holidays

    New Year's Day
    Martin Luther King Day
    President's Day
    Patriots' Day
    Memorial Day
    Juneteenth
    Independence Day
    Labor Day
    Columbus Day
    Veterans' Day
    Thanksgiving Day
    Christmas Day

    Personal Leave

    Three Personal Days** are granted each calendar year

    • Personal Days do not carry over from year to year. 
    • Each year in September, employees are notified of how many personal days they need to use by the last pay period. 
    • Employments who leave the agency are not compensated for unused personal days.

    ** Some longer-term bargaining unit employees receive 5 personal days per calendar year per the union contract

    Personal Days per Year

    Start Date

    Number of Days

    January to March

    3 days

    April to June

    2 days

    July to September

    1 day

    October to December

    0 days

     

    Vacation Leave

    • Update: Use or Lose Carryover Caps 
    • Employees start earning vacation time after two weeks of employment.
    • Time off the payroll will result in reduced vacation accruals.
    • Employees can carry over one year's worth of unused vacation time to the next year.  Vacation time not used in that 2nd year is forfeited.
    • Each September employees are notified if they have any "use or lose" vacation time
    • Employees who leave employment are paid for  unused accrued vacation hours per state law.

    Vacation Accrual  (Annual)

    Years of Service

    Managers and

    Confidentials

    Bargaining Unit

    Employees

    0 to 4.5 years

    15 days

    10 days

    4.5 years to 9.5 years

    15 days

    15 days

    9.5 years to 19.5 years

    20 days

    20 days

    19.5 years +

    25 days

    25 days

     

    Military Leave

    Employees should provide their agency with a copy of their military orders as soon as they receive them.
    50+   State employees are deployed FT in the military at any time

    Executive Department employees in the military may qualify for paid or unpaid Military leave. 

    The Commonwealth is proud to hire staff that may be called to full-time military duty as well as reservists in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps.

    Both state and federal law offer protection to employees who are unable to work due to military service. Employees may qualify for paid leave and job protection. Leave may be full paid leave, unpaid leave, or partial pay to ensure their income reflects the amount of time they missed. 

     

    External Resources

    Additional Resources   for Military Leave

    Leave to Donate Blood, Bone Marrow, or an Organ

    Blood Donation Leave

    With prior supervised approval, state employees may donate blood up to 5 times a year during their work shift between October 1 and September 30. We cover travel to and from the blood collections site and the time spent donating and recovering under medical supervision. The maximum number of paid hours per donation is four hours, although it usually takes much less than that to donate. 

    Did you know a single blood donation can save up to three lives? Give the gift of life by reading eligibility requirements on the Red Cross links below and donate at the blood collection site of your choice. 

    External Resources

    Bone Marrow Donation Leave

    Executive Department employees may take up to 5 paid days (not charged to personal, vacation, or sick time) to donate bone marrow and recover from the donation. See the link below for the detailed policy. 

    Organ Donation Leave

    Executive Department employees may take up to 30 paid work days per calendar year (not charged to  personal, vacation, or sick time) to donate an organ including preparation and recovery time. 

    External Resources

     

    Leave for Jury Duty, Voting, and Court Appearances

    Jury (Civic) Duty Leave

    External Resources

    Voting Leave

    If an Executive Department employee cannot vote in a town, city, state, or national election due to a work schedule, they may ask their agency for advance written approval to use up to two paid hours (not including personal, vacation, or sick time) to vote. 

    Leave for Court Testimony

    Managers and Confidential Employees who appear as a witness for a government agency in a court case will receive their regular pay. If they receive any witness fees, they must return the fees to their agency. 

    Leave for Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking

    Paid and Unpaid Leave Benefits

    Executive Department employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, may qualify for paid or unpaid leave including the following benefits. 

    • 15 paid days per calendar year (not charged to sick, vacation, or personal leave) to seek counseling, get medical treatment, attend legal proceedings, etc. from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
    • 6 months of unpaid leave with the right to return to work with the same position, benefit, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment. 

    Safeguarding Your Privacy

    Protecting your Personal Information from being released

    Employees who are victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, or adjudicated crimes (crimes that have been resolved through the courts system after an arrest has been made) may apply to have their personal information excluded from public records for their safety and protection.

    Employees apply for coverage through a Payroll Public Exemption Form and depending on the circumstances, may need to provide documentation to their agency which will be protected. 

    Leave for Volunteering for SERV, Red Cross Disaster Relief or National Medical Service

    Red Cross Disaster Volunteer Leave

    Executive Department employees may receive up to 15 paid days per calendar year if called by the American Red Cross to serve as a certified disaster volunteer to respond to any emergency in the world.

    External Resources

    SERV - Community Service, Mentoring and School Volunteer Leave

    The State Employees Responding as Volunteers (SERV) Program is an employee benefit available to eligible employees in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Branch who have at least six months of state service. With supervisor approval, an employee may volunteer during regular work schedule up to one day per month at an approved Massachusetts non-profit organization (7.5 or 8 hours/month; pro-rated for part-time employees).

    Volunteering with a Disaster Medical Team

    National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) 

    State employees may qualify for unpaid leave time to volunteer on a national Disaster Medical Assistance (DMAT) as trained medical and paramedic professionals. To qualify as a member of DMAT, you must be trained and ready to deploy within 24 hours of notification service is needed for an emergency. 

    There is no paid leave time to be a volunteer as these volunteers receive compensation from the federal government as a special employee. However, state employees may use vacation or personal time to volunteer. 

    Although this volunteering is NOT considered military service and thus does not qualify for military pay, employees who do this volunteer work have some protection for their job and health. Employees who are volunteering in this role are covered by USERRA (which requires job reinstatement upon returning from leave). See  the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services federal government site for more information.

    Other Leave: Bereavement, Inclement Weather, and Small Necessities

    Bereavement/Funeral Leave

    Executive Department employees may qualify for paid leave time to attend a funeral of certain family members.

    • Upon the passing of an eligible family member, Executive department employees may qualify for 1 to 7 paid work days for mourning and attending services. These days are separate from vacation, personal, and sick days.
    • Employees should refer to their collective bargaining agreement (union contract) or Red Book for details on eligible family members, associated length of leave, and documentation requirements (if any)
    • Managers and Confidential Employees who are Veterans may receive paid leave to participate in funerals for other veterans when serving as a member of a firing squad, color detail, pallbearer, bugler or escort.

       

    Inclement Weather Leave

    State agencies designate each employee as either "Emergency Personnel" or "Non-Emergency Personnel." 

    In case of inclement weather or another emergency,  Emergency Personnel will be required to report to their assigned work site as scheduled,due to the critical nature of their job functions. Emergency Personnel are generally charged with the care and custody of patients and/or prisoners or are responsible for the delivery of other critically important public services. Titles include State Trooper, Mental Health Worker, Developmental Disabilities Worker, and Correction Officer, among others.

    Non-Emergency Personnel scheduled to work the day of an emergency but directed to not report to work or those impacted by a late start of early departure, will receive regular pay (i.e. weather leave  or "WEA" on timesheet) for their lost work hours.  This time will not be charged to personal, vacation, or sick time

    Small Necessities Leave

    Executive Department employees are entitled to take unpaid time to attend meetings related to their child's education, routine and medical appointments for their child or elderly relative, or for meetings about elder care.

    • Employees may have the right to take up to 24 unpaid hours every 12 months for these purposes.
    • Employees may choose to use available leave time such as personal, vacation, or sick time, if the reasons for the Small Necessities Leave falls under one of these categories.
    • Employees should notify their state agency 7 calendar days in advance of the requested leave time. If it isn't feasible for employees to provide this amount of notice, they should notify their agency soon as possible.

     

     

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