Payroll/ Ecotime/Leaves Info

Changes (add/update/delete) to your Direct Deposit information is allowed once per day. A maximum of three Direct Deposit accounts are accepted. The initial Direct Deposit set-up may take up to two weeks to become effective.

1. Login to UCPath online
2. Select Employee Actions > Income and Taxes > Direct Deposit
3. Add, update, or delete direct deposit information.
4. To add direct deposit information: enter the bank routing number, the account type, the account number, and the direct deposit amount or percentage.

Vacation Accrual

The amount of vacation leave an employee accrues depends on their appointment type, percent of time worked, years of qualifying services, and hours on pay status. The University uses a factor based on these inputs, to determine the vacation accrual rate. 

Employees must request supervisory approval to schedule and use vacation time. Some categories of employees may use vacation immediately after they begin accruing it. Other staff employees are eligible after completing 6 months of qualifying service. All employees may use only vacation time they have accrued.

Eligible full-time Professional and Support Staff (PSS) accrue vacation leave as follows:

• Less than 10 years of service: approximately 15 working days a year
• 10-15 years of service: approximately 18 working days a year
• 15-20 years of service: approximately 21 working days a year
• 20 or more years of service: approximately 24 working days a year

Eligible full-time Senior Management Group (SMG) members and Managers and Senior Professionals accrue vacation leave as follows:

• Less than 5 years of service: approximately 18 working days a year
• 5-10 years of service: approximately 21 working days a year
• 10 or more years of service: approximately 24 working days a year

Eligible employees accrue vacation for all hours on pay status.

Maximum accrual

Employees cease to accrue vacation time when they reach a maximum balance. The full-time staff employee maximum accrual rate is twice the amount of vacation earned each year.

• 15 working days per year: 240 hours
• 18 working days per year: 288 hours
• 21 working days per year: 336 hours
• 24 working days per year: 384 hours

Sick leave may be used in the event of:

• Employee illness or medical appointments
• Illness of a family member or individual in the employee's household
• Medical appointments for a family member or individual in the employee's household
• Bereavement

Sick Accrual

Career employees accrue a specific amount of sick leave each month based on the number of working hours in the month. Full-time employees earn approximately 12 days per year. Employees working half-time or more are entitled to sick leave in proportion to their hours on pay status. For details, refer to the Factor Leave Table.

There is no maximum for sick time accrual.

Use

Employees may be required to submit satisfactory proof of illness or inability to work. Policy-covered employees may use up to 30 days of sick leave in cases of serious illness or up to 10 days of sick leave for a death in their family or household. Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement should refer to their bargaining unit agreement for information about use.

Employees not eligible for leave with pay for illness or bereavement may charge the absence to compensatory time off or personal leave.

UC San Diego provides paid time off for jury and witness duty for eligible employees.

Jury duty: Employees may be required to submit proof of attendance to their supervisor and departmental timekeeper.

• Exempt employees receive administrative leave with pay for work days spent on jury duty, not to exceed the pay for the employee's normal workday and workweek.
• Non-exempt career employees receive administrative leave with pay for actual time spent on jury duty and in related travel, not to exceed the pay for the employee's normal workday and workweek.

Witness duty: Career employees receive administrative leave with pay for work days spent as a witness in an administrative or legal proceeding when subpoenaed as a witness.

Expert witness duty: An employee who is called or subpoenaed as a paid expert witness in a proceeding involving or on behalf of the university receives administrative leave with pay.

Employees not eligible for administrative leave with pay for administrative or legal proceedings may charge the absence to accrued vacation, compensatory time off, or personal leave.

UC San Diego can provide paid time off for voting in local, state, and federal elections.

Non-exempt employees can receive up to 2 hours leave with pay to vote in a local, state, or federal election if they do not have time to vote outside of working hours. Any additional time off is without pay.

If you need to take time off to vote, you must:

• Take the time at the beginning or end of your regular work shift (whichever allows the most time for voting and the least time off work), unless otherwise agreed.
• Give your manager 2 working days notice.

To find out whether you’re eligible for FML, please contact the HR team.

FML Eligibility

UC employees may be able to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid Family and Medical Leave (FML) for:

• Incapacity due to:
  • Pregnancy, prenatal medical care, or childbirth
  • A serious health condition
  • The serious health condition of a son or daughter, spouse, domestic partner (same-sex or opposite-sex), or parent
• Bonding with a newborn, adopted or foster-care child in accordance with state and federal law in effect at the time of the leave
• Military Family Leave to eligible employees with a spouse, child or parent on active duty or called to active duty.

Pay for Family Care and Bonding (not to be used for employee's own leave)

If you are eligible for FML, you may also be eligible for Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB). The Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) program, effective January 1, 2023, gives qualifying employees the option to replace 100% of their eligible earnings for up to eight workweeks per calendar year. 

For more information regarding the Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) Program please visit UCnet PFCB. 

More information and resources:

• Leave of Absence Request Form
• UC documents and forms (UCnet)
  • For HR Contacts: Sample Letters
• Employee rights and responsibilities (PDF) - Department of Labor

• Resources available to assist employees:

  • Disability Counseling and Consulting
  • Disabilities and Rehabilitation

Note: Federal regulations prohibit denying leave because an employee did not use the forms provided on this page.

The Catastrophic Leave Donation program is a way for our Triton employee community to support each other through challenging times by donating vacation hours.

The program allows the voluntary donation of accrued vacation hours by fellow employees to create a bank of hours for use by employees facing hardship. It provides continuation of salary and benefits for eligible employees who have exhausted all their accrued time balances due to:

• a catastrophic illness or injury (applied to disability waiting period)
• caring for a catastrophically ill or injured family or household member
• the death of a family or household member
• a catastrophic casualty loss suffered due to a terrorist attack, fire or natural disaster

If you are nearing your vacation accrual maximum, or if you’re just feeling inspired to support your colleagues, please consider donating some of your vacation hours to the Catastrophic Leave bank. It could make a world of difference in the life of a Triton colleague.

Donate time to the program »

Apply for catastrophic leave »

Learn more about program procedures, including definitions and eligibility criteria.