Leave Benefits
Postdoctoral Scholars are eligible for vacation, temporary disability, holiday, and parental leave as described in detail below. Postdoctoral Fellows who receive a stipend from a fellowship or training award are eligible for leave according to their funder.
Please note that all leave (vacation, sick, holiday, parental) for Postdoctoral Scholars is tracked at the departmental level so please contact your departmental manager or HR professional for details on how your department or college tracks postdoc leave.
Vacation Leave
Postdoctoral scholars are entitled to fifteen (15) vacation days with pay per year. The fifteen (15) days of vacation leave are credited annually to the postdoctoral scholar on the first day of the new fiscal year (July 1st). Postdoctoral scholars may take vacation leave during the period in which they are eligible to take such leave and the vacation leave will be forfeited if not taken during this period (i.e. vacation leave does not rollover year to year).
If you start after the start of the fiscal year (July 1st), vacation leave is prorated at 1.25 vacation days per month until the beginning of the next fiscal year (June 30th). For example, if you start September 1st (10 months to June 30th), you will earn 12.5 vacation days (1.25 x 10 months).
If you separate before the end of the fiscal year (June 30th), vacation leave is prorated at 1.25 days per month from the previous fiscal year (July 1st). For example, if you leave August 31st (2 months since July 1st), you will earn 2.5 vacation days (1.25 x 2 months). This is important for terminal vacation pay which you will receive for earned but unused vacation leave.
Temporary Disability Leave (sick leave)
Postdoctoral scholars are entitled to twelve (12) days of temporary disability leave with pay each year. As compared to postdoc vacation leave, temporary disability leave rolls over year to year and can therefore accrue over years. This is particularly important if you are planning for parental leave because temporary disability leave may be used during Family Medical Leave.
Holiday Leave
Postdoctoral scholars are entitled to holiday leave with pay in accordance with HR policy #83 and the President's Official Holiday Announcement.
Parental Leave
While there are no specific provisions for parental leave in the Administrative Regulation governing postdocs, postdoctoral scholars are employees and therefore eligible for Family and Medical Leave per HR policy #88 which states that "any employee who has been a University employee (regular, temporary, faculty or student) for 12 months (not necessarily consecutive months, but within the last 7 years) and has worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 month period may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a serious health condition involving the employee or a qualified family member during any 12 month period".
You may use accrued vacation leave and/or temporary disability leave (sick leave) during Family Medical Leave to remain in paid status.
Effective July 1, 2021 all regular staff employees became eligible to apply for two work weeks of paid parental leave per HR Policy #82: Temporary Disability Leave. However, this is currently not applicable to postdoctoral scholars. The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs is dedicated to improving the training environment for postdocs and has made it an objective to provide more family friendly benefits to postdocs.
Postdoc leave is tracked at the departmental level and thus Family Medical Leave is tracked at the departmental level. Please contact your departmental manager or HR professional for details on how your department or college tracks postdoc Family Medical Leave.