HR Information Alert: Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLFA)

Posted on April 01, 2024

This communication is an expansion on the January 2024 communication previously distributed regarding Paid Leave for All Workers (PLFA). The Paid Leave for All Workers Act provides up to 40 hours of paid leave annually to employees who do not currently receive vacation leave or Employee Requested Supervisor Approved (ERSA) leave.  All eligible employees will be able to utilize this leave beginning March 31, 2024.

Employees in the following employment categories at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) that do not already receive vacation leave or ERSA leave are eligible for Paid Leave for All Workers leave:

  • Non-unionized Faculty with a 9-month or 10-month appointment or less
  • Academic Professionals with a 9-month or a 10-month appointment or less
  • Non-unionized Civil Service Extra Help
  • Academic (i.e., Faculty/Clinical/Research) Hourly
  • 9-month Post Doctoral Research Associates

UIC will implement PLFA in two separate ways, which will be contingent on the employment group. For our eligible academic employees (Faculty, Academic Professional, 9-month Post Doctoral Research Associates), the balances will be automatically frontloaded by AITS. For our Extra Help/Academic hourly employees, we will follow the accrual process. Calculations for both methods are highlighted below.

 

Frontloading PLFA

Under the initial implementation, eligible full-time academic employees at 100 percent FTE with appointments of 9 months or less will be frontloaded 20 hours of leave. Academic employees with appointments that are 10-months or less will receive 22 hours of leave initially. Further proration will be done based on FTE.

 

The hours will be available for use through August 15, 2024. Effective August 16, 2024, these employees will have their PLFA balances replenished for the full year. Therefore, a full-time (100%) academic employee will receive the entire 40 hours of leave. Balances will be prorated accordingly for employees that hold an FTE less than 100 percent.

 

Accruing PLFA

Under the accrual process, eligible hourly employees will accrue 1 hour of leave for every 40 hours worked (including overtime). Accruals began as of January 1, 2024. Usage will be allowed effective March 31, 2024. AITS is currently working on loading PLFA hours for hourly employees. However, this will not occur during the initial implementation as of March 31st.

In the interim, reports indicating initial accruals from January through March will be made available for colleges/units. The reports are for review purposes only and no updates will be reflected in BANNER during this interim period.

Eligible hourly employees will continue to accrue PLFA based on hours worked. Unused PLFA hours will carry over into the next academic year up to a maximum of 40 hours of leave each year.

Any time earned under PLFA, regardless if frontloaded or accrued, is non-compensable and PLFA hours will not be paid out at the time of separation.

 

Tracking PLFA Leave

Since PLFA is a regulatory leave, UIC will be required to track all usage and denials of the new leave. In compliance with the law, a new leave type, PLFA (Paid Leave for All), has been created, and the corresponding bucket will be available on the BANNER page PEALEAV. Similarly, a new earnings code, PLW, will also be created for hourly employees to be used in the near future.

 

In the interim, If PLFA hours are used by Extra Help or Academic Hourly employees prior to AITS loading the accruals in PEALEAV, employees/units should use the EAO – Excused Absence w/Pay earnings code, in lieu of the PLW earnings code.  UICHR will alert the campus when the PLW earnings code is ready for use.  Colleges/Units will need to track all PLFA usage under the EAO earnings code as a reconciliation will be done when the PLW earnings code has been completed.

 

With the addition of the PLFA leave and the regulatory tracking requirements for this leave, UIC encourages all units, who do not currently track employee leave usage in an automated time-keeping system, to utilize GoTime to track academic employees’ leave. If your unit/college is not currently using an electronic system to track leave, please strongly consider adding all your academic employees to GoTime.

A webinar on the Paid Leave for All Workers Act will be held on April 3, 2024, at 1:00PM, which will cover how implementation will be handled for UIC along the systematic nuances associated with the new leave benefit. The link for registration is as follows: https://uic.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R55QKY0HTdmgZQoODqQjlg.

We encourage you to also review the Paid Leave for All Workers website and the Paid Leave for All Workers FAQs.

Questions regarding Paid Leave for All Workers may be directed to: