Personal Plus Time
Personal Plus Time is a new benefit that is available to eligible faculty and staff beginning January 1, 2024. This benefit was enacted based upon the Paid Leave for All Workers Act.
The goal of Personal Plus Time, which is offered in addition to other benefit time employees may receive, is to provide eligible employees with additional benefit time for circumstances that require them to be away from the workplace. This benefit supports our employees who previously did not earn benefit time, those who are new to the University and do not have benefit time available to use yet, and those who have exhausted their benefit time during a leave of absence. Personal Plus Time can also be used to support those looking for additional time to cover activities of their choosing, such as civic engagement, volunteering, and other opportunities that are important to employees’ well-being and service to the community.
Eligible employees will receive 20 hours of Personal Plus Time on January 1, 2024, or, for those hired after January 1, on their hire date. This time may be used beginning January 1, 2024, through June 30, 2024. Beginning July 1, 2024, 40 hours will be loaded into each eligible employee’s balance at the start of each fiscal year. Employees hired after the start of the fiscal year will receive 40 hours on their hire date.
The Personal Plus Time Policy 3.1.52 is posted here.
Questions You Might Have
- What classifications of employees are eligible to receive this benefit? Do part-time employees (less than 1.0 FTE) receive a proration of hours?
Employees in the following employment classifications are eligible for the Personal Plus Time benefit:
- Administrative Professionals, continuous and non-continuous
- Civil Service employees, including extra help
- Faculty Associates, continuous, non-continuous, and substitute teachers
- Non-Tenure Track Faculty
- Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty
Student employees, including graduate assistants and hourly student employees, are not eligible for the Personal Plus Time benefit, in accordance with the Act.
All employees, regardless of FTE, receive the same amount of Personal Plus Time.
- How do I report Personal Plus Time on my timesheet and view my balance?
Personal Plus Time should be taken and reported on the employee’s timesheet (in iPeople or a clock system) to the nearest quarter of an hour by using the PPT (hourly employees) or XPPT (salaried employees) time reporting code. An employee should not report more Personal Plus Time in a day than they would have normally been scheduled to work.
Personal Plus Time Reporting in iPeople
The Personal Plus Time balance can be viewed on the Leave Balance page in iPeople. Newly hired employees will be able to view their Personal Plus Time balance after the first leave benefit processing occurs in iPeople. Those who need to use Personal Plus Time prior to the first leave benefit processing should contact hr@illinoisstate.edu.
- Will I receive more than 40 hours of Personal Plus Time if I have multiple jobs on campus?
No, an employee receives a maximum of 40 hours of Personal Plus Time per fiscal year to use across all jobs on campus.
- Will other benefit time made available to me (e.g., vacation, sick, or compensatory time) be reduced upon the receipt of Personal Plus Time?
No, Personal Plus Time is a new and entirely separate bank of time for eligible employees to utilize. Employees who currently have other leave benefits will not see a reduction in the accrual rate or maximum balance for those benefits.
- Will my balance of Personal Plus Time be paid out to me if I leave the University?
No, Personal Plus Time is not payable upon separation from the University.
- What happens to my balance if I have a break in service or transfer positions within the University?
Employees who separate from employment and subsequently return to employment with the University within the same fiscal year will have whatever balance remained at the time they separated employment reinstated. If the person returns to employment in a new fiscal year, they will receive a new deposit of 40 hours.
Employees who transfer positions within the University will carry their balance with them, provided they are moving to a classification that is eligible for Personal Plus Time.
- How do I request to use my Personal Plus Time?
An employee may make an oral request to use Personal Plus Time to their supervisor or a written request in accordance with department procedures.
If the need for use of Personal Plus Time is foreseeable, the employee should provide notice to their supervisor with at least seven calendar days’ notice. If the leave is not foreseeable, the employee should notify their supervisor as soon as is practical through ordinary department call-in or notice procedures and designate the time as Personal Plus. Personal Plus Time Request Form
- Can my request to use Personal Plus Time be denied?
Departments should approve Personal Plus Time requests to the greatest extent possible. However, the use of Personal Plus Time is subject to operational necessity and may be denied if the absence creates a situation where minimum staffing requirements cannot be met. Examples of operational necessity include, but are not limited to, situations where operational safety requires a certain number of employees to be working during a shift or event-specific operations requires a specific level of staffing (e.g., move-in or commencement).
- Do I need to provide documentation, give a reason to justify my need for Personal Plus Time usage, or find a replacement to cover my absence while I am using Personal Plus Time?
No, an employee cannot be required to produce any documentation, give a reason to justify the need for leave, or find a replacement to cover absences taken as Personal Plus Time.
- Will Personal Plus Time absences be included in performance evaluations or disciplinary actions?
No, absences taken as Personal Plus Time will not be considered for performance evaluations, Civil Service unscheduled absence/hours tracking, or disciplinary actions as long as proper notification procedures were followed and the absence was designated as Personal Plus Time at the time of the request.
- If I have hours leftover at the end of the fiscal year, will my balance carryover to the next fiscal year?
No, any hours remaining at the end of the fiscal year will be removed from the balance. Employees will receive a full 40-hour deposit at the beginning of the next fiscal year.
- Do faculty need to report usage of Personal Plus Time?
Yes, all employees are required to report all benefit time (Sick, Bereavement, Personal Plus, etc.) used during a time reporting period.
- Can I use Personal Plus Time for days that I am not scheduled to work?
No, Personal Plus Time may only be requested for use on days that the employee was scheduled to work. For example, Personal Plus Time cannot be used while employees are on layoff or for administrative closure or holiday times when the employee is not ordinarily eligible for pay.
- Do hours taken as Personal Plus Time count toward the 900-hour limit for extra help employees?
No, time taken as Personal Plus Time will not count toward an extra help employee’s 900-hour limit. Remember, Personal Plus Time may only be used when a person is scheduled to work, so extra help employees may not request to use Personal Plus Time when not scheduled to work.