Department of Personnel Administration

Leave Benefits

California State employees are eligible for several types of time off, including the leave benefits below. Consult your supervisor or personnel office for details.

Also, check your bargaining unit's contract for specifics if you're a rank-and-file employee. If the contract provisions vary from the summaries below, the contract language prevails.

Types of Leave

Other Leave-Related Info:

Holidays

New Year's Day (January 1)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day (3rd Monday in January)

Lincoln's Birthday (February 12)

Washington's Birthday (3rd Monday in February)

Cesar Chavez Day (March 31)

Memorial Day (last Monday in May)

Independence Day (July 4)

Labor Day (1st Monday in September)

Columbus Day (2nd Monday in October)

Veteran's Day (November 11)

Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November)

Day after Thanksgiving

Christmas (December 25)

  • If a holiday falls on Saturday, employees receive a floating holiday credit (except for Veteran's Day, in which case the holiday is observed Friday, Nov. 10).
  • If a holiday falls on Sunday, it's observed the following day (i.e., Monday).

Holidays for the current year

Personal Day

Permanent employees are entitled to one personal holiday per year.

Annual Leave

Annual Leave offers a single pool of leave credits to use for vacation and sick leave, replacing separate credits for vacation and sick leave. Most employees are eligible to enroll in Annual Leave instead of receiving separate Vacation and Sick Leave.

Rank-and-file employees accrue 11 to 19 hours per month, depending on length of service and bargaining unit.

Managers and supervisors accrue 15 to 20 hours per month, depending on length of service.

You can carry over up to 640 hours of unused annual leave to the next year.

The Vacation vs. Annual Leave comparison chart provides details.

Employees covered by Annual Leave are automatically eligible for enhanced non-industrial disability insurance. (Exception: employees in bargaining units represented by SEIU are covered by State Disability Insurance.)

To read more about Annual Leave, including enhanced non-industrial disability insurance, visit our Annual Leave page.

Vacation

(Employees enrolled in Annual Leave do not receive separate vacation credit.)

Rank-and-file employees accrue 7 to 15 hours per month, depending on length of service and bargaining unit.

Managers and supervisors accrue 7 to 16 hours per month, depending on length of service.

You may carry over up to 640 hours of unused vacation to the next year.

The Vacation vs. Annual Leave comparison chart provides details.

Sick Leave

(Employees enrolled in Annual Leave do not receive separate sick leave credit.)

Full-time employees accrue eight hours per month (after completing their first month on the job). Unused sick leave may be carried over each year.

Personal Leave Program

Most permanent, full-time employees are eligible to receive an additional day of leave credit per month in exchange for a 5 percent reduction in pay. This voluntary Personal Leave Program helps employees who want to accrue extra time off and helps departments lower payroll costs.

Family-Related Leave

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) entitle eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks per year of unpaid, job-protected leave to care for:

  • a new child (birth, adoption, or foster care);
  • a parent, spouse, or child who is seriously ill; or
  • for the employee's own serious illness.

The law requires the employer to continue making the normal contributions to the employee's health, dental, and vision benefits while on such leave.

Departments also may grant an unpaid leave of absence for up to one year for various reasons such as caring for a new child, family crises, or family activities. Such leave may be extended when unusual circumstances warrant it. You should always check with your personnel office if contemplating using such leave.

See the U.S. Dept. of Labor's FMLA page if you want to read the federal FMLA regulations.

Pregnancy Disability Leave

A female employee unable to perform an essential function of her job due to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition may receive up to four months unpaid leave, as medically needed, under the Family Medical Leave Act. When the pregnancy disability leave ends, the employee may request up to 12 additional weeks of unpaid leave for bonding with her new child, under the California Family Rights Act.

The State will continue the employee's health benefits for the first 12 weeks of this combined leave.

See the U.S. Dept. of Labor's FMLA page if you want to read the federal FMLA regulations.

Catastrophic Leave

Employees who have exhausted their leave credits and must miss work due to a prolonged illness or injury (including that of a family member) may request catastrophic leave. In such cases, the department will set up a Catastrophic Leave bank for that employee to receive donated leave from other State employees. (Donations typically are irrevocable, but personnel offices may make exceptions if the donated time ends up not being used.)

This benefit also is available to employees whose residence has been affected by a natural disaster for which the Governor has declared a State of Emergency in that county, and who have exhausted all leave credits except sick leave.

Bereavement Leave

Employees may receive up to 3 days of leave following the death of a family member or other person in the employee's household. (For rank-and-file employees, contract provisions limit such leave for deaths of extended family members to 3 days per year.)

Military Leave

Employees called to active military duty are entitled to military leave of up to 5 years.

Depending on the employee's military orders, the State will make up the difference in the employee's military pay and State pay (if the military pay is lower) for up to a year. This period has been extended for an additional year by Governor's Executive Order. The State continues health, dental, and vision benefits during this time, regardless of whether the employee receives this "make up" pay.

After completing military leave, employees may request reinstatement to their former State job by submitting a request within a specified timeframe. Timeframes vary according to job status when the leave started.

Please see the Military Leave page for more information.

Military Spouse Leave

California State employees who work at least half-time who are married to a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves are eligible for up to 10 days of unpaid leave when their spouse returns from active duty. For details, see "If your spouse is a California State employee" on our Military Leave page.

Mentoring Leave

The State grants up to 40 hours of leave per year on a matching basis to employees who mentor at-risk youth (grades K-12). To qualify, the mentoring activities must be organized through a bona fide mentoring organization.

Union Leave

Policies on time off to participate in union business vary among bargaining units. For details, refer to the individual contracts, available on our Contracts page.

Jury Duty

Employees called for jury duty are granted leave time during their jury service. Employees are not entitled to juror pay for such duty but are permitted to keep mileage payments.

Transferring Leave Credits to Other Employees

An employee may transfer leave credits (except sick leave) to another employee whose illness or injury is expected to incapacitate the employee or a family member and that situation creates a financial hardship. Such transfers also are permitted in cases of natural disasters. (See "Catastrophic Leave.")

Leave credits (other than sick leave) also may be transferred between family members for their own serious medical condition, or to care for eligible family members who have a serious medical condition. In such cases, the employee does not have to suffer a financial hardship to be eligible.

Transferring Leave Credits To/From UC, CSU, or Legislature

If you transfer between a State civil service job and a job with the University of California, California State University systems, or the Legislature, you may transfer your leave credits, including sick leave, to the new position.

Cashing Out Unused Leave

Under various circumstances, you may receive cash for unused leave you've accrued. Here are some examples:

  • Excluded Employee Leave Buy Back: Periodically, DPA and the Dept. of Finance authorize departments to offer to cash out excluded employees' unused vacation, annual leave, personal leave, and/or personal holiday credits at their regular pay rate. Departments choose whether to participate based on availability of funds. Typically, the number of hours that may be cashed out is capped.
  • Leaving State Service: When you end your State employment, you may cash out unused leave (except sick leave), or contribute it to your 401(k) and/or 457 deferred compensation plan. (See Savings Plus.)

Updated March 17, 2008 at 11:00 AM.

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