DAS Managers Guide
Overview
This Managers’ Guide is a reference document for Connecticut non-represented state managers as defined by CGS 5-270(g), to assist in understanding the most common statutory, regulatory, and policy considerations affecting their employment and their functional work. The Guide provides a general overview of relevant terms, policies, and information and the subjects are arranged alphabetically by major heading.
DISCLAIMER: This Guide was prepared for informational purposes only. It is not an employment contract, nor is it an extension of benefits or legal protections beyond those already provided in statute, regulation, or policy. This Guide, and its contents, cannot be used as a justification for entitlement to, or denial of, benefits. DAS may change, add to or delete any of the provisions in this Guide at any time. In any case where there is a conflict between the contents of this Guide and the document that established the information (statutes, regulations, collective bargaining agreement or other documentation) the original document is considered the authoritative reference. This online Guide replaces previous versions published in paper or similar format and will be updated routinely as applicable.
Attendance and Leave
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Pro-rated Leave for Part-time Employees |
Employment Related Policies and Procedures
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General Wage Increases for Managers Manager Pay Plans (and Range Plans for Other Non-represented Employees) |
If you receive a subpoena, or other order of the Court, that requires you to appear during working hours, you will receive time off with pay and without loss of earned leave time unless you are a plaintiff or defendant in the court action. If you are required to appear in court as part of your work assignment or your official function, the time spent is considered time worked.
Compensatory Time - Managers are ineligible for overtime pay in accordance with the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Family and Medical Leave and CT Paid Family Leave
Managers receive time off to serve during any period of jury duty. Regular salary is continued during jury service. Payment for jury service received from the court system, except for travel allowances, must be returned to the state. Contact your HR Department if you are summoned for jury duty.
Most managers are assigned to a 40-hour five-day workweek. Leave benefits accrue on the basis of an eight-hour day. More detail concerning leave accruals is provided under Sick Leave and Vacation Leave sections of this guide.
Leaves of absence without pay may be granted to allow time off for good reason. If you find it necessary to request a leave of absence without pay, submit a request to your supervisor with as much advance notice as possible. State the reason the leave is necessary and the expected date of the leave. Generally, the state continues the health insurance payment for permanent employees when the approved leave of absence is due to illness or pregnancy. Otherwise, speak to your payroll office regarding how insurance coverage can be continued, how premium payments are made, who is covered, the duration of the coverage, and the amount of the premiums that must be paid. Leaves of absence are subject to post audit by DAS.
Medical certificates, such as the P-33A, signed by a licensed physician or other practitioner whose healing method is recognized by the state, are required:
- When the manager is absent for more than five consecutive workdays
- To support a request for use of any sick leave accrual during a vacation
- To support frequent or habitual illness of any duration. The agency must notify the manager that a medical certificate will be required in the future
- When evidence indicates reasonable cause for requiring a certificate
Medical certification requirements for collective bargaining employees are outlined in specific bargaining unit contracts. Medical certificates can be found here.
Military leave with pay for required military training is available to members of the National Guard or Reserve components of the Armed Forces. Appropriate military orders must be sub-mitted to your agency Human Resources office to document the required military leave. Permanent state employees are eligible for paid leave, up to three weeks per calendar year, for annual field training. Any employee ordered to active duty as a result of an unscheduled emergency (natural disaster or civil disorder) is entitled to military leave with pay for up to 30 days in a calendar year. See C.G.S. 27- 33a. Also, see USERRA.
Pursuant to C.G.S. 5-259d, employees who are called to active duty for any military operation, war or national emergency may be eligible to receive partial pay for the duration of such call-up to active service. Such employees may also be eligible to accrue vacation and sick leave and may be eligible for benefit continuation during the period of time they are serving in the military.
Personal Leave (GL Update in Progress)
Pro-rated Leave for Part-time Employees
Some managers and confidential employees assigned to the MP, MD management pay schedules work a part-time schedule. For these permanent part-time employees, leave accruals are computed based on the ratio of their work schedule to 40 hours as averaged over the preceding two months.
Managers accrue sick leave at the rate of 1¼ day for each completed calendar month of service.
Sick leave is used when a manager is ill and cannot or should not be at work. Sick leave is also used to cover other defined circumstances when the manager must be away from work (see below).
Sick leave does not accrue for any month in which an employee is on a leave of absence without pay for an aggregate of more than five days.
There is no limit on the total number of sick leave days that can be accrued to a manager’s leave balances. Building a reserve of sick days is highly recommended because it reduces the likelihood that an employee will experience an interruption of pay resulting from an extended time away from work due to prolonged illness or non-work-related injury.
Managers receive payment for one-quarter of the unused sick leave they have accrued at retirement up to a maximum of 60 days. The beneficiary of a manager’s estate receives payment for unused sick leave, up to a maximum of 60 days if the manager has ten years of service and dies prior to retirement.
Sick leave accruals may also be used for these reasons:
- Medical appointment – for medical, dental or eye examination or treatment when arrangements cannot be made outside of working hours
- Family death – in the event of the death of a member of your immediate family (spouse, child, father, mother, sister, brother or any relative living in your home). A maximum of five working days per calendar year for each family death is allowed
- Family illness – in the event of critical illness or severe injury in the immediate family, creating an emergency that requires the employee’s help. Up ten days per calendar year may be used for this purpose.
- Funeral – for time necessary to go to, attend, and return from funerals for people not in your immediate family. Up to total three days per calendar year may be used for funeral leave. In some instances, due to distance, more than one day may be approved for a single funeral
- Parental – up to three days may be deducted from sick leave by mothers or fathers in connection with the birth, adoption, or custodial care of a child, or for the prenatal or postnatal care of a spouse
Each of these types of leave is recorded using a specific code but the time is charged against sick leave balances, provided that the leave is approved and the employee has sufficient accruals. If an employee is approved to take time for these purposes but does not have enough sick leave accruals to cover the absences, then the employee’s absence must be recorded using other accrued leave or leave without pay attendance codes. See “Sick Leave, Exhaustion of.”
Sick leave accrual for collective bargaining employees is outlined in specific bargaining unit contracts.
Sick (Illness) While on Vacation
Managers who become sick while on vacation may have that time charged against accrued sick leave rather than vacation leave provided that the employee files an approved medical certificate with the agency justifying the change from vacation leave to sick leave. Rules regarding the usage of sick leave while on vacation by collective bargaining employees are outlined in specific bargaining unit contracts and vary considerably from contract to contract.
Advance of sick leave grants sick leave accruals in advance of actual earning them to an employee who is absent due to extended illness or injury. If the employee meets the following criteria, s/he may be granted one day at full pay for each completed year of full-time ser-vice up to a maximum of 30 days full pay. This advance time must be repaid to the state. Repayment is made after the employee has first accrued five days of sick leave following return to duty. At that point, sick leave is repaid as it accrues.
Criteria to receive advance of sick leave:
- The manager must have been employed by the State for five (5) or more years.
- The manager must have exhausted all accruals.
- A medical certificate on the prescribed form including the nature of illness, prognosis and probable date the employee will return to work must be on file.
Leave Upon exhaustion of advanced sick leave, an employee may be granted with half pay for thirty days upon the appointing authority’s approval. Repayment is made after the employee has first accrued five days of sick leave following return to duty. At that point, sick leave is repaid as it accrues.
Criteria to receive extended sick leave:
- The manager must have been employed by the State for twenty (20) or more years.
- The manager must have exhausted sick leave and advance of sick leave benefits.
Special Leave from the Classified Service
An employee who is in the classified service with at least five (5) years of state service and who is appointed to a position in the unclassified service may be granted a leave of absence without pay from classified service by the Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services for such length of time as s/he shall hold such appointive position, except that no such leave of absence shall exceed two (2) consecutive years unless such classified employee requests and is granted a renewal of such leave of absence by the Commissioner. Eligible employees must complete the form CT-HR-28 Request to Hold Classified Position in accordance with C.G.S. §5-248(f).
Vacation leave for managers is accrued at the rate of 1¼ day (10 hours) per month based on a 40-hour workweek. If a manager is on leave of absence without pay for an aggregate of more than five working days in a month, vacation leave will not accrue for that month. A manager may accrue up 120 days of vacation. Once a manager reaches this 120-day amount, no additional days can be accumulated, and vacation accruals are “lost.”
After 10 years of creditable service, vacation leave beyond 15 days is granted as bonus day(s) each January 1 for the coming year.
Managers receive pay for accumulated vacation leave when they retire or resign. The beneficiary of a manager’s estate receives payment for unused vacation leave, up to a maximum of 120 days if the manager dies prior to retirement. Vacation leave accrual for collective bargaining employees is outlined in specific bargaining unit contracts.
Managers and confidential employees may receive advance vacation pay, submitting a writ-ten request to his/her Payroll Office at least three weeks before the intended vacation. The vacation pay must be for a period of one pay week or longer.
As a general rule, managers in state service work the number of hours necessary to get the job done. The standard work hours for managers are 40 hours over five days per week during core business hours.
Employment Related Policies and Procedures
The Office of Labor Relations (OLR) within the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) provides labor relations and collective bargaining services on behalf of the state employer. As a supervisor you may have subordinate staff who are bargaining unit members. In this case it is important that you familiarize yourself with their contracts. The OPM website contains all of the current collective bargaining unit contracts that have been negotiated through OLR.
Regulation 5-240-5a (f) allows for an employee to be put on leave of absence with pay for up to 15 days to permit the investigation of alleged serious misconduct. Regulation 5-240-5a (g) allows for an employee to be put on leave of absence with pay for 30 days (plus extensions under certain circumstances) pending disposition of criminal charges. Please note these are the general rules; some contracts address this subject specifically and may contain information in addition to the regulations. In all cases of administrative leave, the agency must notify the employee in writing of the reason for the leave, the effective date of the leave, and the leave du-ration. The employee should also be advised s/he must be available to report to work immediately, if appropriate, depending on circumstances following the investigation. In cases involving pending criminal charges which could lead to dismissal upon conviction, the employee may request a voluntary leave of absence without pay. Approval of such leave is within the discretion of the agency. For more information on administrative leaves and leaves of absence without pay pending criminal charges, please contact your agency Human Resources Department.
C.G.S. 5-196(7) defines “compensation” as the salary, wages, benefits and other forms of valuable consideration earned by, and provided to, an employee in remuneration for services rendered.
General Wage Increases for Managers
Notices and explanations of general wage increases for managers and confidential employees are issued as E-items to agency Human Resources administrators following approval of the Commissioner of DAS and the Secretary of OPM, in accordance with 5-200(p) of the C.G.S.
Manager Pay Plans (and Range Plans for Other Non-represented Employees)
Salaries for managers are generally reflected in the MP pay plan, although some managers may be assigned to the MD pay plan. These pay plans and the pay plans of other non-represented employees (i.e., EX, CA, CR, SE, DM, CJ) establish rang-es of compensation based on salary level. They do not have incremental steps built into each range. Rather, the minimum and maximum rates for a given salary grade are published. Employees are generally hired at the minimum of their pay scale. Movement through the salary range is primarily based on job performance and budget considerations with increases coming from cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) and merit pay increases. When changes are made to a range pay plan, a notice is sent to agency Human Resources Business Partners and a new pay schedule is published. Active and archived pay plans for managers and other employees are available on the DAS website.
A pay plan is a schedule of pay ranges. Every job classification is assigned a salary/pay plan and salary group. This information is published for every job classification; every job classification in the classified service is published by and searchable through the DAS website.
Managers are required to provide from two to four weeks (depending on the job classification) written notice of resignation to their appointing authority.