Leave Without Full Pay and Maintaining Benefits

The University of Kansas offers a leave without full pay program which allows a staff person in a regular benefits eligible position to request leave without pay and retain State Employee Health Plan (SEHP) coverage. This is done by utilizing a minimum amount of accrued leave, not including sick leave, or working a minimum number of hours to cover benefit deductions. Eligible employees must request  leave without full pay via the Leave Without Pay Request Form and such requests must be sent to Human Resources (HR) for review and final approval. 

Leave without full pay with benefits may be approved during a period of reduced unit activity or for non-medical personal circumstances.  A leave period of more than two consecutive bi-weekly pay periods is required to participate in the leave without full pay program and the leave period cannot exceed twelve (12) weeks in a twelve (12) month period. An employee may request leave without pay for less than two consecutive bi-weekly pay periods, through their supervisor and report the absence using the HR/Pay system.

This program does not affect an employee's eligibility to take paid leave under existing leave policies.  

Requesting Leave Without Full Pay

  1. Discuss with your supervisor of your need to request leave.
  2. Obtain gross to net calculation from Payroll - The requesting employee must have a gross-to-net calculation to determine the number of hours/day(s) needed to ensure that the employee's deductions remain intact and to complete the request form. Upon employee’s request, the Payroll Office (payroll@ku.edu) will provide the employee a “gross-to-net” projected calculation. 
  3. Complete Leave Without (full) Pay request form, to include obtaining the approvals as detailed on the form.
  4. Submit completed form to HR (hrdept@ku.edu).  Once received, HR will communicate the final determination as well as additional information and instructions in writing, if applicable.
  5. Report absence and time in HR/Pay. If approved, enter time worked (if applicable) and leave in HR/Pay by designated deadlines.  (Guidance on HR/Pay time and absence reporting.)

Leave Reporting

To ensure health insurance and other benefits will be covered during the leave period, it is the employee’s responsibility to report paid leave or work a portion of each pay period during the approved leave period through HR/Pay.

  • Non-exempt (hourly) employees must report leave without pay in quarter hour increments.
  • Exempt (salaried) employees must take leave without pay in full day increments.

Failure to report leave appropriately may impact the employee’s leave, paycheck, and/or benefits.

Leave Reporting and Holidays

An employee will not be eligible for holiday credit if not fully paid the day before and after the holiday. Employees on an approved leave without full pay should make arrangements with their supervisor during work weeks containing holidays regarding changes to the work schedule (if needed).

Benefits Impact

  • Leave without full pay allows an employee to use accrued leave or work  a minimum number of days/hours to ensure that SEHP coverage and deductions continue.
  • Salary will be reduced accordingly along with the retirement contributions as they are based on a percentage of salary. Noted below are the impacts on retirement programs:
    • Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) unclassified retirement: The 14% contribution (employee and employer) will be based on the employee's actual, reduced salary paid during the pay period.
    • Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS):  Participation in the Leave Without Full Pay program may impact earning KPERS service credit, depending on when the reduction in hours occurs and how long it lasts. If the employee is considering retirement in the near future, this could cause a delay in accumulating the required/expected service credit. If the employee earns less salary using the Leave Without Full Pay program and is considering retirement in the next four years, the final average salary will be impacted. The KPERS retirement formula uses the highest four years of salary, whenever they occur in your employment history. If an employee takes Leave Without Full Pay and has less salary, the salary in that year most likely will not be one of the highest used in the KPERS retirement formula.
  • Leave accruals may be affected during the periods of Leave Without Full Pay. Please review vacation accrual rates and sick leave accrual rates.  
  • Life insurance coverage and long-term disability benefits could be adversely affected based on reporting limited hours of work during the Leave Without Full Pay.