Supporting our mission and values, the Partnership provides time away from work to eligible employees for a variety of reasons – personal, family, community and other outside needs and obligations.

Paid Holidays

The Partnership observes 14 paid holidays to support staff in their effort to balance work and family responsibilities. All regular part-time, abbreviated schedule, and full-time staff will receive 14 paid holidays per year following the schedule in HR 402 Holidays.

Vacation

Paid vacation is accrued by all regular part-time, abbreviated schedule, and full-time employees. Vacation accrual rates increase dependent on your length of service and employment classification. You can find the accrual schedule in HR 404 Vacation.

Vacation accrual begins on your first day of employment, but may not be used during an employee’s first 90 days with the Partnership. Accruals are on the 1st day of each month. Vacation leave is vested, meaning the Partnership will compensate you for any unused vacation at the time of separation with the Partnership. Unused vacation leave will also roll over to the next calendar year, up to 240 hours. Hours in excess of 240 will rollover into your sick leave balance.

Sick Leave

Sick leave is accrued by all regular part-time, abbreviated schedule, and full-time employees. Sick leave accrual rates are static and do not change with length of service; however, they do change between employment classification. You can find the accrual schedule in HR 405 Sick Leave.

Sick leave accrual begins on your first day of employment, and is available for use following your first accrual. Sick leave is accrued on the 1st day of each month. Unused sick leave will roll over to the next calendar year, up to 960 hours. Hours in excess of 960 will be forfeited.

Sick leave may be used for personal illness or to care for family members who are ill. The Partnership encourages and promotes good mental health practices. Employees may also use their sick leave to support their mental health. The Partnership routinely sponsors mental health days, in which the Partnership takes mental health time off together using sick leave.

Personal Leave

The Partnership provides three days of personal leave that employees may use at their discretion. Personal leave is accrued annually on January 1 and does not rollover to the next calendar year. You should make sure that you have used all of your personal leave by December 31. The three days of personal leave equates to a number of hours depending on your employment classification. You can find the accrual schedule in HR 406 Personal Days.

Child Involvement Leave

In accordance with North Carolina law, the Partnership provides leave to any staff member who is a parent, guardian or person standing in the place of a parent of a school-aged child to attend or otherwise be involved at that child’s school. The Partnership provides eight (8) hours of paid leave for regular full-time and abbreviated schedule employees, and provides four (4) hours of unpaid leave for part-time employees per calendar year. Employees may also use this leave, without regard to parental status, to perform school-approved volunteer work.

However, any leave under this section is subject to the following conditions:

  • For the purpose of this section, “school” means any (i) public school grades K to 12, (ii) private church school, church of religious charter, or nonpublic school grades K to 12, (iii) preschool, and (iv) child care facility.
  • This has been interpreted to allow eight or four hours per calendar year, rather than school year. Also, it is eight or four total hours, not eight or four hours per child.
  • The leave should be at a mutually agreed upon time between the supervisor and the employee and with the supervisor’s prior approval.
  • The supervisor may require that the employee furnish written verification from the child’s school that the employee attended or was otherwise involved at that school during the time of the leave.

For more information, please see HR 407 Child Involvement Leave.

Other Work Absences

Disability Insurance – The Partnership offers a comprehensive disability insurance programs, including both an employer paid plan and voluntary employee paid plans. The Partnership long-term disability plan provides you with income if you are unable to work due to a disability beyond a certain amount of time, called a benefit waiting period. The benefit waiting period for the Partnership’s long-term disability plan is 90 calendar days. Your benefits will replace up to 60% of your base salary until you are eligible to retire or you can no longer show proof of your disability. The Partnership pays the entire cost of the plan. You are automatically enrolled in the Partnership long-term disability plan on the date you become eligible. For more information about this plan, refer to the plan summary: Long-Term Disability.

The Partnership offers voluntary short-term disability plans, insured by AFLAC, which are paid fully by the employee through payroll deductions and will replace a portion of your income if you cannot work and become disabled from a covered injury, sickness, or pregnancy. For more information about this and other voluntary AFLAC policies, contact human resources.

Workers’ Compensation – Employees that have an on-the-job injury may be eligible for benefits – including medical care and income replacement – under workers’ compensation.  For more information about worker’s compensation, visit the workers’ compensation web page.

Bereavement Leave – The Partnership provides up to three days off with pay to employees to handle matters related to a death in the employee’s or the employee’s spouse’s immediate family.  The Partnership defines immediate family as the employee’s spouse, (step-)parent or legal guardian, (step-)child or child under guardianship, (step-)sibling, sibling’s spouse, grandparent, or grandchild. Employees may, with their supervisor’s approval, use any available paid leave for additional time off as necessary.

Jury Duty – The Partnership provides paid leave to all employees for mandatory jury duty or court appearances required as a result of a valid subpoena or court order for a period of up to 4 weeks beginning when the employee is first called. Time off for personal court appearances as a party to any civil or criminal litigation will not be compensated under this section.

Voting Time – Employees who are registered voters and unable to vote outside of regular work hours should be granted scheduled time off without pay. Employees may use personal or vacation leave for time recorded under this section.

Flexible Work Options – At the Partnership, supervisors and employees have worked together to find creative ways of meeting business needs while providing greater flexibility than traditional work arrangements. These can include, flexible schedules, flex time, teleworking, abbreviated schedule or part-time work.