The University will soon implement a centralized time-off tracking system and allow some employees to rack up more paid time off, according to a University release Monday.
Starting July 1, the University will expand its use of the online tracking system Kronos to allow all employees to manage paid time off. The University currently uses Kronos to track attendance and hours worked for nonexempt employees – workers who are eligible for overtime pay, according to the release.
Employees will use Kronos to request and manage their time off, while managers can use the program to review time-off requests, the release states.
Also beginning July 1, the University will allow all employees to accrue paid leave days based on the number of years they have worked for GW. Previously, exempt employees – those who must be paid a salary and are not entitled to overtime – earned more days off than their nonexempt counterparts, according to the release.
The new rules also allow staff to carry over five days of unused paid time off from the current fiscal year into the next. Employees may use the unused days until August 31 of the new fiscal year, according to the release.
Workers previously needed departmental approval to carry over unused paid time off, the release states.
“We value the time our people invest in GW,” Jennifer Lopez, the associate vice president of total rewards, said in the release. “Employees deserve to take full advantage of time away to recharge and enjoy life outside work.”
The University plans to explain the new time-off rules in a “Time Off and Leave Guide” set to be released “later this spring,” according to the release. In the meantime, some of the changes are detailed in a brief “What’s New and What’s Changing” flier.
The changes come as officials continue a longstanding drive to improve employee culture.
University President Thomas LeBlanc gave staff the full week off between Christmas and New Year’s Day last semester in an effort to boost employee morale, and he issued a survey to faculty and staff in the fall to gauge sentiment about institutional culture. The assessment found that employees often feel underappreciated and lack consistent leadership.
The University will also hire its first chief people officer this year to handle human resources tasks after the HR department lacked a permanent leader for more than three years.
