The Office of State Human Resources has approved additional flexibilities to assist with Hurricane Helene relief efforts. The UNC System shared revised guidance on Oct. 10, 2024. A summary of the updates is below. Download the full guidance document (PDF).
Temporary Employees
Compensation for Temporary Employees
Temporary employees shall be compensated in the same manner they would have if they had worked on the days missed during institutional closure due to Hurricane Helene.Exceptions to Temporary Employment Time Limits and Reemployment of Retirees
Temporary employees working to support disaster recovery response efforts are exempt from the mandatory separation requirement for the duration of the state of emergency related to Hurricane Helene or associated recovery efforts.
These employees may comply with the mandatory separation requirement within six months after the end of the state of emergency for this event (currently, March 1, 2025).
Individuals who retired under TSERS on or after April 1, 2024 but before October 1, 2024 may reduce the break in service requirement to one-month if the individual returns to state employment due to the state of emergency related to Hurricane Helene or associated recovery efforts.
Any such work performed by these individuals between September 25, 2024 and the end of the state of emergency shall not be considered work for the purposes of the normal six-month separation requirement, and any earnings received in that timeframe shall not be treated as earned by the beneficiary for the purposes of determining the individual’s annual earnings limit.
Permanent Employees
General Rules for Adverse Weather Make-Up Leave
When permanent employees are unable to work during Condition 1 or 2 Adverse Weather, they may use available vacation or bonus leave, go on leave without pay, or use adverse weather make-up leave, in which the employee receives paid leave currently and must either make up for the leave with additional work hours or otherwise later charge the time to available vacation or bonus leave.
Although normally permanent employees have up to 90 calendar days to make up the time from the point of use, OSHR has extended the makeup provisions for an additional 90 days to allow employees up to 180 days (March 26, 2025) to make up work time missed due to the hurricane during the period between September 27, 2024 and October 31, 2024.
Other Management Approved Leave (OMAL) for Difficult Living Situations
If a permanent employee's living situation is still evolving either 1) due to ongoing safety risks from damage to their primary residence, or 2) due to other serious hurricane-related impacts, the employee may be eligible for Other Management-Approved Leave (OMAL).
As a short-term step, for the period of Friday, September 27 through Thursday, October 03, up to 40 hours of OMAL will be made available to the employee. The employee will be responsible for providing documentation of their hardship to their manager. Institutions will ensure that the application of this benefit is applied in a fair and consistent basis.
Based on available institutional funds, institutions may provide up to 80 hours of OMAL to permanent employees who are unable to work remotely either because 1) road conditions due to hurricane-related impacts prevent them from getting to work or because 2) the employee had to evacuate their residence due to hurricane-related impacts, and the area to which they evacuated is not within a “reasonable driving distance.” This uses the same 80-hour pool of leave as the OMAL identified in item 6 below.
If an employee is able to work remotely (regardless of whether they typically work remotely) the employee shall not be entitled to this type of OMAL.
If an employee who typically works remotely is unable to work remotely but is able to work from an onsite location within a “reasonable driving distance” where they can reasonably perform their job duties, the employee shall not be entitled to this type of OMAL.
A “reasonable driving distance,” for the purpose of this exception, is defined as being either beyond 90 minutes travel time or beyond 50 miles traveled (miles on the road, not straight line).
OMAL for Loss Of or Substantial Damage to Primary Residence
Based on available funds, institutions may pay up to 80 hours of OMAL to permanent employees who need time off to address loss of or substantial damage to their primary residence that was sustained between September 27 and October 4. This will be available to affected employees in the first 90 calendar days after damage occurs.Mandatory Employees
Institutions may in the short term need to designate more employees as mandatory to address storm damage on the campus. Although the type of work needed may be different from the employee’s regular duties, it should fall within the general scope of their type of position. While under Condition 2 or 3, permanent SHRA non-exempt employees will receive adverse weather equal time off for all hours worked. This is in addition to any overtime compensation that may be required.
Under existing state policy, institutional management has the discretion to provide permanent SHRA exempt employees (who normally do not receive overtime compensation) hour-for-hour compensatory leave for hours worked over 40 in a work week. Institutions may apply this option for SHRA exempt employees who are required to work during a closing.
OSHR has allowed an exception to above policy so that institutions may provide straight-time overtime pay in lieu of compensatory leave to permanent SHRA exempt employees. This exception requires prior approval from OSHR and OSBM. OSHR encourages institutions to consider this option and will turn around requests quickly. With these approvals, institutions may pay straight-time pay for law enforcement or response/recovery activities to FLSA exempt employees that are required by management to work overtime during the emergency/disaster. Per the Hours of Work and Overtime Compensation Policy, such pay is subject to available institutional funds or federal disaster funds as applicable.
EHRA employees who are required to work during a Condition 2 or Condition 3 event do not receive additional compensation or paid time off. (For the purposes of this policy, EHRA law enforcement positions are eligible for the same compensation options as provided for SHRA employees.)
Paid Leave for Emergency Services and Related Support Activities
Employees who are members of an emergency volunteer response organization or the American Red Cross may receive paid time off under the Other Management Approved Leave Policy to provide support services to affected areas. Other UNC Institutions may also help affected institutions through temporary work reassignments for employees to assist with restoring campus operations.Community Service Leave
Each employee will have available an additional 16 hours (two days) of paid CSL leave specific to storm-related activities to expire on December 31, 2024. This increases the maximum amount of paid CSL leave from 24 hours to 40 hours for the remainder of 2024. Employees should obtain prior approval from their supervisor and will be responsible for providing documentation that additional hours used are storm-related, according to institutional HR office guidelines.Use of Sick Leave for Child and Elder Care
If an employee who is a parent (or guardian) is required to stay home with a child (as defined in the FMLA policy) because of the closure of a day care facility or public/private school, the employee may use sick leave. This also applies for eldercare facility closings. This exception will expire on December 31, 2024.Use of Sick Leave for Other Absences Caused by Hurricane Helene
If an employee is unable to work, either onsite or remotely (from their home or other alternate work location), due to Hurricane Helene and the employee has exhausted the OMAL options in this memo, compensatory time, vacation leave, and bonus leave, then the employee may utilize their sick leave for absences due to direct impacts of Hurricane Helene. This exception will expire on December 31, 2024.Reassignment of Employees
Institution heads may authorize temporary reassignment or redeployment of an employee. This exception allows reassignment regardless of mutual agreement between the institution and employee and including potential reassignment of supervisors to non-supervisory positions that provide disaster relief related efforts. This temporary reassignment will not be considered a demotion and will not require just cause.
In no circumstances shall the employee’s pay be lowered due to the temporary reassignment.
A reassigned or redeployed employee may be eligible for additional compensation. Refer to the Pay Administration Policy and/or Hours of Work and Overtime Compensation Policy.
This exception allowing temporary reassignment expires December 31, 2024.