Vacation staff and non-vacation staff
Most colleges divide staff into two groups. Vacation staff, mainly teaching faculty, get the winter and summer vacations announced in the academic calendar and little or no earned leave. Non-vacation staff, such as the office, accounts, exam cell, library and estate teams, work through vacations and earn leave through the year. Many colleges ask faculty to stay available for part of the vacation for admissions, supplementary exams or accreditation work, and credit earned leave for days recalled. Check how the annual leave rule applies before you fix the entitlement for each group.
- Casual leave for all staff
- Medical leave, with a certificate beyond a set number of days
- Vacation for faculty as per the academic calendar
- Earned leave for non-vacation staff
- On duty for exams, FDPs and conferences
- Study leave for a PhD, often unpaid or partly paid
When faculty cannot take leave
The weeks that matter are predictable: the first week of each semester, internal assessments, end-semester exams, the evaluation period, and dates when a NAAC peer team or a regulator's inspection is due. Name them in the leave policy and publish the academic calendar at the start of the year. A faculty member asking for leave in other weeks should arrange for a colleague to take the lectures or reschedule them, and say so on the application. The HoD approves only when the lectures are covered.
Worked example: recalled during vacation
Dr. Meera Kulkarni, an assistant professor in Nagpur, has a summer vacation of 42 days, from 10 May to 20 June. The college recalls her for 6 days of admission counselling and 4 days of supplementary exam invigilation. The college's policy credits one day of earned leave for each day recalled, up to 15 in a year, so she gets 10 days. Had she been recalled for 18 days, she would still get 15, so the policy must say what happens to the other 3, such as a comp-off to be used within the next semester.
How to set it up in ZeniaHR
- In the Leave Ledger, set up casual, medical and earned leave, and use the employment type rule on earned leave so only non-vacation staff can apply for it.
- Record exam work, FDPs and conferences as on duty requests rather than leave, so university duty never draws down casual leave.
- For each leave type, fix the notice required, when a medical certificate becomes necessary, the longest spell allowed and whether faculty on probation can take it.
- Credit earned leave for vacation recall days as a Leave Ledger credit with a note, up to the cap in your policy.
- Have HoDs approve leave from My Team as reporting managers, with HR second, after checking the department's Leave Calendar against exam weeks.
- Publish the academic calendar with its no-leave weeks on the Company Wall as an announcement that every faculty member must acknowledge.
Read more about leave management in ZeniaHR.
Roles this applies to
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What is vacation leave for college teachers?
Vacation is the break between semesters, announced in the academic calendar, when teaching faculty are not required on campus. Because of it, faculty are treated as vacation staff and usually get little or no earned leave, while office and exam cell staff earn leave through the year. Days a teacher is recalled during vacation are normally compensated with leave credit.
Is exam duty counted as leave for college faculty?
No. Invigilation, evaluation, paper setting and external examination assigned by the university are duty, not leave. Record each day as on duty, approved by the HoD, with the university's order on file. Charging casual leave for exam duty eats into the faculty member's balance and makes people reluctant to accept such assignments.
Do college faculty get study leave for a PhD?
Many colleges allow study leave for faculty registered for a PhD, often unpaid or partly paid, for coursework or a final writing period, sometimes against a commitment to return for a set period. Write the eligibility, duration and pay terms into the leave policy, and plan cover for the faculty member's courses before approving it.