University announces summer 2023 bonus PTO pilot program 'Five Fours'

Following a recommendation from the University Employee Morale Task Force, University leadership will provide administrative and classified staff with the opportunity to take an additional 20 hours of paid time off during the summer of 2023. The additional time is intended to provide flexibility during the summer months when there is less activity on campuses.

The pilot program is being referred to as “Five Fours” as it will enable employees to take five half days off to extend their summer weekends. However, employees may use the time in any desired increments they choose, such as working shorter days during the summer to meet family obligations or extending an already-planned vacation. Employees should work with their supervisors to ensure their requested time off equally considers departmental needs, and supervisors are encouraged to provide as much flexibility as possible to allow employees to enjoy this benefit.

The University Employee Morale Task Force was organized by Administrative Senate Chair Jennifer Bennett and includes representatives from Faculty Senate, Administrative Senate and both the AFSCME 3200 and AFSCME 1699 Unions.

All administrative and classified staff, including employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, active in the system as of June 1st, 2023, and currently eligible for vacation benefits will receive the extra 20 hours. Hours provided to part-time employees will be pro-rated based on their FTE. The hours are available to be used from June 16th through August 15th for employees paid on a semi-monthly cycle and from June 18th through August 12th for employees paid on a bi-weekly cycle. Any unused hours will expire on August 16th for semi-monthly paid employees and on August 13th for bi-weekly paid employees. Unused hours are not subject to the University’s vacation payout policy upon termination or any payout provision in any collective bargaining agreement. The hours may be used in hourly increments and must receive the pre-approval of the employee’s supervisor through the appropriate leave request process. These hours are not counted as time worked to determine overtime pay and can only be used when the employee is otherwise scheduled to work. 

The "Five Fours” hours will appear as a new PTO option labeled “Extra PTO” and is not used or added to any existing vacation balance in determining vacation hour maximums. Employees are encouraged to use these additional PTO hours before using any regular vacation or personal days. The use or non-use of these hours does not affect any vacation carry-over hours that may be available after June 30, 2023. For more information about the annual vacation carry-over hour limits, please visit Policy: 41.001.

For questions regarding the Summer 2023 Bonus PTO Pilot Program “Five Fours”, contact University Human Resources at 740-593-1636, or email uhr@ohio.edu 

Administrative Salaried Absence Management Directions

Salaried staff should report Summer 2023 Bonus PTO Pilot Program "Five Fours" hours in Absence Management using the Absence type of “Extra PTO”. Directions for creating absences in Absence Management can be found here.

Administrative and Classified Hourly Staff Workforce Time Entry Directions

Hourly staff must enter Summer 2023 Bonus PTO Pilot Program "Five Fours" hours into WorkForce (WF) time entry. Detailed instructions for entering "Extra PTO" in WF can be found here. 

Last updated 6/29/2023