Leave Benefits

​State of Wisconsin Employee Leave Benefits​​

A work/life balance is important.  The State of Wisconsin offers a variety of paid leave benefits to permanent and project employees to support this balance​, including:

  • ​Vacation

  • Personal Holiday

  • Sick Leave

  • Paid Legal Holidays

  • Other Leave Benefits (Exam/Interview​ Leave, FMLA, Military Leave, Jury Duty, Voting, Poll Worker, Bereavement, Bone Marrow and Human Organ Donation, Catastrophic Leave)

Click below to learn more about leave benefits available.  

Note: Paid leave is prorated based on an employee's appointment percentage/hours in pay status.​

Vacation

Vacation

For new employees, annual vacation hours are prorated during the first year of employment based on hire date. Employees can use vacation after the first six months of probation are complete. Unclassified employees can use vacation immediately and are not subject to the six-month waiting period.  

For ongoing employees, vacation hours are granted at the start of each calendar year.

Annual Vacation Hours​​

​​Years of Service

​FLSA Non-Exempt (Hours)
​FLSA Exempt (Hours)
​During First 5 Years
​104
​120
​5+ to 10 Years
​144
​160
​10+ to 15 Years
​160
​176
​15+ to 20 Years
​184
​200
​20+ to 25 Years
​200
​216
​25 Years and Over
​216
​​216​

Note: Different vacation provisions apply to Craftsworkers.

Vacation Carryover

Employees can carryover 40 hours of vacation into the following calendar year. These hours must be used by June 30th.  Additional vacation carryover provisions may be available under some circumstances - contact your agency for details.

If an employee is hired on July 1st or later, more generous leave carryover provisions may be available.

Sabbatical and Vacation Cash-Out Eligibility

​Once eligible, an employee can put unused vacation hours into a Sabbatical Account. Hours in the Sabbatical Account do not expire and can be used like other paid leave hours.  Employees will be notified of eligibility each November.  Once an employee earns 200 hours of vacation per​ year, the employee is also eligible to receive up to 40 hours of unused vacation as a cash payment.​
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​Sabbatical and Vacation Cash-Out Eligibility Chart

​​Years of Service

​FLSA Non-Exempt # Hours that Can Be Put in Sabbatical
​FLSA Non-Exempt # Hours that Can Be Cashed Out
​FLSA Exempt # Hours that Can Be Put in Sabbatical
​FLSA Exempt # Hours that Can Be Cashed Out
During First 5 Years
​0*
​0
​0*
​0
​5+ to 10 Years
​0*
​0
​40
​0
10+ to 15 Years​ ​40
​0
​40
​0
​15+ to 20 Years
​40
​0
​80
​40
​20+ to 25 Years
​80
​40
​120
​40
​25 Years and Over
​120
​40
​120
​40

* Note: If you earn less than 160 hours of vacation per year AND you have at least 520 hours of accumulated sick leave, you are also eligible to put up to 40 hours of unused vacation into Sabbatical.

Personal Holiday​​​

Personal Holiday

Employees are granted 36 hours of Personal Holiday at hire and at the start of every calendar year (prorated if part-time). Personal Holiday can be used from the first day of employment.  All Personal Holiday hours must be used by the end of the calendar year or it is lost (limited exceptions if late year hire)​.

If an employee resigns or is terminated by the employer within their first 6 months of employment, the employee may be required to pay back some or all Personal Holiday hours used.

Sick Leave​

Sick Leave​

Employees earn up to 5 hours of sick leave per bi-weekly pay period (prorated if part-time or on partial or full leave without pay).  Employees can accumulate up to 130 hours of sick leave per year.  Sick leave accumulates from year to year - there is no limit on the total number of sick leave hours that an employee can accumulate.

Benefits of Sick Leave

  • ​Unused sick leave may be converted to credits​ to pay for health insurance upon retirement (if eligible)

  • An employee's sick leave balance and usage drive an employee's Income Continuation Insurance (ICI) premium​s.  

  • Once an employee has at least 520 hours of sick leave, the employee is eligible to start putting unused vacation in their sabbatical account.

​​​
Legal Holidays​​​

​Legal Holidays

The state provides 9 paid legal holidays each year:

  • ​New Year's Day (January 1)

  • Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday (Third Monday in January)

  • Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)

  • Independence Day (July 4)

  • Labor Day (First Monday in September)

  • Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday in November)

  • Christmas Eve Day (December 24)

  • Christmas Day (December 25)

  • New Year's Eve Day (December 31)​

​​Legal Holiday Falls on a Weekend

​If a legal holiday is on a Sunday, state office buildings are closed on the following Monday. If it is on a Saturday or if an employee is scheduled to work on a legal holiday, the employee is granted legal holiday hours that can be used at any time (floating legal holiday).

Floating legal holiday hours must be used by the end of the calendar year or they are lost​​.

Eligibility for Legal Holiday

To receive legal holiday pay, you must be both an employee on the legal holiday and be in pay status on the last scheduled workday immediately before the holiday or immediately following the holiday. The number of legal holiday hours earned is based on the number of hours the employee is in pay status during the pay period in which the legal holiday occurs.​

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Other Leave Benefits​

Other Leave Benefits

​​Exam/Interview Leave

​Employees may take time off without loss of pay for participation in exams and interviews to explore career opportunities within State government.

​​​Family Medical Leave (FMLA and WFMLA)

Federal and Wisconsin FMLA provide ​up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave each year for specified family and medical reasons. An eligible employee who is a covered servicemember's spouse, child, parent, or next of kin may also take up to 26 weeks of FMLA leave in a single 12-month period to care for the servicemember with a serious injury or illness. 

​Employees are eligible for FMLA if:

  • ​Employed by the State for at least 12 months within the past 7 years; and

  • ​​Has worked at least 1,250 hours (not including paid leave) during the 12 months immediately preceding the start of leave

​Employees are eligible for WFMLA if:

  • ​Employed by the State for more than 52 consecutive weeks; and

  • Has worked at least 1,000 hours (including paid leave) during the preceding 52-week period immediately preceding the start of leave


See the FMLA Toolkit​ for additional information and forms.

​​Military Leave

Employees are eligible for job-protected leave for active duty or required field training. This allows employees to receive differential pay for up to 30 days per calendar year for active duty or active ​training lasting 3 days or more. Eligible employees will also receive up to 4 years of differential pay and eligible benefits if on active duty​.

Jury Duty​

Employees will receive paid leave when summoned as a witness for the employer or impaneled as a jurist. ​

Voting

​Employees unable to vote outside of work hours are eligible to receive paid leave to vote.

Poll Worker

​​​With proper notice, each state agency must permit employees to serve as election officials without loss of pay and without loss of benefits for the employees' scheduled hours of work during the 24-hour period of each applicable election day. 

Note: The Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association's collective bargaining agreements may have specific language that would supersede this provision for State Patrol Troopers and State Patrol Inspectors.  An employee's schedule may be changed to accommodate such requests if notice or other conditions for making schedule changes are met.

Employees must submit a copy of their pay stub from the municipality to their payroll and benefits specialist.​

Bereavement

Sick leave may be used upon death of an immediate family member. The use of accrued sick leave is limited to a total of 3 workdays, plus required travel time not to exceed 4 additional workdays. However, the appointing authority may extend the use of sick leave to cover unusual circumstances.​

Bone Marrow and Human Organ Donation

Employees are eligible to ​receive up to 5 days off with pay when serving as a bone marrow donor and 30 days off with pay when serving as a human organ donor.

​Catastrophic Leave Program

​Helps support permanent and project employees who need an extended, unpaid leave of absence due to illness/injury that incapacitates the employee or an immediate family member. Allows employees to donate certain types of paid leave to other employees granted an unpaid leave due to a catastrophic need​.



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Every effort has been made to ensure this information is current and correct. In the event of conflicting information, federal law, state statute, administrative code, the State of Wisconsin Compensation Plan and/or policies and provisions established by the Division of Personnel Management should be followed.​