FAQ

According to Article 11 of our CBA, USA members receive between 10 and 25 days of vacation leave per year, based on the amount of time one has been at the university (“seniority”). This table shows how much is accrued per pay period based on how long you have worked at UMass:

Though this rule may vary based on departmental needs, Article 11 Section 17 of our contract states:

Any employee wishing to exercise their seniority for vacation preference must apply in writing at least sixty (60) days in advance of the first day requested. The appointing authority shall respond to this request in writing, indicating whether such vacation can be reasonably scheduled, at least forty-five (45) days in advance of the first day requested.

If you feel you are unjustly denied use of your vacation time and would like to dispute it, email the USA office – we may request a labor management meeting on your behalf to discuss the reasons behind the denial.

According to Article 9 of our CBA, full-time employees shall accumulate sick leave with pay credits at the rate of one (1) day for each full payroll month of employment for a total of twelve (12) days per year. This amounts to 3.173 hours per pay period.

Article 9 Section 3 states

Upon evidence satisfactory to the appointing authority of the death of a spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, step-child, step-parent, step-brother, step-sister, grandparent, or grandchild of an employee; or parent (including step-parent, step-child) of spouse; domestic partner; or person living in the immediate household, an employee shall be entitled to leave without loss of pay for a maximum of five (5) consecutive working days. In the event of the death of an employee’s son-in-law, daughter-in-law or of the spouse’s child, brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild a maximum of three (3) consecutive working days shall be available for use by an employee. In the event of the death of an employee’s aunt/uncle, an employee shall be entitled to one (1) day use of leave.

According to Article 9 Section 2 of our CBA, will be credited annually with six (6) paid personal leave days, which may be taken during the following twelve (12) months at a time or times requested by the employee. Employees may use available accrued personal time from the prior year between January 1 of each year and the first day of the first payroll period that falls entirely within January of each year.

To see how much Sick, Personal, Comp, and Vacation time you have accrued, visit HRDirect, then navigate to Time → Leave/Comp Time.

The Maximum Allowed values on this page are not accurate! Our contract states we have the following maximum allowed values for each:

Always check with your supervisor before entering your time!

Enter the following code in HRDirect when entering time:

Note that these are only the most common time codes, and there are dozens others for various events, such as Jury Duty and Comp Time.

New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Patriot’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Indigenous People’s Day (to be observed on the Columbus Day state holiday), Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.

UMass HR lists all of the holidays and campus closure dates here.

If the holiday falls on a regularly scheduled work day for the employee, they will be paid a regular day’s pay.

If the employee’s usual workweek is five (5) or more days, the employee can receive pay for one (1) day at the regular rate or one (1) compensatory day off (comp time). This is at the discretion of the supervisor and/or appointing authority.

In addition to a regular day’s pay, a full-time employee can also receive a compensatory day off (comp time) with pay. If a compensatory day off with pay can’t be given due to a staffing shortage or other reasons, they can receive pay for one (1) day at their regular rate in addition to the pay given for the holiday worked.

For working New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas, the employee also earns a holiday shift differential by entering HS050 into their time sheet.

Always check with your supervisor before entering your time!

Enter the following code in HRDirect when entering time:

Every USA member is automatically enrolled in the Sick Leave Bank upon employment. SLB members donate at least one (1) sick day per year. A portion of sick leave is automatically deducted per pay period. Some extremely long-term USA members might not be enrolled in the SLB because their employment predates the negotiation of automatic enrollment for new hires. If a USA member is not enrolled in the bank, they may elect to join during the open enrollment period held in the month of October.

Yes, the SLB can be used for approved parental leave. 

Select the correct application (see below), download the PDF, and follow the instructions to complete and submit the application.

• USA/MTA SLB application for income during a parental leave
• USA/MTA SLB application for member’s own non-work related illness or injury
• USA/MTA SLB application for leave to care for a qualified family member

During the annual open enrollment period in the month of October:

• Sick Leave Bank members with at least fourteen (14) days of sick leave may voluntarily donate additional time to the Bank in one (1) day increments so long as the member maintains at least ten (10) days of sick leave.
• Individuals who are not Sick Leave Bank members and who have at least three (3) days of sick leave may become a member by assigning one (1) or more days of sick leave to the Bank.
• Retiring members may donate up to 30 days of sick leave at the time of their retirement. 

Keep an eye out for an email from the Office of Human Resources with the open enrollment and donation form at the beginning of October!

For more information, please see Article 10 in the USA contract and the UMass Amherst Sick Leave Banks webpage.

Our Cost of Living Adjustments, also know as Parameters, occur approximately every 6 months and amount to 11% over the course of this contract. This chart shows the date and percent of adjustment we will receive:

See the Salary Schedule to see what future salary schedules will look like after COLA is applied.

Article 14 Section 2 states:

Employees shall progress from one step to the next higher rate after each fifty-two (52) weeks of seniority in a step commencing from the first day of the payroll period immediately following their anniversary date or promotion date.

This means your “step date” may be different from your anniversary date if promoted.

To anticipate your new step pay, see the 14-step salary schedule. This pay scale is adjusted when parameter salary increases take place.

Article 17 Section 5 states:

The step anniversary date shall only change when an employee is promoted into a higher-graded position per this Article and shall be the appointment date on which they occupy the position. There shall be no change to a step date for an employee occupying a higher graded position through a temporary promotion or out-of-title work, per Article 19, Out of Title Work, or a grade increase through a reclassification per Article 20, Classification or Reclassification

In this case your step anniversary date will be different from your anniversary date if promoted.

For example, if your anniversary date is January 1st, and you receive a promotion on March 1st, your new step date will be March 1st. But if you start a higher-graded position on December 1, your new step date will be December 1 and you will have to wait another 11 months to step up!

Article 8 Section 1A states:

The regular hours of work for fulltime employees shall be thirty-seven and one-half (37.5) hours per week excluding meal periods.

Section 1D states:

Subject to the needs of the department, the department head may offer to employees the opportunity to schedule working hours between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., provided that the total number of each employee’s working hours per week remains unchanged. However, all major departmental offices must remain open between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m

Always check with your manager/supervisor/departmental head if there is any confusion about the hours you are expected to work.

Depending on departmental needs, an appointing authority (manager or supervisor) is able to temporarily or permanently change your work schedule and/or work week if they meet the following criteria:

• A discussion has been had with you prior to the issuance of a written notice
• The written notice is given to you at least ten (10) working days in advance of the date of the change

It is your right to request written reasons for the change within seven (7) calendar days of the requested change, but this request cannot forestall the effective date of the scheduled change.

At the close of this past fiscal year, we had a net income of $62,191.49. We came in under budget in categories such as wages ($25,000), hotel/lodging and meal reimbursements related to attendance at meetings and conferences (roughly $5000), and travel expenses for professional development ($6750). We also saw an increase in our membership, which means we received about $20,000 more in dues than we had anticipated.

Yes, this surplus does roll over into next year’s budget. For that reason, we have decided not to increase dues for FY26.

A motion was passed by USA membership to increase Local dues by $1 annually ($0.04 per paycheck). We felt it appropriate and within our means to absorb that cost this year.

These funds are set aside to reimburse USA e-board members for a portion of their internet and telephone expenses related to their work with members and organizing. Each e-board member may receive a reimbursement of up to $135 per quarter ($540 per year). It is up to the e-board member seek reimbursement for these expenses.

MTA and NEA dues were increased by roughly 3% this year. By not choosing to raise dues this year, USA will be allocating $11,365 of our FY25 net income to cover the shortage.

The new dues rate for NEA is set at the NEA Representative Assembly that takes place in early July. The earliest we can realistically deliver a budget to our members is late July/early-August. We aim to have the budget available by early August at the latest for next fiscal year. We were delayed this year due to challenges we faced in switching authorized users for the Union’s bank account and staffing shortages that led to a delay in receiving our FY25 financial statement. We also wanted to increase transparency in this year’s voting process by providing additional resources, such as the expense category descriptions and FAQ.

It seems silly to have to define, but it is easy to get confused between these when reading our contract:

• Days – unless otherwise specified, “Days” refers to Calendar Days
• Business Days – Non-holiday weekdays. General rule of thumb: if the bank is open, it’s a business day.
• Working Days – The days you are scheduled to work. This is specific to your schedule.
• Calendar Days – Days on a calendar. Every day is a calendar day.