Paid Time Off and Holiday Closures

Holiday

Ten university-designated holidays are granted each calendar year.

2025-26 Calendar Year

Paid Time Off for Staff (<23.25 hours per week), Students, and Faculty

Part-time staff working less than 23.25 hours per week receive paid leave and sick time in accordance with the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance. Review the policy page for more details.

Paid Time Off for Part Time Staff (>23.25 but <38.75 hours per week)

Part time staff working at least 23.25 hours per week but fewer than 38.75 hours per week receive pro-rated time off benefits based on the full time accrual rates.

Vacation

The maximum amount of vacation an employee can maintain in his/her vacation bank is one and one-half times the annual accrual rate.

Non-Exempt Employees

During the first five years of employment, employees earn 10 days of vacation each year at the rate of 2.99 hours per pay period.

At the beginning of the sixth year of employment, an employee earns 15 days annually. One additional vacation day will be added to the employee's annual accrual during each of the eleventh through fifteenth year of employment, to a maximum accrual of 20 days per year after 15 years of employment.

Exempt Employees

During the first five years of employment, employees earn 15 days of vacation each year at the rate of 4.48 hours per pay period.
One additional vacation day will be added to the employee's annual accrual during each of the sixth through tenth years of employment, to a maximum accrual of 20 days per year after 10 years of employment.

Sick

Use of sick leave is allowable for the employee's personal illness or injury that disables him/her from work, and may be used on a limited basis for qualifying family members. The employee earns 10 sick days per year at the rate of 2.99 hours per pay period. The maximum amount of sick time an employee can have is 142 days. Please see the policy for additional information.

Personal

Staff employees who work at least 23.25 hours are provided up to two personal days each calendar year on a pro-rated basis. These days may not be carried into the following calendar year. New employees hired between January 2 and May 31 are provided up to one personal day for the year during which they are hired. New employees hired after May 31 are ineligible for these days during the first calendar year of employment.

Summer Friday Flextime Program Guidelines

Illinois Tech is committed to supporting and promoting better work-life balance. As such, this program will provide employees with an opportunity to enjoy extended weekends during the summer months.

Eligible employees are permitted to leave work three (3) hours in advance of their scheduled end of shift for six (6) Fridays, subject to the approval of the employee’s supervisor. Please see the program guidelines for additional information regarding eligibility and scheduling below.

Eligibility: Only full-time non-union staff are eligible to participate in the Summer Friday Flextime program. Union employees are governed by the applicable provisions of the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.

• Employees who are on a performance improvement plan are not eligible to participate in Summer Friday Flextime.
• Part-time employees are not eligible to participate in the Summer Friday Flextime program.

Program Details: The Summer Friday Flextime program will be in effect from the first Friday in June through the last Friday in August each year.

• Eligible employees are permitted to leave work 3 hours in advance of their scheduled end of shift, subject to the approval of their supervisor, for a maximum of 6 Fridays during the effective period.
• Departments must ensure that all critical functions and customer service needs are adequately covered. Employees may be required to rotate Summer Friday Flextime to maintain coverage, or may be ineligible based on the requirements of their role. 
• Employees should verify their requested schedule with their manager at least two weeks in advance. 
• Employees are still responsible for fulfilling their job duties fully. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action. 
• Employees may not skip mandatory breaks in order to leave earlier. 
• Summer Friday Flextime may be used in conjunction with Vacation or Personal time off. It may not be used with any other forms of time off or in place of any other time off (e.g. an employee may not use Summer Friday Flextime the same day as a sick day, FMLA, etc., in which case they would need to use a full day of the relevant time off in order to have the full day off that Friday). 
• Summer Flextime allows you to work fewer hours during the summer without a reduction in pay. Specifically, you will be compensated for three hours of flextime at your regular pay rate, even though you are not required to work during those hours. Please note that these three hours are not counted toward the 40-hour weekly threshold for overtime calculation.
• When utilizing Summer Flextime, your compensation for the week will remain unchanged.
• Summer Flextime may be rescinded based on department needs, as determined in the sole discretion of the university.
• Summer Flextime is granted at the sole discretion of the university and is not earned accrued time off.  Employees will not be compensated for remaining Summer Flextime for which they were eligible at the time they separate from employment with the university for any reason.  
• Summer Flextime may not be carried over from one year to the next. 

Accrual Balances

Vacation and sick accruals are posted in the Leave Details section of Illinois Tech Portal for those employees who earn paid vacation and sick time.

• Access the Illinois Tech Portal
• Click on Leave Details to find balances for vacation, sick and personal leave

Volunteer

Eligible employees are provided up to two volunteer days each calendar year. These days may not be carried into the following calendar year. New employees hired between January 2nd and May 31st are provided up to one volunteer day for the year during which they are hired. New employees hired after May 31st are ineligible for these days during the first calendar year of employment. Please see the policy for additional information regarding eligibility and scheduling volunteer days.

Policies

• Bereavement Leave
• Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance
• Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)
• Holidays
• Jury Duty Leave
• Leave for School Visitation
• Leave for Victims of Domestic Violence (Victims Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA))
• Limited, Paid Leave for Birth of a Child or Adoption
• Military Leave
• Personal Days
• Personal Leave
• Right to Recoupment
• Sick Time
• Vacation
• Voting Leave