Leave Types, Accrual and Use

• Leave with pay granted employees for personal time off, vacation, and transaction of personal affairs.
• May be used at any time after it is earned if supervisor approves.
• Credited at the end of the pay period and cannot be advanced to employees.
• Upon resignation, employees are paid for up to 300 hours of accumulated, unused annual leave.

Act 506 of the 2026 Regular Session was the Louisiana Living Donor Paid Leave Protection Act. This law grants paid leave for state employees who serve as living organ donors. The act is effective dated 8.1.2026.

Per the Act, an employer shall grant paid leave of absence to an employee in a leave earning position who seeks to undergo a medical procedure to donate a human organ (part of a liver, pancreas, kidney, intestine, lung, or bone marrow). The paid leave of absence shall not exceed thirty consecutive calendar days beginning on the day immediately following the organ donation surgery.

To be eligible for organ donor leave, in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of organ donation surgery, the employee must:

• Have been continuously employed by the State; and
• Have actually worked for at least 1250 hours.

This paid leave shall run concurrently with any unpaid leave granted to eligible employees pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. Paid leave granted pursuant to this Section shall be in addition to any sick leave, annual leave, or military leave accrued by the employee during his employment with the state agency.

• Leave with pay granted employees who are suffering with illness or injury which prevents them from performing their usual duties and responsibilities or who require medical, dental or optical consultation or treatment, or who need to care for an immediate family member with similar circumstances.
• May be used at any time after it is earned.
• Absences must immediately be reported to supervisory personnel.
• Credited at the end of the pay period and cannot be advanced to employees.

• Leave with pay for a maximum of two days granted an eligible employee to attend the funeral or burial rites of a parent, stepparent, child, stepchild, brother, stepbrother, sister, stepsister, spouse, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandparent or grandchild.

• Unpaid leave granted to employees for good cause under stipulated conditions.
• Many benefits are impacted by the use of LWOP. Click on the links below for additional information.
  • Impact of LWOP on Benefits - Information Sheet
  • Election of Benefits Coverage While on LWOP - GI-1 Form

• Family Medical Leave
• Click here for an overview of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) and the forms required for requesting this leave.

• Beginning January 1, 2024, up to six weeks of paid Parental Leave will be available to eligible employees following the birth or placement of a child under 18 years old for adoption or foster care. Eligible employee should complete the Paid Parental Leave Request Form and submit it to their supervisor.

• Members of the instructional, research, and extension staff on full-time regular academic appointment at the rank of Instructor (or equivalent) or above and full-time unclassified administrative and professional employees, who have completed three (3) consecutive years of service, may petition for a leave of absence with part pay for not more than one (1) year of study which will culminate in the receipt of an advanced degree within five (5) years.
• Please refer to PM-12 for details.
• Educational Privileges - LSU Coursework and Tuition Exemption Program
  • Eligible employees may register for job-related courses for up to six college credit hours per regular semester and receive a tuition exemption.
  • Click here for PS 25 for eligibility requirements and a broader explanation of this topic.

• Full-time academic employees at the rank of Instructor (or equivalent) or above, who have completed six (6) continuous years of service on the campus without having received leave with pay, may petition for sabbatical leave for study and research, the object of which is to enable them to increase their professional efficiency and usefulness to the University.
• Please refer to PM-12 for details.
• Faculty should refer to the following documents for their submission:
  • Sabbatical Guidelines
  • Sabbatical Checklist
  • Sabbatical Request Form.

• Employees who are in leave earning positions who experience a catastrophic injury or illness for themselves or their eligible family member and who exhaust all of their paid leave may request leave that has been donated to the pool in order to cover a portion of their leave. Donations of annual leave to the pool can be made at any time, but cannot exceed 240 hours in a calendar year.
• See the AgCenter Crisis Leave Pool Program Guidelines for detailed information
• AgCenter Crisis Leave Donation Form
• AgCenter Crisis Leave Request Form

• Leave with pay while performing jury duty or when subpoenaed to appear as a witness before a court or public body in your capacity as an AgCenter employee.
• Leave with pay for voting purposes, limited to two hours of leave to vote in the parish where employed and not more than one day to vote in a parish outside the one where employed.

• Leave with pay up to fifteen days granted to employees who are members of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the U.S. or of the National Guard when ordered to active training duty.