409 Educational Leave

The President or a designee may grant educational leave without pay to full-time employees who have at least one year of service at the time of requesting leave. Educational leave may not exceed one year at a time and is to be used for obtaining a degree or professional certification. Such approved leave allows the employee the right to elect to continue his or her group insurance benefits at the same employee rate the individual paid through payroll deduction. The employee will be required to pay his or her share of insurance premiums while on leave each month. Failure to pay the employee share of the insurance premiums may result in loss of coverage.

409.1 Educational Support Leave

To supplement work-life balance options for University System of Georgia employees, each full-time, non-temporary employee of the USG shall be eligible for up to eight (8) hours of paid leave per calendar year for the purpose of promoting education in this state as authorized by O.C.G.A. § 45-20-32. Only activities directly related to student achievement and academic support will qualify for education support leave. Education support leave is not charged against any other leave. Education support leave does not accumulate or rollover and is not paid-out upon change of employment status.

The intent of the Education Support Leave is to provide parents with the opportunity to participate in activities related to their children’s (students) educational achievements (e.g. Parent Teacher Conferences). Additional examples are provided on the following team Georgia website link: team.georgia.gov/Georgia-news/education-support-leave-now-available-to-state-employee/