Important Year-End Information and Reminders Regarding Benefits and Leave

Posted on 11/11/26 11:47 AM

Tax-Sheltered Annuity/Deferred Compensation Plans

The maximum annual contribution to tax-sheltered annuity 403(b) plans and deferred compensation 457(b) plans for tax year 2026 is $24,500. Employees age 50 and older have the opportunity to contribute an additional $8,000 in 2026 under the “50+ catch-up” provision for each plan. With the SECURE Act, employees age 60–63 now have the opportunity to contribute an additional $11,250 (inclusive of the $8,000) in 2026 under the catch-up provision. Employees may enroll and manage their TSA contributions by logging on to the State System Retirement@Work TSA portal and through the SERS website for the Deferred Compensation Plan for enrollment and changes to the 457(b) plan. More information can be found on the PASSHE website under Voluntary Retirement Plans.

Leave Earnings and Usage for Calendar Year 2026

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Management Directive M530.7 defines the leave calendar year as “the first full pay period in January through the end of the pay period which includes December 31. Therefore, leave calendar year 2026 officially ends on January 8, 2027.

To effectively manage your leave earnings and usage, please consider the following:

Calculate your personal, sick, and annual leave earnings through January 8, 2027, to determine the amount of leave you have available.
All personal, sick, and annual leave used through January 8, 2027, will be applied to available 2026 leave balances.
The maximum amount of annual leave allowed to be carried into the new calendar leave year is 45 days or 337.50 hours for 75-hour bi-weekly employees. For 80-hour bi-weekly employees, the maximum amount of annual leave allowed to be carried into the new calendar leave year is 45 days or 360 hours. If your balance is over this amount, you have through April 16, 2027, to use the excess. Annual leave hours in excess of the maximum and not used by April 16, 2027, will automatically be converted to sick leave up to the maximum amount of permitted sick leave accumulation. The carryover hours will be exhausted first, as annual leave is used in the 2027 leave calendar year, beginning January 9, 2027. Excess carryover will be displayed on Employee Self-Service (ESS)/Fiori as “Annual Leave Carryover.” The following university employees are affected by this: AFSCME, Management, OPEIU, SCUPA, and POA.
APSCUF (12-Month faculty) have not agreed to the automatic carryover of annual leave. Therefore, all annual leave in excess of 45 days must be used by January 8, 2027. For these employees to carry over any excess annual leave for seven pay periods, approval is required. If carryover has been approved, any excess annual leave not used by April 16, 2027, will be converted to sick leave, but only to the extent of any sick leave used during the leave calendar year. If carryover has been approved, the excess will be displayed on pay statements and on Employee Self-Service (ESS)/Fiori as “Annual Leave Carryover.” These carryover hours will be exhausted first, as annual leave is used in the 2027 leave calendar year, beginning January 9, 2027.
Coaches are not entitled to annual leave.
Personal leave available for 2026 may be used through April 16, 2027. This applies to the following employees: Management, OPEIU, SCUPA, and POA. Any excess personal leave will be displayed on pay statements and on Employee Self-Service (ESS)/Fiori as “Personal Leave Carryover.” These carryover hours will be exhausted first, as personal leave is used in the 2027 leave calendar year, beginning January 9, 2027. Any 2026 earned personal leave not used by April 16, 2027, will be lost by all employees. Anticipated usage of personal leave for 2027 before January 9, 2027, is not permitted. Faculty must use all personal leave available for the year 2026 by January 8, 2027. After this date, unused personal leave from calendar year 2026 will be lost.
If you have no leave available, you must contact the Office of Human Resources, Benefit Services, regarding the limited options for using leave without pay. Please remember you do not accrue any leave when using leave without pay, and an adjustment might have to be made to prior leave usage.

For more information on Benefits and Leave, please visit Benefits and then select your appropriate employment group.

Leave Usage Reminder

Please remember that all requests for leave must be submitted in a timely manner. When requests for leave are not submitted at the proper time, leave balances on the pay statement, the Payroll System and ESS (Employee Self- Service)/Fiori are incorrect. If questions arise, we cannot accurately answer inquiries regarding an employee’s leave record without complete information. Supervisors must ensure that their employees are submitting leave through ESS/Fiori and the leave is approved in a timely manner.

Temporary employees are not eligible to earn annual or sick leave unless they have met specific criteria.

Several factors may impact leave accruals and/or how leave is earned. Following review of the leave information provided on the Benefits web pages, if you still have questions regarding your leave and/or accruals, please contact Kyle Schons in Benefits Services at x4873 or benefit-services@iup.edu for assistance.

Important Extended Leave Reminders

When on an FMLA leave of absence due to a serious health condition (e.g., Sick, Sick Family, Parental leave, etc.), appropriate supporting medical documentation must be provided to Human Resources. When returning from a leave of absence due to a serious health condition, a release to return to full-duty work, including the date of release, must be provided by the employee’s healthcare provider and MUST be provided to Human Resources prior to returning to work. Supervisors who receive any confidential medical documentation should immediately forward all documentation to Benefit Services in the Office of Human Resources. Additional information on FMLA/Leave of Absence can be found on the IUP Benefits website and then by clicking on the appropriate bargaining unit.

It is mandatory that all leave requests be submitted through ESS/Fiori except for POA, Co-Gen, and temporary employees, who must submit paper leave requests.

Please contact Benefit Services with all other questions regarding benefits and leave by emailing benefit-services@iup.edu.