EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CREDIT AND SERVICE AWARD ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION


Employment service credit applies to all employees of the University of California, DOE Laboratories, and State of California service (including service with the State Universities and Colleges and Hastings College), regardless of appointment type. It is used to determine vacation accrual rate and eligibility for service awards.

Employment service credit does not accrue in the same way as, and should not be confused with, retirement service credit or seniority.

HOW EMPLOYMENT SERVICE CREDIT
IS CALCULATED:

  • Employees accrue one employment service credit for each month in which they are on pay status at least 50% time. Employees do not accrue any employment service credit for months in which they are on pay status less than 50% time.
  • Periods of leave with pay, military leave, and leave without pay due to a work-incurred injury or illness are included when calculating length of service.
  • A break in service does not result in loss of accrued employment service credits.
  • Previous service credit does not automatically follow an employee to their next appointment, regardless of location. Employees with previous service credit at a UC or qualifying California state agency should reach out to their department’s HR representative to begin the process of verifying service credit information.

STAFF SERVICE AWARDS ELIGIBILITY:

  • Once an employee has achieved a service year milestone (3,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45 years of service) they receive the service award gift that coincides with the milestone year and are invited to attend the annual Staff Service Awards ceremony.
  • The date/month/year a milestone is achieved does not always coincide with an employee’s work anniversary date since there are factors that may impact employment service credit such as a leave without pay.
  • Academic service is included to determine length of service, but awards are only granted to staff employees.
If you have questions regarding your employment service credit, please contact your local HR representative. For questions regarding the Staff Service Awards ceremony, please email us at UCISA@uci.edu.