Author: Ryan Hill
State employees receive 24 hours of paid community service leave annually.
April 9, 2018 — Did you know every state employee is eligible to take 24 hours of paid community service leave each year? That’s one full day employees can use each year to volunteer within the community without using paid vacation leave.
While supervisor approval is required, Community Service Leave makes it possible for state employees to volunteer in non-profit, non-partisan community service organizations, schools, public universities, community colleges and state agencies. Community Service Leave also lets employees with children get involved in their schools.
With supervisor approval, employees interested in tutoring, mentoring or volunteering for a literacy program are eligible for an alternate option to the 24 hours of Community Service Leave. Employees who tutor or mentor at a school are eligible for one hour per week for a total of 36 hours a year, while employees who volunteer with a literacy program can take up five hours a month for a total of 45 hours annually.
Part-time employees (half time or more) are eligible for Community Service Leave on a pro-rated basis.
Unfortunately, thousands of Community Service Leave hours are never used and forfeited at the end of each year. In 2017, only 32 percent of NCDHHS employees used Community Service Leave hours. Those volunteers wound up using 14 percent of the total hours available to DHHS employees.
With 16,000 employees, DHHS employees can volunteer up to 48,000 days in the community each year, creating a real, positive impact within the state.
Don’t know where to start? National Volunteer Week is April 15-21 and volunteer opportunities are available statewide for employees.