Vacation Leave Assessments, commonly referred to as VLAs, are charged to the fund-source(s) where an employee is contributing effort to help cover the future cost of vacation leave an employee has earned. Vacation Leave Assessments are the only financial obligation of the unit and the accrual appears as FRINGE on the labor ledgers (DOPE). There is no component of vacation included in CBR and is a separate assessment.
These assessments are pooled in a vacation leave reserve account. When vacation is taken or paid, the departmental account receives a net wash (zero) transaction as the vacation taken appears as SALARY on the labor ledgers, with a corresponding offset appearing as FRINGE.
On the central side, the vacation leave reserve account is reduced. This practice is common across all UC campuses and ensures the appropriate cost accounting treatment of vacation assessments.
Employee Mapping to VLA Groups
With UCPath, an employee will fall into one of three VLA groups. The assignment of an employee to a VLA group is based on whether or not an employee's appointment makes them eligible to accrue vacation leave. The following table provides some of the common UC appointments and corresponding UCPath VLA groups, and to be used as a general guide, but any specific questions about an employee's appointment vacation eligibility should be addressed to Human Resources.
| UCPath VLA Group | Appointment Examples |
| Accruing Staff and Non-Faculty Academic | Career Staff & A VCs (PPS, MSP) Senior Management Group Research Scientist Series Research Specialist Series |
| Fiscal Year Faculty | Deans Acting and Interim Deans Assistant Deans |
| Non-Accruing Staff and Academic Year Faculty |
Senate Faculty |
Approved VLA Rates
VLAs are charged based on the employee's eligible gross salary, and assessments can be calculated using the following formula:
Eligible Gross Salary x Applicable VLA Rate
For example, if a PPS employee has a monthly gross-salary amount of $1,000/month, the monthly assessment to offset the cost of future vacation taken would be $81.00 ($1,000 x 8.1 %).
Similar to the Composite Benefit Rates, VLAs are subject to annual rate adjustments. Because all VLAs are subject to change, continue to use FY24-25 rates for planning purposes until future rates are approved. The following table identifies the approved rates for FY24 and FY25:
| VLA Group | F24 VLA Rate | FF25 VLA Rate |
| Accruing Staff and Non-Faculty Academic | 6.65% | 6.67% |
| Fiscal Year Faculty | 6.32% | 6.67% |
| Non-Accruing Staff and Academic Year Faculty | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Budgeting for Contract and Grants
In accordance with relevant personnel policies and labor contract provisions, most UC Merced staff employees accrue vacation leave, including UC Merced staff employees paid on contracts and grants. Departments and research units should encourage staff supported by sponsored projects to use vacation leave in accordance with their personnel program, percentage of appointment, and service. Any questions regarding how VLAs are to be budgeted on a contract or grant should be directed toward Sponsored Research Services.
