Faculty and staff join the conversation about UF’s leave benefit offerings

As part of its commitment to offering benefits programs that are competitive, valuable and meet the needs of our university community, UFHR recently invited university faculty and staff to join the conversation by providing feedback about the university’s existing leave programs. The scope of the feedback covered the topics of vacation and sick leave, parental leave, medical leave and FMLA leave.

Faculty and staff were invited to answer open-ended questions to provide UFHR with insight on the most valuable aspects of UF’s leave program as well as opportunities for improvement to meet the needs of the UF community.

The feedback received serves as a starting point to understand those benefits UF employees most value. It will also provide guidance for building a modernized leave program that is inclusive and responsive to faculty and staff needs. From the approximately 1,200 responses received, here are some of the themes that emerged:

• According to responses, the most valued aspects of our leave program include the amount of leave accrued, the flexibility UF’s leave program provides, successful promotion of work-life balance and the provision of December personal leave.
• Those who responded indicated that opportunities to improve the leave program include providing more cash-out options to employees and providing paid parental leave.
• While many respondents expressed an interest in UF moving to a “paid time off” structure rather than maintaining separate sick and vacation accruals, others were pleased with the current structure.
• A strong theme emerged suggesting UF should develop a leave program that recognizes the differing needs of faculty and staff, but is fair and consistent among individuals and across departments.​

These highlights, along with others, will serve as a starting point for how UFHR explores updating leave in a way that enables UF to attract and retain top talent and promote a culture of healthy work-life balance.

Thank you to those of you who took time to share your feedback with us. Your input is valued and provides a reference point during our work to improve our benefits offerings.

If you have questions or would like to provide additional insight, please email HRInitiatives@hr.ufl.edu.