What you need to know
Sandia encourages you to take time away from work for rest, recreation, and personal activities.
With that in mind, a generous and flexible vacation policy is a key part of Sandia’s overall benefits package.
Accruing Vacation
You earn vacation based on your years of service with Sandia and your employee classification.
Sandia credits your accrued vacation to your vacation balance on a bi-weekly basis.
Over the course of the year, eligible employees will accrue vacation hours every other week, for a total of 26 accruals per year. Your total annual accrual rate will start at 120 hours for new hires and will increase at set intervals based on your years of service at Sandia. You can carry over unused hours into the next year. Once your balance hits 240 hours, you cannot earn additional vacation until you use some of your balance.
You can check your vacation balance here under Time & Leave Balances, and selecting the tile for My Leave Balances.
See Sandia’s vacation accrual schedule here.
You can find Sandia’s vacation accrual calendar here.
Represented employees: Be sure to check your collective bargaining agreement for all the details about accruing, using, and charging your vacation time. If there are any discrepancies between the collective bargaining agreement and the information presented through this website, the collective bargaining agreement governs.
Taking Vacation Time
You need to request and get approval from your manager to take your vacation time.
Sandia makes every effort to work with you to schedule vacation to meet your needs and preferences and to balance our business needs.
Additional guidelines may apply based on your employee classification (non-represented and represented).
Borrowing Vacation
If you use your vacation balance and need additional time off, you should work with your manager to request up to 40 hours of time against your future vacation balance.
New hires can borrow up to 80 hours of time during the first six months of employment.
You may be required to pay Sandia back if you leave Sandia and have a negative vacation balance.
Get more information through HR Solutions.
Vacation Buy Program
Eligible employees can purchase additional vacation time on a pretax basis.
You can purchase a minimum of 8 hours and up to 80 hours of vacation per year, and you enroll during each year’s Open Enrollment period.
Get more information through HR Solutions.
Vacation Sell Program
Eligible employees can participate in the vacation sell program and get cash in exchange. The vacation sell program lets eligible employees sell 40 hours of future vacation time (20 hours for part-time employees) from the next calendar year. In exchange, you’ll receive a lump-sum payment in May. The vacation you sell is taxed as ordinary income.
You enroll during each year’s Open Enrollment for the following year.
Note: You can only elect to buy OR sell vacation; you cannot elect both. Also, you cannot change your election in the middle of the year, even if you experience a qualifying life event.
Learn more from the frequently asked questions below, and you can get more information about both the vacation buy and vacation sell programs through HR Solutions.
With the Vacation Buy program, you agree to have money deducted from your paycheck for the vacation hours you purchased. If you don’t use the purchased vacation hours, you are refunded for the unused hours.
With the Vacation Sell program, you agree to convert some of your future accrued vacation hours to cash, which is paid to you as a lump-sum in May. This is in addition to your regular paycheck.
To comply with IRS rules that govern programs like the vacation sell program (and the vacation buy program), the amount you elect to buy or sell will impact vacation hours accrued in the tax year following the year the election was made. You cannot sell hours you have already accrued.
Yes, the amount you receive is paid on a post-tax basis and therefore subject to federal, state, and social security taxes.
If you elect to sell 40 hours during Open Enrollment, but then switch to a part-time schedule, the number of hours you collect for each remaining accrual period will decrease from 5 hours as a full-time employee to 2.5 hours as a part-time employee. At the time of the lump-sum payout, the payout you receive will be based on the balance of the vacation hours collected over the 8 accruals, rather than 40 hours.
Here’s an example: You work a full-time schedule in January and February and then switch to a part-time schedule in March. For the first four accruals in January and February, a total of 20 hours (4 x 5 hours) will be collected. For the remaining four accruals in March and April, a total of 10 hours (4 x 2.5 hours) will be collected. You will be paid out for a total of 30 hours in the lump-sum payout in May.
No; to avoid unintended tax consequences for all employees, it is important to follow the strict IRS rules governing the program. Once you make your election during Open Enrollment, you are not able to rescind your election (even if you have a qualifying event). For this reason, it is important that you carefully consider the impact of your request before you elect to sell future vacation accruals.
If you terminate your employment before the payout in May, your eligibility for the vacation sell program will end, and all the hours that have been collected to that point will be returned and combined with your regular accrued vacation hours. The total will be paid out to you in your final paycheck, subject to the standard accrual cap rules.
You cannot change your election mid-year, even if you experience an FMLA-qualifying event.
Once you have enrolled in the vacation sell program, the hours will be collected automatically from the first eight accruals of the calendar year and will not be available for you to use. However, under Sandia policy, you are able to have a negative vacation balance by borrowing against up to 40 hours of future vacation accruals.
You can only elect to participate in one program during Open Enrollment each year. You cannot participate in the vacation buy program in the same year you elect the vacation sell program.
The lump-sum payout amount in May will be based on your base pay rate in May.
No, it is a cash payout that you receive in your regular paycheck. It will not calculate toward or be automatically invested in your 401(k) account.
No, this is not allowed under the vacation sell program.
No, this is not allowed under the vacation sell program.
Yes, standard deductions, such as FICA taxes and federal income tax, will be withheld from the payout amount.
Yes, you are eligible to participate in the vacation sell program if you are eligible for the vacation plan.
No, you can only elect to participate in the vacation sell program during the annual Open Enrollment period.
Yes, the hours collected toward the vacation sell program will be based on your part-time or full-time hourly schedule.
Your lump-sum payout will be included in your regular paycheck.
No, this is not allowed under the program.
Vacation Donation
Sandia builds a pool of donated vacation using hours forfeited by employees who reach the maximum 240-hour vacation balance.
If you have exhausted all of your eligible paid time off and need to take an extended leave for a qualified situation (for example, after the death of an immediate family member or when called to active military service), you can apply for donated vacation.
Special rules apply in order for employees to qualify for this program. Check HR Solutions for more details.
You can apply for donated vacation time here.
When You Leave Sandia
You will be paid your unused accrued vacation balance when you terminate your employment or retire from Sandia.
Get more details through HR Solutions.
Almost ready?
HR Solutions is here to help you plan your time for bonding with your new addition.
For California-specific benefits, contact a CA Medical Case Manager from the Division 8000 Operations Absent Management Services page.
Quick Tip
When you’re called for active duty…
If you are called for active military service, you may be eligible for up to 500 hours of time through Sandia’s vacation donation pool. Refer to HR Solutions for more details about military leave.