Tn% ATMDRNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
AUlrrXN. - rlsru
July 3. 1974
Tb,e Honorable Dr. J. W. Edgar Gpinion No. H- 341
Commissioner of Education
Texas Education Agency Re: Computation of
201 E. Eleventh Streat vacation time under
Austin, Texas 78701 the General Approp-
riations Act (H. B. 139,
Dear Dr. Edgar: 63rd Leg. )
You have submitted three questions to us concerning the vacation
and sick leave provisions of the General Appropriations Act for fiscal
1974 and 1975 (Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 659, p. 1786). See Article
6813b,. V. T. C. S. Your first question dealn with that portion of Sec. 7a
of Article V, General Provirions, which providen:
Sec. 7. EMPLOYEES VACATIONS AND LEAVES.
a. Employees of the State shall.without deduction in
salary, be entitled to a vacation in each fiscal year.
Such entitlement shall be earned in accordance with
the followings schedule.
Employees With Total State Hours Accrued
Employment Of: Per Month
Less than 15 years 7
15 years but less than 20 years 10
20 years and over 14
You ask: What is the definition of the fifteenth and twentieth years
of service?
In our opinion the provision is unambiguous. An employee during his
first fifteen years of employment earns vacation time at the rate of *even
hours of vacation time for each month of employment. Not until he has
completed the fifteenth year of employment does he step up to the next
higher rate of ten hours per month of employment. Similarly, when he
p. 1590
. .
The Honorable Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 2 (H-341)
has completed twenty years, he moves up to the rate of fourteen hours
per month. In both instances, the employee mutcomplete the year of
employment, whether the fifteenth or the twentieth, before he commences
to earn-vacation time at the higher rate. See Attorney General Opinion
M-984 (1971).
Section 7a of the General Provisions further provides:
An employee will earn vacation entitlement
beginning on the first day of employment with the
State and terminating on the last day of duty. Vaca-
tion entitlement is accrued at the applicable rate
cited above. Credit for one month’s accrual will
be given for each month or fraction of a month
of employment with the State. . . .
You ask: “What is the usable definition of a fraction of a month’s
employment and how is annual leave to be credited for this period of time?”
The question arifes only when an employee enters into state employment
on a day ‘oilier. than the first day of the month. However, whether that day
is the 5th, the 20th or some other day, it is on that day that the employee
begins to earn vacation entitlement under the clear terms of the Act. In
our opinion, each month of service would commence on the same day of
each succeeding month, and, by the same token, wpuld end on the preceding
day of each month.
Therefore, if employment extends past the day of the month on which
it first commenced and then terminates, the employee has a fraction of a
month’s employment for which he would be entitled to the unit of vacation
accrued during one month’s employment.
Your third question involves Sec. 7b of Article V of the Appropriations
Act which provides, with reference to accrual of sick leave:
b. Employeer of the State ahall, without deduction
in salary, be entitled to sick leave subject to the
following conditions:
p. 1591
The Honorable Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 3 (H-341)~
Sick leave entitlement shall be earned at the
rate of eight (8) hours for each month or fraction of
a month employment [& and shall accumulate
with the unused amount of such leave carried for-
ward each month.
In view of the fact that the Appropriations Act for fiscal 1973 (Acts
1972, 62nd Leg., 3rd C. S., ch. 1, p. 15. 273) provided for a limited
carry forward for a maximum period of 3 years, you ask whether
unlimited accrual became effective on September 1, 1973, or will
become effective September 1, 1974.
The only validity of riders in a general appropriations act must be
as limitations on the expenditure of funds appropriated by the Act. Texas
Constitution, Art. 3, Sec. 35; Attorney General Opinion V-1254 (1951).
Therefore, with the end of fiscal year 1973 on September 1. 1973, the
general provisions of the general appropriations act for that year lost
their vitality and were superceded by the provisions of the Act for
fiscal 1974 and 1975. Therefore, it is our conc~lpaion that, as of
September 1, 1973, sick leave can be accumulated without limitation.
SUMMARY
Under the current Appropriations Act, an employee
must complete a full fifteen or twenty years of employ-
ment to be entitled to one of the higher rates of accruing
vacation time. For these purposes, employment is to
be calculated from the actual starting date.
On and after September 1, 1973, sick leave may
be accumulated without the limitation imposed in
fiscal year 1973 and earlier.
Very truly yours,
A
General of Texas
p. 1592
1 .
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The Honorable Dr. J. W. Edgar, page 4 (H-341)
APPR
rnD:
DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee
p. 1593
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion