It is the policy of the Board to count qualified prior state service in determining eligibility for accrued vacation leave (if applicable), longevity pay and awarding of service awards. Service credited by the College is not the same as service maintained by the Teachers and State Employees Retirement System (TSERS).
Allowable service credit is the grand total of all permanent employment whether designated as probationary, trainee and time-limited time, either full-time or part-time (regularly scheduled 20 hours or more each work week), which an employee has served in State government or other recognized public sector systems as defined by North Carolina Community College State Board Code. Prior service does not have to be continuous. Breaks in service are not counted in the computation for credit. Total State Service time is credited for employment with the following:
- Any State agency (subject to or exempt from the State Human Resources Act);
- Employment with other governmental units which are now state agencies (Examples: county highway maintenance forces, War Manpower Commission, Judicial System);
- Authorized military leave if the employee was actively employed by a qualifying state unit before and after involuntary military leave or after participating in reserve or guard service and training requirements;
- Authorized workers’ compensation leave from any of the governmental units for which service credit is granted;
- Employment with the county Agricultural Extension Service, the University of North Carolina System, the Community College System, and a school administrative unit of North Carolina, regardless of the source of salary, with the provision that a school year is equivalent to one full year. Credit for a partial year is given on a month-for-month basis for the actual months worked; not to exceed a year of credit in a twelve-month period;
- Employment with a local Mental Health, Public Health, Social Services, or Emergency Management agency in North Carolina if such employment is subject to the State Human Resources Act; or
- Employment with the General Assembly (except for participants in the Legislative Intern Program and Pages). All of the time, both permanent and temporary, of the employees; and the full legislative terms of the members shall be counted.
As provided in North Carolina Community College State Board Code, allowable service does not include:
- Temporary service, except for service with the General Assembly as provided above.
- Period of out-of-state employment with other states, schools, colleges or universities.
- Periods of employment with agencies of the federal government.
- Periods of military service other than those described above.
- Periods of employment for employers other than the State of North Carolina even though credit may have been purchased in the North Carolina retirement system for such service.
If an employee is in a paid status for on-half or more of the regularly scheduled work days in a month, credit shall be given for the entire month.
Definition of Terms:
A break in service is defined as any month in which an individual does not work more than half the available working days of the month for a recognized State entity as defined by policy. This includes unpaid leaves of absence while actively employed, or periods between employment periods, except for periods between academic periods for teachers and faculty.
Pay status is defined as working, exhausting accrued paid leave, including holiday pay, or when on worker’s compensation leave or an authorized military leave.
- It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure that their application accurately reflects all prior service that may be creditable.
- Human Resources will provide the new hire the verification form to provide to the previous state agency to verify prior state service credit allowed by North Carolina Community College State Board Code.
- Human Resources will update the information in Colleague, or other appropriate information system to reflect approved prior creditable service upon receipt of all applicable prior state service.
- Creditable service not verified in the first six months of employment and later discovered shall be credited once verified, not retroactively.
- Service credit granted will comply with provisions outlined in policy which may or may not be the same as that allowed by previous agencies or colleges, nor that credited with the North Carolina Teachers and State Employee’s Retirement System.
- An employee who disputes the service credit for purposes of the Total Creditable State Service Policy should consult with Human Resources for further investigation. Additional grievance may be pursued via the College’s Conflict Resolution (Grievance) Policy.
Rev. 2/3/23