Restricted Leave Periods

2025-2026 Bill 725: Restricted Leave Periods - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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S. 725
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Chaplin
Document Path: SR-0433KM26.docx
Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on
Finance
Summary: Restricted Leave Periods
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/10/2025

Senate

Prefiled

12/10/2025

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Finance

1/13/2026

Senate

Introduced and read first time (
Senate Journal-page 33
)

1/13/2026

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Finance
(
Senate Journal-page 33
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/10/2025
12/10/2025-A

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION
8-11-610
, RELATING TO THE MANNER IN WHICH ANNUAL LEAVE IS COMPUTED, SO
AS TO PROVIDE THAT A DEPARTMENT HEAD MAY NOT ESTABLISH RESTRICTED LEAVE PERIODS
DURING WHICH EMPLOYEES ARE PROHIBITED FROM TAKING ANNUAL LEAVE; AND BY AMENDING
SECTION
59-25-47
, RELATING TO UNUSED LEAVE PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED, SO AS TO
PROVIDE THAT A LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OR CHARTER SCHOOL MAY NOT ESTABLISH
RESTRICTED LEAVE PERIODS DURING WHICH EMPLOYEES ARE PROHIBITED FROM TAKING
ANNUAL LEAVE.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
8-11-610
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
8-11-610
.
(
A)
Any permanent full-time state employee is entitled to
annual leave with pay, which is computed as follows:

(
B)
For the first ten
years of state service, he shall earn one and one-fourth working days' leave
for each month of full-time employment a year. After ten years he shall earn a
bonus of one and one-fourth working days' annual leave for each year of continuous
service; however, the combined regular and bonus earnings shall not exceed
thirty days in any one year. No employee is required to use all of his annual
leave in any one year. Any unused annual leave may be accumulated, not to
exceed forty-five days.
Any employee of a department
which allowed an accumulation in excess of forty-five days, who, as of June 2,
1972, had accumulated annual leave in excess of forty-five days may carry over
and retain the excess leave which is the maximum amount the employee may carry
over into future years.
If the employee subsequently reduces the amount
of the leave carried over, the reduced amount, if in excess of forty-five days,
is the employee's maximum carry-over into future years. If the employee
further reduces the amount of the leave carried over to forty-five days or
less, forty-five days is the maximum amount of unused annual leave the employee
may accumulate. It is at the discretion of the department heads to determine
the maximum number of consecutive days any employee may have in any one period
of leave.
However, a department head may not establish
restricted leave periods during which employees are prohibited from taking
annual leave.
The total number of days of annual leave used in any one
calendar year may not exceed thirty days.

(
C)
Provided
, further, that instructional
Instructional

personnel at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind whose positions
are unclassified shall be entitled to receive annual leave in the same manner
as state employees and to utilize annual leave only as specified in the annual
contract.
The annual contract may not contain restricted
leave periods during which employees are prohibited from taking annual leave.

The annual contract shall enable such instructional personnel to utilize up to
but no more than nine days annual leave per year over and above scheduled
vacations, but no more than one day per month of annual leave without the
supervisor's permission except in cases of illness or maternity leave when all
available sick leave has been taken. Such employees shall be entitled to
accumulate up to the maximum accumulation allowed state employees. These
provisions shall not obligate the school to provide monetary compensation for
unutilized days accumulated beyond the maximum allowed state employees.
However, a school may not establish restricted leave periods
during which employees are prohibited from taking annual leave.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
59-25-47
of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

(
E) A local school district or a
charter school may not establish restricted leave periods during which
employees are prohibited from taking annual leave, nor may a local school
district or charter school include a provision in its employment contracts that
impose a restricted leave period.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 1:08 PM