Human Resources Policies

Each department may establish guidelines and procedures for scheduling and approving the use of holiday leave. Failure of an employee to follow department guidelines and procedures may be cause for denying the use of holiday leave and/or charging the employee with unauthorized absence. Employees who are charged with an unauthorized absence may also be subject to administrative/disciplinary action.

1. For non-exempt employees, holidays are listed in the MOU for the non-exempt bargaining unit. Regular holidays may be scheduled on the calendar date of the occurrence or on an alternative date within 90 days of the date of occurrence. If a regular holiday is not scheduled within the time limit, the employee must be paid for the holiday at 1 ½ times the employee’s regular rate of pay.
2. Floating holidays may be used at any time following the calendar date of occurrence. Employees are responsible for scheduling and using floating holidays during the calendar year in which the holiday occurs. Unused floating holidays, cannot be carried into the next calendar year. The only exception is the continued denial of requests to use floating holiday leave during the calendar year. In this case the employee must be paid for the denied holiday leave at 1 ½ times the employee’s regular rate of pay.
3. Departments may establish alternative holiday observance schedules consistent with operational needs. However, an employee cannot be scheduled to observe a holiday prior to the calendar date of occurrence.
4. Exempt employees must schedule holiday leave for use on or after the date of occurrence during the calendar year in which the holiday has been earned. No holiday leave can be carried into the next calendar year.
5. The leave taken must be recorded on the employee’s official timekeeping record.
6. Questions regarding holidays should be directed to Employee/Labor Relations, Human Resource Services.