Holidays

Scope

This policy applies to all staff employees.

Back to top

Policy Statement

1. The university observes the following holidays and closes all offices except where continuous service is essential. Eligible employees are excused from work and receive their regular pay for these days.
   1. New Year's Day
   2. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
   3. Campus Holiday (Accrues on March 1 of each year)
   4. Memorial Day
   5. Juneteenth
   6. Independence Day
   7. Labor Day
   8. Thanksgiving Day
   9. Friday after Thanksgiving
   10. Christmas Day
   11. Winter Break (standard university business days between Christmas Day and New Year's Day)
2. Only the Board of Trustees or the president of the university may grant other special holidays.
3. Departments are encouraged to reasonably accommodate an employee's request to observe a religious observance or practice by one of the following methods:
   1. Changing the employee's work schedule, or
   2. Using the Campus Holiday, or
   3. Permitting the employee to take accrued time off.
      1. Non-Exempt (excluding PAO and PAU) staff may take vacation time, income protection time, and compensatory time, subject to the usage guidelines of the respective time off policies.
      2. Exempt staff and Non-Exempt PAO and PAU staff may use accumulated PTO; Non-Exempt PAO and PAU staff may also use compensatory time.
   4. Non-Exempt (including PAO and PAU) staff may also be permitted to use absence without pay, without benefit accrual subject to supervisory approval. See HR-06-20, Attendance, Absences, Personal Emergency policy.
4. Each holiday is considered eight hours for 100% FTE staff and is a lesser amount, as prorated by FTE, for staff employees who are less than 100% FTE and up to 50% FTE.
5. Previously accrued holidays or other paid time off cannot be used in place of the actual holiday.
6. Time off for a holiday cannot be given in advance of the date on which the observed or legal holiday falls.

Back to top

Procedures

Observed holidays, eligibility, and accruals

1. When holidays are observed.
   1. If a legal holiday falls on a Sunday, the holiday is observed on Monday immediately following the holiday.
   2. If a legal holiday falls on a Saturday, the holiday is observed on Friday immediately preceding the holiday.
   3. The Campus Holiday is a “floating holiday” that may be used beginning on March 1 of each year.
      1. The “floating” Campus Holiday is taken on a workday of the employee's choice, provided the employee has prior supervisory approval.
      2. The Campus Holiday must be taken by the end of the last full pay period of the following calendar year, or it is forfeited.
      3. The Campus Holiday is intended to be a day off; therefore the provisions in the "Compensation" sections below do not apply.
2. Eligibility for the holiday.
   1. On the day the university observes the holiday, a staff employee must be in active status and 50% FTE or greater (employee status “A” in HRMS), or
   2. On a partial leave of absence with a reduced FTE (employee status “P” in HRMS).
3. Staff employees in the following statuses on the day that the university observes the holiday are not eligible for the holiday:
   1. Leave of Absence (L): A 30-day or more absence without pay under the Discretionary Leave of Absence policy.
   2. Furlough (W); called a Short Work Break in HRMS.
   3. Terminated (T) or Retired (R). See HR-10-40, Voluntary and Involuntary Separation.
4. Employees hired or returning from a leave of absence on the day following a holiday do not accrue the holiday.
5. Appointments and separations should not occur on the day a holiday is observed. This does not apply to the March 1 accrual date for the Campus Holiday.
6. Employees on alternative work schedules, such as four ten-hour days, will receive eight (8) hours of pay for a holiday (prorated for staff who are less than a 1.0 FTE). Non-Exempt staff employees must cover the other hours with time-off benefits, make up the time within the same workweek with supervisory approval, or take time off without pay and benefit accruals (ABS).
7. Staff employees who accrue time off as compensation for a worked holiday must select a mutually agreeable time-off date with the supervisor, which does not create an undue hardship on the department.
   1. Non-Exempt staff must use the time off by the end of the last full pay period in December of the following calendar year, or it is forfeited.
   2. Exempt staff must take the time off by the end of December of the following calendar year, or it is forfeited.
8. Staff employees receive pay for unused holiday accruals not forfeited when separating from the university voluntarily or involuntarily.
9. For Non-Exempt employees, holiday accruals are included in the calculation of the overtime (FLSA) rate.

Compensation when only the observed or legal holiday is worked

1. Compensation for Non-Exempt (excluding PAO and PAU) when observed holidays are worked:
   1. Premium Holidays, Non-Exempt (excluding PAO and PAU) staff employees required to work receive compensation for all hours worked (RGN) plus, at the discretion of the department head, one of the following:
      1. Time and one-half up to a maximum of 12 hours of holiday accrual (HAC) to be used later; or
      2. Time and one-half up to a maximum of 12 hours of pay at the employee's regular rate (HBP).
   2. Non-Premium Holidays, Non-Exempt (excluding PAO and PAU) staff employees required to work receive compensation for all hours worked (RGN) plus, at the discretion of the department head, one of the following:
      1. Time off up to a maximum of 8 hours of holiday accrual (HAC) to be used later; or
      2. Additional pay up to a maximum of 8 hours at the employee's regular rate (HBP).
      3. For Non-Exempt AFSCME Service staff NOT working in a 24/7 operation (such as Central Heating Plant at Bloomington), the employee has the choice of time off or pay.
2. Compensation for Exempt staff and Non-Exempt PAO and PAU staff employees when observed holidays are worked:
   1. Exempt staff employees who work on a holiday accrue time off to be used later on a day-for-day basis, regardless of the number of hours worked on the holiday.
   2. Non-Exempt PAO and PAU staff employees who work on a holiday and who are eligible for overtime accrue time off to be used later equal to the actual time worked on the holiday, up to eight (8) hours (HAC). If the employee works a partial holiday, the portion not worked is charged to Holiday hours.
3. A staff employee whose scheduled day off occurs when the university observes a holiday but is scheduled to work on the legal holiday will have the legal holiday paid according to the provisions above.

Compensation when the observed and legal holidays are both worked

1. Non-Exempt (excluding PAO and PAU) staff scheduled to work on both the university observed holiday and the legal holiday accrues the following holiday pay on the legal holiday and receive compensation for all hours worked (RGN) plus one of the following:
   1. For premium holidays, the employee will receive one of the following on the legal holiday at the unit's discretion up to a maximum of 12 hours:

1. Time off at a time and one-half rate (HAC); or

2. Additional pay at the time and one-half rate (HBP).

 b. For non-premium holidays, the employee receives one of the following the legal holiday at the units discretion up to a maximum of 8 hours:

1. Time off to be used later (HAC); or

2. Additional pay at the employee's regular rate (HBP).

c. On the observed holiday staff employees receive compensation for hours worked at their regular rate of pay (RGN).

2. Exempt staff scheduled to work on both the university observed holiday and legal holiday will accrue time off to be used later on a day-for-day basis, regardless of the number of hours worked on the legal holiday. The observed holiday is considered a standard day of work.

3. Non-Exempt PAO and PAU staff scheduled to work on both the university observed and legal holiday accrue time off to be used later equal to the actual time worked on the legal holiday, up to eight (8) hours (HAC). If the employee works a partial holiday, the portion not worked is charged to holiday hours. The observed holiday is considered a standard day of work.

When the observed and legal holidays are both regular days off

1. Regardless of classification, staff whose regular days off include both the observed and the legal holiday will accrue eight (8) hours off with pay (HAC) on the legal holiday (no time is earned for the observed holiday).
2. These holiday hours must be used at a time mutually agreed upon with the supervisor and that does not create an undue hardship on the department
3. Holiday hours accrued will be forfeited if not used, according to the following:
   1. Exempt staff must use the holiday hours by the end of December in the following calendar year.
   2. Non-Exempt staff (including PAO and PAU) must use the holiday hours by the end of the last full pay period in December of the following calendar year.

Back to top

Definitions

1. Premium Holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
2. Non-Premium Holidays: Campus Holiday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, and Winter Break (standard university business days between Christmas Day and New Year's Day).

Back to top

Sanctions

Managers, supervisors, and employees who violate this policy are subject to corrective action, up to and including separation.

Back to top

History

September 2025- Substantive revisions

September 2024

Added winter break holidays to the university observed holidays, updated wording to reflect current practice and to reduce redundancy.

December 2021
Added Juneteenth to the university observed holidays.

April 2021
IU HR completed a full and substantive review to assess the ongoing need and effectiveness.

February 2021
Updated the staff employee group terms due to Job Framework Redesign Project.

May 2018
Changed MLK, Jr. Day from a non-premium to premium holiday.

April 2018
Updated wording to clarify how full time equivalent (FTE) impacts holiday accruals.

November 2017
Updated to remove PAS salary plan.

September 2017
Updates to the overtime (FLSA) explanation.

December 2016
Revised to add PAS salary plan.

February 2016
Replaced all the following policies:

Back to top