PURPOSE   
To provide staff employees with time to be with family during the Christmas/New Year's season.

SCOPE
This benefit applies to full-time and half-time employees.

BENEFIT
University offices are closed during the normal work days which fall between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day holidays.  This period of time is known as Christmas Closure.

During Christmas Closure:

1. All offices will be closed unless prior approval is obtained by the division vice president.  Offices are strongly discouraged from working on upgrades, preventative maintenance and other types of work that would require staff to work on non-emergencies during Christmas Closure.
2. Other offices, such as Physical Resources and Information Technology, will have a staff member on call in case of emergency.

Full-time and half-time employees who work a minimum of 20 hours per week (.5 FTE) are eligible as follows:

Non-Exempt Staff

1. Eligible non-exempt staff who are not required to work during Christmas Closure are paid for the days at their normal rate of pay, based on their regularly scheduled hours (according appointed annual FTE).
2. Eligible non-exempt staff who are required to work during Christmas Closure will be paid for actual time worked.  In addition, they will be compensated for the hours they worked during the Closure in one of the following ways:
   • They will be given additional paid time off (equivalent to the number of hours they are required to work during Christmas Closure week) during the week preceding or following the Christmas Closure, to allow time with family and friends.  If hours worked during the Christmas Closure week exceed 40, the hours over 40 must be paid at one-and-one-half (1.5) times their regular pay.  If the additional time off cannot be taken in the weeks immediately preceding or following Christmas Closure due to work schedule considerations determined by the supervisor, the eligible non-exempt staff would be given the opportunity to take the paid-time-off prior to the end of the fiscal year (May 31), according to the dates mutually agreed upon by employee and supervisor.
   • OR
     
   • They will be paid one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay.
     The supervisor and the employee will mutually agree on which compensation method is most appropriate.

Exempt Staff

Eligible exempt staff are paid for Christmas Closure at their normal rate of pay regardless of whether or not they are required to work.  If they are required to work during Christmas Closure:

1. they will be given additional paid time off (equivalent to the number of hours they are required to work during Christmas Closure week) during the week preceding or following the Christmas Closure, to allow time with family and friends.
2. If the additional time off cannot be taken in the weeks immediately preceding or following Christmas Closure due to work schedule considerations determined by the supervisor, the eligible exempt staff would be given the opportunity to take the paid time off prior to the end of the fiscal year (May 31), according to dates mutually agreed upon by employee and supervisor.

Limitations and Exclusions
Temporary staff, part-time staff and staff on unpaid leaves of absences are not eligible for pay during Christmas Closure.