4.18.16 Holidays
A. Purpose
To describe employee holiday benefits.
B. Persons Affected
This policy covers all employees of The University of Texas at Tyler and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (collectively, the “University”).
C. Definitions
N/A
D. Policy
The Appropriations Act authorizes legal state holidays (with pay) but provides that educational institutions may adjust the actual observance of these holidays to permit more efficient operations.
All regular employees are entitled to such holidays as approved by the President, or his designee, with the following provisions:
- Any employee required to work on a legal holiday is entitled to holiday time off on a one-to-one ratio of time worked to holiday time allotted (maximum of eight (8) hours). This time must be taken within twelve (12) months of accrual on such days mutually agreed upon by the employee and his/her supervisor. Time granted by the Governor during the fiscal year must be used within twelve (12) months of accrual. Employees must use holiday time granted by the Governor within 12 months of accrual. Any Holiday Compensatory time not used by the times stated above will be forfeited.
- Employees receive holiday benefits proportionate to their appointment status. For example, twenty (20) hour employees receive four (4) hours holiday per eight (8) hours holiday while forty (40) hour employees receive eight (8) hour holidays. Part-time employees in excess of twenty (20) hours will observe holidays based upon the percent time they are scheduled to work that month.
- Any authorized holiday(s) occurring while an employee is on a paid leave status, such as vacation, sick leave, floating holiday or holiday compensation, will be counted as a holiday, up to the maximum of eight (8) hours, rather than other leave.
- Floating holidays are available after the first day an employee works in the new fiscal year. Employees who are off (paid or unpaid), may not use new fiscal year floating holidays until they return to work.
- An employee on Leave Without Pay ("LWOP") or Leave of Absence ("LOA") will not be granted holiday pay for a holiday that occurs when he/she is LWOP/LOA for the entire day on both sides of the holiday. Employees will be credited for a holiday if they are in a pay status for any part of the duty day prior to and any part of the duty day following a holiday.
- An employee who is terminated for any reason is entitled to any holiday pay for as long as he/she is carried on the payroll. Holiday compensatory time and floating holiday time will not be paid when an employee terminates.
- An employee who is scheduled off on a holiday is entitled to the holiday, but must use it by the end of the fiscal year (August 31), or it will be lost.
- With supervisors' approval, employees may observe officially approved optional holidays in lieu of an officially approved holiday. The employee's department must be operating the day of the approved holiday he/she wishes to work in exchange for observing one of the above holidays. If the department is not open and staffed to conduct business on the approved holiday, then the employee may not work during the approved holiday and must use his/her personal leave time to observe the unapproved holiday. Refer to Holiday Schedule for the list of scheduled holidays and approved alternative holidays.
Any employee scheduled to work other than the normal work schedule is entitled to the same number of paid holidays during the year as employees who work the normal work schedule. Holiday time may not exceed eight (8) hours regardless of the number of hours an employee may work on a holiday.
It is the responsibility of the department head to schedule off holidays for all employees unless there are critical staffing needs.
In accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 662.005 (b), commissioned peace officers required to work on a national or state holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday are entitled to compensatory time off at the rate of one hour for each hour worked on the holiday.