University Observed Holidays

PURPOSE/AUTHORITY:

To outline WVU procedure regarding holiday entitlement in accordance with West Virginia Board of Trustees Series 26 and Series 62, Section 5.

UNIVERSITY OBSERVED HOLIDAYS:

1. The number of holidays shall be 12 per fiscal year, in addition to statewide primary or general election days, plus 2 additional half-holidays when Christmas and New Year's Days fall on a Tuesday through Friday. 2. Days taken shall include Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and Martin Luther King's birthday. The remaining holidays may be designated at the discretion of each institution's President according to operational need. 3. Half holidays shall be counted as half-days in computing the total number of holidays. 4. Proclamation of any additional holiday(s) by the President of the United States, Governor or any other authority are recognized holidays at WVU only when they are communicated through the Chancellor's Office.

SATURDAY OR SUNDAY HOLIDAYS:

If a recognized holiday occurs on a Saturday, the University will observe it officially on the preceding Friday. If a recognized holiday occurs on a Sunday, the University will observe it officially on the following Monday.

When operational need requires a non-exempt employee to work on any of the observed University holidays, the employee will receive substitute time off (STO) or additional pay at a rate of one-and-one-half (1 1/2) for actual hours worked on the holiday. When an exempt employee is required to work on an observed University holiday, that employee will receive substitute time off on an hour-for-hour basis. The substitute holiday time must be used within six (6) months following the holiday.

If an employee works on an actual holiday which occurs on a Saturday or Sunday, the preceding entitlements do not apply. Holiday entitlements apply only to University observed holidays.

PRO-RATA:

Full-time regular employees, whose FTE is reported at less than 1.0, are provided with holiday leave on a pro-rated basis in direct proportion to the position's FTE. FTE is the percentage of the standard work year (1950 hours) that is typically worked.

Employees earn holiday leave entitlement as the holiday occurs. Holiday leave entitlement is determined by multiplying the full-time regular employee's FTE by the standard work day (7.5 hours) for each day of observance.

[ FTE X 7.5 hours = # hours received for holiday leave entitlement ]

Employees with a holiday leave entitlement greater than their scheduled work day must be granted the difference in time off within the work week, or substitute time off.

Employees with a holiday leave entitlement less than their scheduled work day, must charge the balance to annual leave or work the additional time within the work week.

SPECIAL RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS:

In accordance with the law, the University will consider granting reasonable time off to employees who may observe religious holidays not included on the list of University observed holidays, as long as this causes no undue operational problems and hardships within the department. Such time off will be charged to accumulated annual leave, compensatory time off, or substitute time off accruals .

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Full time regular classified, full-time regular non-classified, and faculty or FE/AP employees on less than 12 month appointments are entitled only to holidays observed during their appointment/contract.

If an observed holiday occurs on the employee's regular, scheduled day off, the employee shall be granted their holiday leave entitlement at another time within 6 months of the holiday.

When an observed holiday occurs during a regular employee's scheduled annual leave, the day will not be charged to annual leave.

Any specific adjustment regarding date(s) of observation will be announced by the President's Office or designated authority.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Questions regarding holiday observation or holiday leave entitlement should be directed to the Employee Relations Unit in the Division of Human Resources at 293-5700 x5.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 1, 1999

WVU POLICY REFERENCE: http://www.wvu.edu/~adminfin/policies/hr_policies/WVU-HR-55.html