Human Resources

UC Riverside’s will be observing a Winter Holiday Closure during the 2023-2024 holiday season. The campus is scheduled to close beginning Friday, December 22, 2023, and will reopen on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. Pursuant to Personnel Policy 2.210: Absence from Work  and relevant provisions of our collective bargaining agreements, the campus will observe the holidays on the following days.

For represented employees, closure days will be processed in accordance with existing contract provisions and are subject to discussion and/or collective bargaining where applicable.

Four university-paid holidays (December 25, 26, 29 and January 1) will be observed while the campus is closed. However, three days (December 22, 27, 28) are considered curtailment leave days and are not paid holidays. Employees have the choice of the following options to cover the non-paid days during the holiday closure period. 

• Employees may use vacation days in advance of their actual accrual.
• Newly hired employees, represented and policy-covered, may use their vacation accruals before completing six (6) continuous months on pay status.
• Employees with accrued compensatory time may elect to use it to cover the three days off or to offset the use of vacation time. 
• Employees who do not wish to use vacation or compensatory time off may request leave without pay, pending departmental approval. In this case, employees will not lose hourly vacation or sick leave accruals for these three days.

In accordance with regular procedures for scheduling vacation, employees should notify their supervisors in advance as to which option or combination of options they choose to use

Curtailment Q&A

1. Are all employees eligible to use up to three (3) days of vacation leave for December 22, 27 and 28, 2023? Employees who accrue vacation may use vacation leave for December 22, 27 and 28, 2023, if they would have been scheduled to work had these days not been winter curtailment days.
2. What about employees who have a waiting period before they can use accrued vacation leave? Employees who normally have a waiting period will be allowed to use accrued vacation even if their required waiting period has not been completed. 
3. What if an employee doesn’t have enough vacation hours available to cover the three (3) unpaid curtailment days (i.e., December 22, 27 and 28, 2023)? Three (3) days of vacation leave may be used in advance of actual accrual during the winter curtailment period. Please refer to appropriate policy and collective bargaining agreements for specific information.
4. How many vacation hours can a part-time employee "borrow" to cover the three (3) unpaid curtailment days (i.e., December 22, 27 and 28, 2023)? A part-time employee can "borrow" vacation hours for those days where they would have been scheduled to work had those days not been winter curtailment days. They may “borrow” on a prorated basis according to their appointment percentage and schedule.
5. When can an employee use vacation if they “borrow” vacation resulting in a negative leave balance? If an employee “borrows” vacation, they will not be able to use vacation leave until they have once again accrued enough vacation hours to cover the anticipated request.
6. Can an employee use accrued compensatory time off (CTO) to cover the unpaid curtailment days (i.e., December 22, 27 and 28, 2023)? Employees with accrued CTO may elect to use these hours to cover their scheduled time off or to offset the use of vacation time for December 22, 27 and 28, 2023, if they would have been scheduled to work had these days not been winter curtailment days.
7. What if an employee does not wish to use vacation or CTO to cover the unpaid curtailment days, (i.e., December 22, 27 and 28, 2023)? Employees who do not wish to use vacation or CTO may elect to use up to three (3) days of leave without pay (LWOP) during the curtailment period. The use of LWOP during the winter curtailment period may impact holiday eligibility, vacation accruals and sick accruals. Please refer to appropriate policy and collective bargaining agreements for specific information. See Question #10 for additional information.
8. Is an employee eligible to use sick leave if they become ill during winter curtailment? An employee may use sick leave if they have a sick leave accrual balance; if their sick leave request includes a medial provider verification of illness or injury and is authorized by their supervisor; and/or if they are on approved medical leave of absence, and the use of sick leave is in accordance with policy and collective bargaining agreements .
9. What if an employee wants to work during the winter curtailment period? As in previous years, certain essential services will not to be closed during this period. Some employees may be expected to work during this time period. Any staff employee, regardless of their work location, including remote work, may work only with the explicit approval of their principal officer/designee and supervisor.
   
   Researchers who need access to critical research facilities will need to coordinate with their department for continued access to research facilities during the curtailment period.
10. Will there be an impact on an employee’s vacation and sick leave accruals if they take leave without pay (LWOP) during the winter curtailment period instead of using vacation, “borrowed” vacation or accrued compensatory time off? For all groups of employees, under winter curtailment provisions, up to three (3) days of unpaid leave shall be considered time on pay status for the purposes of accruing vacation and sick leave only.
11. What impact will there be on an employee’s holiday pay and vacation and sick leave accruals if they take leave without pay (LWOP) during the winter curtailment period or fall below 50% of the working hours?
    • SICK LEAVE:
      1. Biweekly – Non-Exempt Employees: In order to accrue sick leave, all employees must be on pay status at least 50% of the working hours of any given quadri-weekly cycle to accrue proportionate sick leave. Although up to three (3) days of LWOP shall be considered as time on pay status during a curtailment period, any additional days of LWOP could result in the employee not accruing sick leave if they fall below 50% of the hours of the quadri-weekly cycle.
         
         Monthly - Exempt Employees: In order to accrue sick leave, all employees must be on pay status at least 50% of the working hours of any given month (88 for December 2023) to be eligible to accrue proportionate sick leave. Although up to three (3) days of Leave without Pay (LWOP) shall be considered as time on pay status during a curtailment period, any additional days of LWOP could result in the employee not accruing sick leave if they fall below 50% of the hours of the month.
    • VACATION LEAVE:
      1. Biweekly – Non-Exempt Employees: Employees accrue vacation leave based upon hours on pay status. For those part-time employees represented by AFSCME (SX and EX) and Police Officers Unit (PA), an employee must be on pay status at least 50% of the working hours in any given quadri-weekly cycle to accrue proportionate vacation leave. Although up to three (3) days of LWOP shall be considered as time on pay status during a curtailment period, any additional days of LWOP could result in the employee not accruing vacation leave if they fall below 50% of the hours of the quadri-weekly cycle. For all other groups of non-represented and represented employees, there is no 50% threshold in order to accrue vacation and accrual is proportional to time on pay status in the quadri-weekly cycle. Thus, up to three (3) days of LWOP will be considered as time on pay status during the curtailment period. Any additional days of LWOP could result in the employee not accruing full leave.
         
         Monthly - Exempt Employees: Employees accrue vacation leave based upon hours on pay status during the month. Although up to three (3) days of LWOP shall be considered as time on pay status during a curtailment period, any additional days of LWOP could result in the employee not accruing full vacation accruals.
    • HOLIDAY PAY: Note: With the exception of SX and EX employees, holiday earnings for employees who are paid on the biweekly pay cycle are calculated based on the UCPath holiday quadri-weekly cycle. Taking Leave without Pay (LNP) during the curtailment may affect January holiday eligibility due to the UCPath holiday quadri-weekly look-back cycles. Please consult with your Payroll Administrative Specialist with any questions.
      1. Monthly – Full-Time Exempt Employees: Exempt employees must be on pay status during the week in which the holiday falls to receive holiday pay.
      2. Biweekly – Non-Exempt Employees: Part Time: Depending upon policy or collective bargaining agreement, all part-time non-exempt employees receive proportionate holiday pay based upon hours on pay status in the month or UCPath holiday quadri-weekly cycle, excluding holiday hours. Part-time non-exempt employees must be on pay status at least 50% of the hours of the month or holiday quadriweekly cycle, excluding holiday hours, to receive holiday pay. If a part-time employee falls below 50%, they will lose their holiday pay for the month or biweekly period.  Full Time: Generally, LWOP taken during the winter curtailment period will not result in loss of holiday pay for a full-time non-exempt employee. However, depending upon the policy or collective bargaining agreement, LWOP taken outside of the winter curtailment period may result in loss of holiday pay. In most cases, full-time non-exempt employees must be on pay status during the week in which the holiday falls, as well as their last scheduled work day before the holiday and first scheduled workday after the holiday to receive holiday hours. Please refer to policy and collective bargaining agreements for specific guidance.

12.  Will an employee’s final paycheck be reduced if they separate with a negative vacation leave balance? An employees’ final paycheck will be reduced to recapture any remaining negative vacation leave balance(s).

Definitions:

• Quadri-weekly cycle – two consecutive biweekly periods.
• UCPath holiday quadri-weekly cycle – the two consecutive biweekly periods directly preceding the biweekly pay period in which the holiday falls.

Comments or questions regarding application of personnel policies during the winter closure may be sent to Central Human Resources Policy at hrpolicy@ucr.edu.