Holiday Schedule

Paula Varnes Fussell
Vice President for Human Resource Services

In keeping with past practice, the university will be closed Friday, November 8, for Homecoming; Monday, November 11, for Veterans Day; and Thursday and Friday, November 28-29, for the Thanksgiving holiday. While classes have been cancelled on Wednesday, November 27, the university will remain open.  In addition to the November holidays, the university will be closed for the holiday period of December 25, 2013, through January 1, 2014. The holiday closing period is designed to offer departments the flexibility to close or significantly reduce staffing during the holiday season. We encourage you to consider allowing employees to use vacation leave around these holiday dates if requested.

All TEAMS employees and 12-month Academic Personnel will be credited with four personal leave days in December to be used during the period of December 26-31. UF vice presidents–working with deans, directors and department chairs–will determine which TEAMS employees and 12-month Academic Personnel are considered essential personnel and, therefore, will be required to work to support campus operations during this period.

The UF Veterinary Hospitals will remain open the entire holiday period. In addition, all clinical activities within the College of Medicine and UF Health Shands will remain open for patient care during these holidays. This includes all Shands functions, UF Health Physicians practices, and UF Jacksonville practices and clinical activities. Health Science Center faculty, staff and students with clinic responsibilities who are assigned to the Gainesville and Jacksonville campuses must check with their respective colleges, departments and clinics to determine their work requirements for November 8 and 11, the November 28-29 holiday, and during the December 25 through January 1 time period.

USPS employees are not eligible for the four personal leave days in December and may be required to use vacation or accrued compensatory leave during the holiday closing period if a department is closed or upon supervisory request. In the event a USPS employee does not have accrued vacation leave to cover the period, he or she may request that vacation leave be advanced to cover that absence, in which case the department is obligated to provide such leave. The holiday closing period is the only time during which vacation leave may be advanced. USPS employees may also elect to use leave without pay during this time.

For planning purposes, I recommend that you initiate discussions to determine to what extent departments and work units will be closed during the December 25 through January 1 time period, identify those employees who will be designated “essential” and share this information with employees in your area. Additional information on the holiday closing period, as well as the holiday schedule for 2014, may be found on the Human Resource Services website at: http://www.hr.ufl.edu/leave/holidays.asp.

For additional information, please contact Leave Administration at (352) 392-2477 or central-leave@ufl.edu.

Have a wonderful holiday season!