Holidays and holiday credit
Last updated: September 22, 2023
This page applies to all contract covered, classified non-union, and professional staff employees.
All contract covered, classified non-union, and professional staff employees receive 12 paid holidays: 11 scheduled holidays and one personal holiday.
If your position’s service period is less than 12 months, you are paid only for those holidays that fall during the period in which you are employed.
Scheduled holidays include:
- New Year’s Day
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Presidents Day
- Memorial Day
- Juneteenth
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Veterans’ Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Native American Heritage Day (the day after Thanksgiving)
- Christmas Day
Visit the UW holiday calendar for specific dates.
Weekend holidays
If a holiday falls on a Saturday, it is observed the preceding Friday. If it falls on a Sunday, it is observed the following Monday. However, this day change does not apply to UW Medicine classified employees who work schedules that normally include holidays as part of 24 hours a day, seven days a week staffing or work in a clinic that is open on weekends.
Pay
Full-time employees receive eight hours of regular pay for each holiday.
Part-time, regularly scheduled employees are paid at a prorated amount based on their FTE. For example, a 0.5 FTE employee receives four hours of pay; a 0.75 FTE receives six hours.
Staff who do not hold an FTE are paid at a prorated amount based on the number of hours they are paid in the month.
Unless a more specific collective bargaining agreement term, Professional Staff Program provision, or civil service rule applies, to be paid for a scheduled holiday, you must be in pay status as follows:
| If you are: | Then you must be in pay status: |
|---|---|
| Classified non-union | the entire work shift on the last scheduled work shift preceding the holiday |
| Contract covered staff | at least four hours on the last scheduled work shift preceding the holiday |
| Professional staff | at least four hours on the last scheduled work shift preceding the holiday |
“In pay status” means you either worked that day or were on paid time off.
Holiday credit time off
You receive holiday credit when a holiday falls on your regularly scheduled day off. Full-time employees receive eight hours credit. Part-time, regularly scheduled employees receive a prorated amount based on their FTE. Staff who do not hold an FTE receive a prorated amount based on the number of hours they are paid in the month.
Alternate work schedules
An alternate work schedule is any work schedule that varies from the typical schedule of five consecutive days, eight hours per day, Monday through Friday. Holiday credit works a little differently for regularly scheduled employees who hold an alternate work schedule, as detailed below.
Work hours are greater than holiday hours
If a holiday falls on a day you would normally work and your regularly scheduled work hours are greater than your holiday hour entitlement (eight hours for full-time employees), you will “owe” the University the difference between the holiday hours and your scheduled hours. You may use vacation, compensatory time, discretionary leave, or holiday credit to make up this difference.
For example, if your regular schedule is Monday through Thursday, ten hours a day, you do not work Memorial Day (a Monday holiday). Then eight hours will be holiday pay and the remaining two hours must be covered by another type of allowable paid time off.
Work hours are less than holiday hours
If a holiday falls on a day you would normally work and your regularly scheduled work hours are less than your holiday hour entitlement, the University “owes” you the difference between the holiday hours and your scheduled hours. The difference is paid as holiday credit.
For example, you are a full-time employee and the holiday falls on a day when you are regularly scheduled to work six hours. You would receive six holiday hours and two hours of holiday credit.
Use of holiday credit
You may use your holiday credit as soon as it is accrued.
Holiday credit use deadlines
All accrued holiday credit must be used according to the following deadline schedule. Classified staff will have unused holiday credit paid out if not used by the deadlines.
| Employment program | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Classified non-union and Contract covered staff | June 30 (annually) |
| Professional staff | Must use holiday credit and discretionary time off (in that order) prior to using vacation |
Job changes
If you transfer to another department within the University or if you leave University employment, you must use or be paid for your unused holiday credit. You can’t transfer your credit to your new department.
Requesting use of holiday credit
To use your holiday credit:
- Verify your holiday credit balance in Workday (or Kronos if you are a medical centers employee).
- Verify that your desired dates occur before your holiday credit deadline.
- Follow your department’s usual time off request procedure.
Manager responsibilities
Approving use of holiday credit
To review an employee’s request to use holiday credit:
- Verify the employee’s holiday credit balance. Your department’s time off tracking system can provide this information.
- Verify that the requested dates meet the deadline for using holiday credit.
Additional resources
APS 45.3 Holiday Policy for Classified Non-Union, Contract-Classified, and Professional Staff