Applies to:	Original Policy Date:	Date of Last Review:	Approved by:
Full-time & part-time faculty & staff (9- & 12-month) excluding adjunct faculty, temporary workers, & student workers	January 1, 2016	November 16, 2022	Dr. Marco Carvalho Executive Vice President & Provost

Policy Owner: Office of Human Resources

Policy Purpose

This policy outlines the days the university designates as paid holidays and provides guidelines related to holiday pay, including floating holidays and anniversary days.

Policy Scope

This policy applies to full-time and part-time faculty and staff (9-month and 12-month) excluding adjunct faculty, temporary workers, and student workers.

Policy Statement

The university designates holidays during each calendar year as paid time off, including one personal “floating” holiday. Employees who have reached 10 years of service receive one paid holiday per year annually in addition to the university-designated holidays.

Procedures/Guidelines

Holidays align with the Academic Calendar and typically include the following days:

New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Last Day (Friday) of Spring Break
Memorial Day
Juneteenth
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Veterans Day
Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day
Friday after Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
One personal "floating" holiday per calendar year.
Four "extra" holidays, typically the workdays between Christmas Day and New Year's Day

• Holidays that fall on a Saturday will normally be observed on the preceding Friday. Holidays that fall on a Sunday will normally be observed on the following Monday.
• Employees are eligible for holiday pay immediately upon employment, subject to the following conditions:
  • Part-time employees are entitled to holiday pay prorated according to the FTE of their position.
  • In order to be paid for a holiday, an employee must be in a pay status (not on full unpaid leave of absence) and the holiday must occur during a time period in which the employee would normally be working. For example, a 9-month position that runs Fall through Spring semesters would not be paid for the Independence Day holiday.
• Employees who are scheduled to work on a university recognized holiday and call off sick, will only be paid holiday pay. Sick Leave, Personal Floating Holidays, Vacation Leave and Anniversary Days cannot be used in conjuction with holiday pay. 
• Holidays that occur during a vacation will be paid as holiday time.
• Holidays that occur during extended disability or other approved unpaid leaves of absence are not considered earned and will not be paid.
• At the discretion of the department head, non-exempt employees who are required to work on a holiday because their department must remain in operation will normally be rescheduled for another paid day off within the same pay week that the holiday falls as a substitute for the holiday. If the employee's department determines that time off on another day within the work week is not feasible, the non-exempt employee will be paid straight time for the holiday worked. Based upon federal wage and hour laws, holiday hours that are not worked are not counted as paid hours when computing overtime payments
• Holiday pay is computed as straight time to all non-exempt employees, prorated according to the FTE of their position.
• An exempt employee's salary includes the days designated by the university as holidays. Exempt employees required to work on holidays will receive equivalent time off to be arranged with their supervisors and used within the same work week that the holiday falls.
• Adjunct faculty, temporary employees, and student workers are not eligible for holiday pay.

Personal "Floating" Holiday

• Employees receive one personal "floating" holiday per calendar year. This holiday may be used for any reason and at any time, subject to the approval of the employee's supervisor.
  • The personal holiday accrues in the first complete pay period in the calendar year. The number of hours accrued is based upon the number of hours the employee is authorized to work, e.g., an 80 hour per pay period employee earns eight hours of personal holiday, while a 60 hour per pay period employee earns six hours of personal holiday.
  • If a part-time employee becomes a full-time employee in an eligible position after the personal holiday has accrued, the employee will be granted a sufficient number of hours to provide a total of eight hours of personal holiday only if the employee has not already used the number of personal holiday hours that accrued based upon the original part-time status. If the employee used all available personal holiday hours prior to the change to full-time status, additional hours will not be granted for that calendar year.
  • An employee who transfers from full-time to part-time status before using the personal holiday will have the available balance reduced according to their FTE. For example, a full-time employee who transfers to a half-time position before using available personal holiday hours will have personal holiday hours reduced to four, consistent with a half-time appointment.
  • Employees hired on or after November 1 are not eligible for a personal holiday for the calendar year. They will accrue a personal holiday in the next calendar year.
• The personal holiday must be used in whole increments; partial day usage is not permitted.
• A personal holiday must be used by the last full pay period of the calendar year in which it accrues. A personal holiday that is not used during the calendar year in which it accrues is lost. A personal holiday is not carried over from one calendar year to another.
• A personal holiday that is not used prior to a separation for any reason will not be paid upon separation of employment.

Anniversary Day

• Employees who have reached 10 years of service receive one paid holiday per year annually in addition to the university-designated holidays. Work performed as an adjunct faculty member, student employee, and/or temporary employee does not count towards the 10-year service requirement.
• Employees hired on or after November 1 are not eligible for an anniversary day for the calendar year in which they complete 10 years of service. They will accrue an anniversary day in the next calendar year.
• The anniversary day becomes available in the first complete pay period following the anniversary date and may be used for any reason and at any time, subject to the approval of the employee's supervisor.
• The anniversary day must be used in whole increments; partial day usage is not permitted.
• An anniversary day must be used by the last full pay period of the calendar year in which it accrues. An anniversary day that is not used during the calendar year in which it accrues is lost. An anniversary day is not carried over from one calendar year to another.
• An anniversary day that is not used prior to separation for any reason is not paid to the separating employee.
• The provisions of this policy are not to be interpreted as entitling or limiting an eligible employee to using their anniversary day holiday on a specific date.

Definitions

FTE: Full time equivalent. The calculation of FTE is an employee's regularly scheduled hours divided by the employer's hours for a full-time workweek. For example, a part-time workweek of 20 hours divided by the 40-hour full-time workweek at Florida Tech is 0.5 FTE.

Responsibilities

Floating holidays and anniversary days are managed by the employee and the approving supervisor; the employee is responsible for reporting their time accordingly.