11.9 Holidays

DAYS DESIGNATED AS PAID HOLIDAYS

Macalester College (the “College”) observes 11 paid holidays each year for eligible employees.  The days designated by the College as holidays are: 

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Memorial Day
• Juneteenth
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Friday after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Eve Day
• Christmas Day
• Floating Holiday (*)

* Due to the constraints of the timekeeping system, Floating Holiday balances will not show in your time- off balances after the last payroll of the year is processed. There will also be a delay of one or two pay periods in loading the accrual for the new calendar year. If you need to use your Floating Holiday between these pay periods, contact Employment Services. Use the following guide to avoid complications.

CALENDAR YEAR	BI-WEEKLY STAFF		MONTHLY STAFF
2017	01/22/17 – 12/23/17		02/01/17 – 11/30/17
2018	01/21/18 – 12/22/18		02/01/18 – 11/30/18
General Rule	3rd Pay – 26th Pay		February – November

ELIGIBILITY

Eligible employees are those appointed to positions which are a .5 FTE (average of 19.375 hours per week over a calendar year) and above who are employed on a regular ongoing basis.  Temporary, on-call, casual, and student employees are not eligible for paid holidays. 

The number of holiday hours eligible employees are entitled is prorated based upon their FTE.  Total Holiday hours and Floating Holiday hours paid cannot exceed 77.5 hours in a given twelve month calendar year (from January 1 through December 31), prorated per FTE.  For example, employees that regularly work a .6 FTE (23.25 hrs/wk) will be eligible for a total of 46.5 hours of holiday pay over a calendar year.  Employees who work an alternative work schedule (i.e. 10 hour work days) will be paid up to 7.75 hours of holiday pay which they may supplement with vacation time in order to reach the number of hours for which they are normally scheduled.

FTE	Hours Per Holiday	Annual Holiday Hours
1.00	7.750	77.50
0.90	6.975	69.75
0.80	6.200	62.00
0.70	5.425	54.25
0.60	4.650	46.50
0.50	3.875	38.75

PROCEDURES

Depending upon the particular day of the week a designated holiday falls, the College may observe the holiday on a different day than the official holiday.  When the official holiday falls on a Saturday, the holiday will be observed on the preceding Friday.  When the official holiday falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the following Monday.  When Christmas falls on a Saturday, and the holiday is observed on Friday, the “Christmas Eve Day” holiday will be observed on Thursday.

Employees who work on the holiday will receive another day off within the pay period before, pay period of, or pay period after the holiday.  To the extent possible, the day off will be granted in accordance with the employee’s request and coordinated with and approved by the supervisor.  However, business needs may also be taken into consideration.  The time associated with this day off may not be split over multiple days – the intention of the paid holiday is to provide a full day of rest for the employee. 

• Employees whose regular day off falls on a holiday may either adjust their work schedule the week of the holiday to receive the holiday pay, subject to supervisor approval, or work their regular schedule and not receive holiday pay.  
• Casual and part-time non-exempt employees who are required to work on a designated holiday will be paid their regular rate of pay plus one hour of holiday pay for each hour worked, up to a maximum of 7.75 hours.  
• If a holiday occurs during the pay period in which an employee is being paid for time off and the employee is not on a leave of absence extending beyond two (2) weeks (i.e. vacation time, sick time, funeral leave, or jury duty), the employee will be paid for the holiday.  
• Employees on leaves of absence (LOAs) extending beyond two weeks are not eligible for holiday pay.  Employees returning from LOAs, who are required to return on a temporary part time basis due to medical reasons, are eligible to receive holiday pay on a prorated basis based upon their schedule.  
• Employees on unpaid LOAs are not eligible for holiday pay.
• As with other time off benefits, time associated with paid holidays is not considered time worked and does not count toward weekly overtime limits. 
• Time reported for staff employees should be reported in the regular paid holiday category on online timesheets and leave reports.

Hours associated with the Floating Holiday must be taken in a whole day increment (they cannot be broken across multiple days) – the intention of the floating paid holiday is to provide a full day of rest for the employee.  Usage of the Floating Holiday must be reported via online time sheets or leave reports in a separate category and not combined with other paid leave types.  Scheduling of the Floating Holiday is subject to supervisor approval (based upon business need of the College) – supervisors and employees are encouraged to be fair and flexible in usage of the holiday.  Floating Holiday hours are based upon an employee’s FTE.  Employees who do not use their Floating Holiday by the end of the calendar year will lose it.  The College does not reimburse employees for an unused Floating Holiday.  The Floating Holiday is not eligible for payout in the event the employee leaves employment with the College.   As with other time off benefits, time associated with the Floating Holiday is not considered time worked and does not count toward weekly overtime limits. 

Important Note: Members of Macalester’s collective bargaining units (CBU) should refer to collective bargaining contract in force for paid leaves of absence policies.