Campus Human Resources

Dear Colleagues:

Thank you for your comments during the campuswide review of this year’s plans for the Winter Holiday Closure.

We are writing to confirm that UCLA will close between Saturday, December 19, 2020, and Sunday, January 3, 2021, and will reopen on Monday, January 4, 2021. This year, the closure is extended to six days (December 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30) in addition to the four paid holidays (December 24, 25 and 31, and January 1).

The Office of the President has approved an exception to the Vacation Leave and Curtailment Leave Policies to allow eligible employees to use six vacation days in advance of actual accrual during the campus closure. Staff employees and those academic employees who accrue vacation leave will need to use either vacation, compensatory time (if available), or leave without pay (LWOP) to cover the six additional days beyond the paid holidays.

For exclusively represented employees, labor contracts may include similar provisions, and requirements under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act will be observed.

In accordance with University personnel policies and applicable labor agreements, and consistent with previous years, employees will have the choice of the following options to cover the non-paid holidays during the closure period.

• Eligible employees may use vacation days in advance of their actual accrual.

• Newly hired employees (both represented and policy-covered) may use their vacation accruals during the closure before acquiring six continuous months on pay status.

• Employees with accrued compensatory time may elect to use it to cover the six 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 (LWOP) for the six working days based on departmental approval. If use of LWOP is approved, employees will not lose hourly vacation or sick leave accruals during these six days.

The above options may be used in combination. Employees should notify their respective supervisors in advance as to which option or combination of options they propose to use.

During the closure period, the UCLA Health System and certain areas providing essential services will continue to remain open. Deans, Vice Chancellors and other Organization Heads to whom this responsibility has been delegated may determine if any facilities under their management need to remain fully or partially open during the closure and, accordingly, arrange for appropriate staffing. Please send copies of these approval decisions to the offices of the Assistant Vice Chancellor, Facilities Management, and to Employee & Labor Relations.

For your convenience, we have developed a Frequently Asked Questions document to help with inquiries. If you have additional questions, campus employees may contact their departmental HR representative or Campus Human Resources Employee Relations Consultant. UCLA Health employees may contact Jane Miller, Director of Employee and Labor Relations, in Health Human Resources at janemiller@mednet.ucla.edu.

Sincerely,