Key takeaways
- The 2024–2025 Winter Holiday Closure is scheduled for Dec. 21 through Jan. 1
- The period includes four University paid holidays (Dec. 24, 25 and 31, 2024, and Jan. 1, 2025)
- The UCLA Health System and certain essential-service facilities will continue to remain open
Following campus-wide review of this year’s plans for the Winter Holiday Closure, we are confirming that UCLA will close between Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, and Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, with plans to reopen on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. The period includes four University paid holidays (Dec. 24, 25 and 31, 2024, and Jan. 1, 2025). This year, four days (Dec. 23, 26, 27 and 30) are not paid holidays.
In accordance with university personnel policies and applicable labor agreements, and consistent with our practice in previous years, employees 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 whose collective bargaining agreements do not permit the use of vacation accruals before acquiring six continuous months of employment, may do so exclusively during the winter closure. (The PPSM permits policy-covered employees to use vacation accruals during the probationary period.)
- Employees with accrued compensatory time may elect to use it to cover the four non-holidays 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 for the four non-holidays, based on departmental approval. In this case, employees will still accrue hourly vacation and sick leave for the days on which they choose to take leave without pay.
University policy related to curtailment leave allows eligible employees to use three vacation days in advance of actual accrual. The Office of the President has approved an exception to the vacation leave and curtailment leave policies to allow eligible employees to use up to four vacation days in advance of actual accrual during the campus closure.
For exclusively represented employees, labor contracts may include similar provisions, and requirements under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act will be observed.
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, the UCLA Health System and certain essential-service facilities will continue to remain open, and corresponding staff will continue to work. There may also be other employees who will be asked to work during this period in order to perform calendar-year-end activities. Deans, Vice Chancellors and Organization Heads to whom this responsibility has been delegated will need to determine if any facilities under their management will need to remain fully or partially open during the closure and, accordingly, arrange for appropriate staffing. Please advise the Office of the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management regarding facilities that need to remain open.
For your convenience, we have developed 2024–25 Frequently Asked Questions to help with inquiries. Campus employees with additional questions may contact their departmental HR representative or Kathleen Shiroma, Manager, Staff Personnel Policy, in Campus Human Resources at KShiroma@chr.ucla.edu. UCLA Health employees may contact Jane Miller, Executive Director of Employee and Labor Relations, in Health Human Resources at JaneMiller@mednet.ucla.edu.
