Key takeaways:
- The 2024–2025 Winter Holiday Closure is proposed for Dec. 21 through Jan. 1.
- The UCLA Health System and certain essential-service facilities will continue to remain open.
With the Winter Holiday season within sight, many of you are likely beginning to plan your calendars. As in previous years, UCLA plans to implement a campus closure period at the end of 2024. This closure aims to benefit the Bruin community by fostering personal well-being, promoting a healthy work-life balance and contributing to energy-conservation efforts.
It is proposed that the campus closure period begin on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, through 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 campus practice in 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, 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 four 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 for the four working days based on departmental approval. In this case, employees will still accrue hourly vacation and sick leave for the days 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. We are seeking the Office of the President’s approval for 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 proposed break period, 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 related to calendar year-end activities. Deans, vice chancellors, vice provosts 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, Facilities Management, regarding facilities that need to remain open.
Comments or questions regarding application of personnel policies or collective bargaining agreements during the closure should be sent to Kathleen Shiroma, Manager, Staff Personnel Policy in Campus Human Resources, at KShiroma@chr.ucla.edu or Jane Miller, Senior Director of Employee and Labor Relations in Health Human Resources, at JaneMiller@mednet.ucla.edu by Friday, Aug.16, 2024.
