Time Off
Combined Time Off (CTO)
CTO can be used for vacation, personal illness, doctor's appointments, and other personal reasons, including care of immediate family.
Departments establish practices for providing notice of absences from work and for scheduling time away. Some departments whose workload is directly dependent on students being on campus take their time off when students are not in residence. Other departments schedule time off by mutual arrangement based upon the person's need and the department's workload.
Earning CTO
- Full-time benefit-eligible staff accrue CTO the last day of each pay period.
- CTO does not accrue during unpaid leaves or once an employee has reached the maximum accrual.
- Employees who are in the "part-time with partial benefits" category receive 30 hours of CTO upon their part-time benefit-eligible employment date and each part-time benefit-eligible anniversary date thereafter. The maximum accrual for this employment category is 45 hours.
- Employees (exempt and non-exempt) who work less than twelve months or have a prorated weekly schedule receive a prorated accrual based on the months/hours scheduled to work.
- Faculty appointed to term administrative roles, such as; Assistant/Associate Dean, Assistant/Associate Provost, and Directorships do not participate in the CTO Program.
- Staff Assistant Coaches do not participate in the CTO Program.
- See CTO accrual chart below for further details.
Using/Recording CTO
- CTO can only be used during the months in which the employee is scheduled to work.
- Non-exempt employees should record actual hours used. Exempt employees should record CTO for full days away or half days away.
- Employees may not elect to take leave unpaid if accrued time exists in their CTO bank without prior approval from Human Resources, and only then for exceptional circumstances.
- To learn more about recording CTO, refer to this page for Workday job aids under Time Entry and Time Off.
CTO to SLR Transfer
- To ensure employees who are at or near their CTO maximum continue to earn CTO each pay period, Workday automatically transfers hours from the CTO plan to the SLR plan when you are within 20 hours of your CTO maximum provided the SLR plan is not at its maximum accrual of 60 days.
- For 35 hour/week employees, the transfer occurs when your CTO balance is in excess of 295 hours.
- For 40 hour/week employees, the transfer occurs when your CTO balance is in excess of 340 hours.
CTO Payout Upon Separation
- Employees who leave the University will be paid for unused CTO up to a maximum of 20 days, as long as CTO has been recorded appropriately throughout employment.
- Individuals who serve as President, Provost or Dean and move to a Faculty position upon completion of that role, will be paid for unused CTO up to a maximum of 20 days.
- Full-time benefit-eligible employees who transfer to a part-time with partial-benefits position will have 90 days to use CTO hours in excess of 45 hours. On day 90, a balance in excess of 45 hours will be forfeited. Employees will not earn additional CTO until their next anniversary date.
CTO Accrual Charts
| Employee Weekly Schedule | Accrual if Paid Bi-Weekly | Accrual if Paid Monthly | Total CTO Hours Accrued Per Year In Hours (Days) | Maximum CTO Hours Permitted In Hours (Days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 6.73 | 14.58 | 175 (25) | 315 (45) |
| 40 | 7.69 | 16.67 | 200 (25) | 360 (45) |
Sick-Leave Reserve (SLR)
Full-time benefit-eligible staff receive five days of SLR upon employment. Additional time credited to the SLR is the result of an automatic transfer from the CTO plan when an employee is nearing the CTO maximum.
Part-time with partial benefits employees do not receive SLR. They receive 30 hours of CTO upon their part-time benefit-eligible employment date and each anniversary date thereafter to be used for paid time off such as vacations and illnesses.
SLR can be used for personal illnesses or doctor's appointments, doctor's appointments for immediate family members, or to care for an ill member of the immediate family. Immediate family includes spouse or domestic partner, parents, grandparents, stepparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, brothers/sisters-in-law, sons/daughters-in-law, and father/mother-in-law. SLR can also be used to cover the first ten working days of an employee's extended absence due to a serious illness or injury. After the first ten working days, eligible employees will be covered by the University's Short-Term Disability plan for up to six calendar months.
The number of days in the SLR is capped at 60 to cover the 12 weeks allotted for family and medical leave in circumstances when the University's Short Term Disability plan does not apply. Employees who leave the University are not paid for time in their Sick-Leave Reserve.
Bereavement Leave
Bereavement Leave provides time for grieving the loss of a close family member and for the purpose of planning and attending the funeral/memorial of a close family member. Paid leave is arranged directly with the supervisor. Supervisors should consult Human Resources for requests for extended bereavement leave.
Requests for paid leave at the time of a death of a person outside the immediate family should be considered on an individual basis.
University Holiday Schedule
To provide employees meaningful time off and a well-deserved break, University holidays include a full week at Thanksgiving and two full weeks over Winter Break.
Coverage in some departments may be required on holidays. Memorial Day is only observed in years when undergraduate commencement has already occurred.
To assist with security, cleaning and heating of buildings, all Department Directors are requested to notify Public Safety and University Facilities if your department will be staffed during the Thanksgiving and Winter Holiday closures.
| Holiday | Observed Calendar Day(s) |
|---|---|
| New Year's | Monday, January 1 |
| Memorial Day |
No Holiday. Holiday on Monday, June 3 |
| Juneteenth |
Wednesday, June 19 |
| Independence Day |
|
| Thanksgiving |
|
| Winter Holidays |
|
Note: Employees in "part-time with partial benefits" positions receive only the holidays noted in BOLD above and only for hours they would have normally been scheduled to work.
2025 Schedule
| Holiday | Observed Calendar Day(s) |
| New Year's | Wednesday, January 1, 2025 |
| Memorial Day | No Holiday. Holiday on Monday, June 2 |
| Juneteenth | Thursday, June 19 |
| Independence Day | Friday, July 4 |
| Thanksgiving |
|
| Winter Break |
|
| New Year's Day |
|
Note: Employees in "part-time with partial benefits" positions receive only the holidays noted in BOLD above and only for hours they would have normally been scheduled to work.
Religious Holiday Observance
The diversity of people who make up our university community requires the recognition of and respect for different religious beliefs, including the celebration of religious holidays. While the operating needs of the department must be met, supervisors should make practical accommodations to work schedules for individuals who request time off in advance for religious holidays. If the time away from work for a religious holiday is approved, an employee may use accrued CTO time. Supervisors may also permit employees to take time off without pay or to rearrange work schedules during the week in which the holiday occurs to make up for missed work time.
A representative list of holidays for the 2023-24 academic year from several major traditions is noted below. These are only representative holidays, and this list is not exhaustive.
| Holiday/Tradition | Religion | Date(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Rosh Hashanah | Jewish | September 15-17, 2023 |
| Yom Kippur | Jewish | September 24-25, 2023 |
| Shmini Atzeret (8th day of Assembly) | Jewish | October 6, 2023 |
| Simchat Torah | Jewish | October 7-8, 2023 |
| Birth of the Báb | Baha'i | October 16, 2023 |
| Dussehra | Hindu | October 24, 2023 |
| Diwali | Hindu | November 12, 2023 |
| Hanukkah | Jewish | December 7-15, 2023 |
| Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) | Buddhist | December 8, 2023 |
| Feast of Immaculate Conception of Mary | Christian | December 8, 2023 |
| Christmas | Christian | December 25, 2023 |
| Solemnity of Mary | Christian | January 1, 2024 |
| Feast of the Epiphany | (Orthodox) Christian | January 6, 2024 |
| Mahayana New Year | Buddhist | January 25, 2024 |
| Nirvana Day | Buddhist | February 15, 2024 |
| Magha Puja Day | Buddhist | February 24, 2024 |
| Ramadan | Muslim | March 10 - April 8, 2024 |
| Purim (Festival of Esther) | Jewish | March 23, 2024 |
| Holy Week | (Orthodox) Christian | March 24-30, 2024 |
| Good Friday | Christian | March 29, 2024 |
| Easter | Christian | March 31, 2024 |
| Eid Al-Fitr (Holiday of Breaking the Fast) | Muslim | April 9 or 10 (lunar calendar) |
| Festival of Ridvan | Baha'i | April 21 - May 2, 2024 |
| Passover | Jewish | April 22-30, 2024 |
| Therevada New Year | Buddhist | April 24-26, 2024 |
| Easter | (Orthodox) Christian | May 5, 2024 |
| Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) | Jewish | May 5-6, 2024 |
| Ascension Day | (Orthodox) Christian | May 9, 2024 |
| Declaration of the Bab | Baha'i | May 22-23, 2024 |
| Buddha Day (Visakha Puja) | Buddhist | May 23, 2024 |
| Ascension of Bahá-u'lláh | Baha'i | May 27-28, 2024 |
| Shavuot | Jewish | June 11-13, 2024 |
| Hajj | Muslim | June 14-19, 2024 |
| Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) | Muslim | June 16-19, 2024 |