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HOLIDAY / VACATION POLICY



The following sample company policy statements are for holiday leave. Generally, holidays are paid leave with no loss of credit for the employees length of service with the company. The policy below mentions Floating Holidays, which are a couple of days you designate each year just to give your employees a little more time off. If you dont want to offer Floating Holidays, you should remove the reference. If you want your policy to differ in other ways from the policy set out below, you should change this policy to reflect those differences. If you make substantive changes to this policy, however, you should have your attorney look over the changes. A list of holidays typically provided by employers is also included.


ANNUAL HOLIDAYS

[YOUR COMPANY NAME] observes the following holidays:

New Year's Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Friday after Thanksgiving
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
Floating Holiday
Personal Holiday


PAID HOLIDAYS

All full-time employees will receive holiday pay of eight straight time hours at their regular rate, provided the following conditions are satisfied:

Work a full shift on the employee's last scheduled work shift prior to the paid holiday.

Work a full shift on the employee's first scheduled work shift following the holiday.

Should the employee be unable to work either of these two days because of illness, proof of illness will be required in order to qualify for the paid holiday.

The shift differential for second and third shift employees will not be included in holiday pay.

Holiday pay will not be paid if:

1.  The employee has been on the payroll for less than [NUMBER] days.
2.  The employee is on lay-off status.
3.  The employee is a temporary or seasonal employee.
4.  The employee is on leave of absence when the holiday occurs.
5.  The employee is requested to work during a paid holiday and the employee refuse to do so.

Employees who are requested to work during a paid holiday will receive holiday pay plus regular pay.

PAID HOLIDAYS DURING VACATIONS AND WEEKENDS

If a holiday occurs during the employee's vacation, the employee's vacation will be extended by the number of holidays falling during the vacation period or an equal number of vacation days will be carried forward for future use.

If any scheduled paid holiday falls on a Saturday, the holiday will usually be observed on the preceding Friday. If the holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will usually be observed as the holiday.


OVERTIME

Holidays are not considered a day worked for purposes of calculating overtime unless work is actually performed.


[THE FLOATING HOLIDAY CLAUSE BELOW MAY BE REMOVED IF IT DOES NOT APPLY TO YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.]


FLOATING HOLIDAYS

In addition to the named holidays for which eligible employees will receive paid time off, [YOUR COMPANY NAME] will schedule two floating holidays each year. Floating holidays will be scheduled so as to provide eligible employees with extended weekends by combining them with named holidays.

At the beginning of each calendar year, the employee will receive a complete schedule of paid holidays, including paid floating holidays.


[THE PERSONAL HOLIDAYS CLAUSE BELOW MAY BE REMOVED IF IT DOES NOT APPLY TO YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.]


PERSONAL HOLIDAYS

In addition to scheduled paid holidays, eligible employees are given two floating holidays annually to be used as personal time off. Before scheduling a personal holiday, the employee must obtain approval. Requests for personal holidays must be made in writing not less than [NUMBER] days in advance of the requested date. 


RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS

[YOUR COMPANY NAME] recognizes that there may be religious holidays (other than those already designated at holidays) that employees would like to observe. It may be possible to arrange these holidays as scheduled days off, authorized absences without pay or personal time off. Requests for time off to observe religious holidays must be approved.


VACATION TIME

At the end of the employee's first year as a full-time employee of [YOUR COMPANY NAME], an employee is entitled to [number] days of paid vacation. The employee's vacation days increase to [number] days after five years of continuous employment with [YOUR COMPANY NAME], [NUMBER] days after [NUMBER] years of continuous employment with [YOUR COMPANY NAME], and [NUMBER] days after [NUMBER] years of continuous employment with [YOUR COMPANY NAME].

Vacation time may be taken in increments of one full day but in all cases must be prescheduled and pre-approved. One day of vacation for every five days that an employee is entitled to may be carried over to the following year, but must be used before [DATE].

[YOUR COMPANY NAME] does not provide paid vacation time for part-time employees.


VACATION PAY

Vacation pay is the employee's regular rate of pay, excluding overtime or holiday premiums. If the employee's regular rate of pay varies from week to week, the employee's vacation pay will equal the employee's average weekly hours or scheduled hours in the previous calendar quarter not to exceed [NUMBER] hours.

Pay will not be granted in lieu of vacation time not taken.


SCHEDULING VACATIONS

[YOUR COMPANY NAME] will attempt to grant all employees vacation at the time they desire to take it. However, [YOUR COMPANY NAME] must maintain adequate staffing at all times. Therefore, vacations must be scheduled in advance and with prior written approval.

Where conflicts develop, they will be resolved as fairly as possible. Preference will be given to the more senior employee, the employee who can demonstrate the greater need for vacation at the conflicting time or the employee who makes the earliest request.


[THE PLANTWIDE SHUTDOWN CLAUSE BELOW MAY BE REMOVED IF IT DOES NOT APPLY TO YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.]


PLANTWIDE SHUTDOWN

It is [YOUR COMPANY NAME] practice to have an annual shutdown of [PERIOD OF TIME] during the month of [MONTH]. All employees, with the exception of essential personnel, will take their normal vacations at this time. For those employees who are entitled to more than 10 days of vacation, the balance of that vacation must be scheduled. Employees who have been employed for less than one year receive paid vacation in the amount accrued as of the annual plant shutdown, providing they have completed six months of service at [YOUR COMPANY NAME].


HOLIDAY OR ILLNESS DURING VACATION

When a holiday occurs during the employee's vacation time, the employee will still receive pay for the holiday in addition to the employee's vacation pay or the employee may select another day off.

If the employee is hospitalized while on vacation, the time from the date of the employee's hospitalization until the employee's doctor releases the employee may, at the employee's option, be charged against the employee's short term disability benefits, rather than the employee's vacation time. If this happens, the employee must notify [YOUR COMPANY NAME]. If the employee becomes ill while on vacation, but the employee is not hospitalized, the employee's absence is charged against vacation time.


TERMINATION AND VACATION PAY

When employment ends for any reason, vacation time earned but not taken by the employee will be included in the employee's final paycheck. At the same time, vacation time taken in advance will be deducted from the final paycheck.


VACATION ACCRUAL METHODS

The following is a sample vacation accrual chart. You can modify your vacation accruals to reflect additional credit for any factor you feel deserve additional vacation as long as you are nondiscriminatory. If you make substantive changes to this policy, you should have your attorney look over the changes.

Employees who have completed one year of service and who work a [NUMBER]-day, [NUMBER]-hour week, are entitled to vacation as follows:

Service        Vacation
6 months      [NUMBER] week
1 year        [NUMBER] weeks
2 years        [NUMBER] weeks, [NUMBER] days
3 years        [NUMBER] weeks, [NUMBER] days
4 years        [NUMBER] weeks, [NUMBER] days
5 years        [NUMBER] weeks, [NUMBER] days
6-10 years      [NUMBER] weeks
11 years      [NUMBER] weeks, [NUMBER] days
12 years      [NUMBER] weeks, [NUMBER] days
13 years      [NUMBER] weeks, [NUMBER] days
14 years      [NUMBER] weeks, [NUMBER] days
15-24 years      [NUMBER] weeks
25 or more years    [NUMBER] weeks

Vacation must be taken during the calendar year at times convenient to you and your supervisor.

[OR USE THE WAY TO CALCULATE ACCRUAL]
1-5 years of service:  an employee earns [NUMBER] day per month up to a maximum of [NUMBER] day per year.

6-15 years of service:  an employee earns [NUMBER] days per month up to a maximum of [NUMBER] days per year.

16-25 years of service:  an employee earns [NUMBER] days per month up to a maximum of [NUMBER] days per year.

26 or more years of service:   an employee earns [NUMBER] days per month up to a maximum of [NUMBER] days per year.
VACATION ACCRUAL FOR NEW EMPLOYEES

Vacation accrual based on years of service do not address new employees who are hired after the beginning of the year. Vacation to new employees during the year of hire is as schedule of vacation days based on month of hire.

The schedule could be set up as follows:

Month of Employment        Vacation Days

January          [NUMBER] days
February        [NUMBER] days  
March          [NUMBER] days
April          [NUMBER] days
May          [NUMBER] days
June          [NUMBER] days
July          [NUMBER] days
August          [NUMBER] day
September-December      [NUMBER] days


PART-TIME ACCRUAL

Part-time employees may be eligible for vacation accrual on a pro-rata basis based upon their regular workweek.

Thus, under the accrual schedule above, a regular part-time employee (in the first through fifth year of service) who regularly works [NUMBER] hours per week could earn one vacation day per month up to a maximum of [NUMBER] days. One day of vacation would equal four hours ([NUMBER] hours per week divided by five days in the week) and the maximum vacation time that could be earned would be [NUMBER] hours ([NUMBER] days multiplied by four hours).

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