With the holidays approaching, IU Human Resources offers reminders for staff about the additional winter break holidays, how and when to use time off during office closings, and 2023’s final paycheck.

Additional paid holidays for winter break

As shared by President Pamela Whitten, the executive leadership of IU is recognizing the efforts of IU faculty and staff with additional paid holidays over the upcoming winter break. Tuesday, Dec. 26, through Friday, Dec. 29, will be paid university holidays this year. Most IU offices are expected to be closed, except where continuous service is required.

These are one-time, additional, paid holidays for the 2023-24 winter break. On these additional holidays, eligible staff employees are excused from work and will receive their regular pay. This one-time closure is in addition to the university’s observed legal holidays on Monday, Dec. 25, for Christmas and Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, for New Year’s Day.

Timesheets and ePTO calendars will auto-populate with the holiday hours. For employees who must work on the Dec. 26 to 29 holidays, these are fixed-date, premium holidays (refer to Human Resources policy HR-05-30). They cannot be deferred to a workday of the employee’s choosing.

Employees with questions about the additional holidays should check out the related HR web page and FAQ.

Winter break office closings

A unit may close between the following 2023-24 paid holidays dates or beyond for a winter break office closing:

• Monday, Dec. 25, 2023
• Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023
• Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023
• Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023
• Friday, Dec. 29, 2023
• Monday, Jan. 1, 2024

Use of accrued paid time off during office closings

During any office closings other than paid holidays, staff may use accrued paid time off as follows:

• Non-exempt staff may use vacation hours or compensatory time off. Non-exempt PAO and PAU staff may use PTO or compensatory time off, as available. Exempt staff may use PTO. Staff in any of these categories may also choose to take the time off as absent without pay, with time off accruals.
• Non-exempt staff cannot use income protection time, and exempt and non-exempt PAO and PAU staff cannot use PTO sick leave to cover this time.
• Staff employees who do not have sufficient paid time off accruals to cover an office closing will either take the time off as absent without pay (with time off accruals) or be permitted to borrow up to 40 hours of time (see next section).

Borrowing vacation or PTO accruals during office closings

Staff employees who do not have sufficient time off accruals to cover holiday office closings beyond paid holidays will be permitted to borrow up to 40 hours of time off per the following:

• Employees should contact their unit payroll specialist for instructions.
• As soon as the employee earns vacation or PTO accruals, the borrowed time is charged against the accrued time.
• If the employee separates from university employment before earning the borrowed time, the employee’s final paycheck will be adjusted accordingly.

If the office remains open, staff may not borrow against future accruals. With supervisor approval, they may take time off (vacation/PTO) or be absent without pay and without time off accruals.

Year-end pay dates

• For non-exempt (including PAO and PAU) staff, the last pay date of 2023 is Dec. 22, 2023, for time worked between Nov. 26, 2023, and Dec. 9, 2023.
• Exempt staff will receive pay for work during December 2023 on Jan. 2, 2024.

A reminder: For tax purposes, the last 2023 pay date for those paid monthly will be Nov. 30, 2023.

Use of unused 2022 holiday hours accruals

Unused holiday accruals from 2022 must be used by the end of the last pay period of 2023.

• For non-exempt (including PAO and PAU) staff, holiday time off earned in 2022 must be used by Dec. 22, 2023.
• For exempt staff, holiday time off earned in 2022 must be used by Dec. 31, 2023.

PTO rollover information

Applies to exempt staff and non-exempt, non-union PAO and PAU staff.

At the end of each calendar year, full-time (100 percent FTE) employees with unused PTO hours can allocate up to 136 of those hours to their PTO sick leave account, which can be used to cover absences for personal and family medical needs. For part-time employees, this amount is prorated by their position’s FTE. Instructions on PTO rollover are available in this printable announcement, and IU Today will share more as the PTO rollover window approaches.

Printable office closing, year-end and PTO rollover announcements are always available at the HR website. For HR-related questions, contact HR at askhr@iu.edu. For payroll-related questions, contact the Office of the University Controller.