Administrative Policies

Holiday Leave

Designated Holidays

KCTCS designates specific days as official KCTCS holidays. The designation of these days as officially observed holidays is recurring and entitles eligible employees to claim the day off as holiday leave pay. KCTCS closes all departments and offices on the designated holidays except those departments and offices for which continuous service is essential (see below). KCTCS recognizes the following events as recurring holidays:

• Martin Luther King Day
• President’s Day
• Good Friday (1/2 day)
• Memorial Day
• Juneteenth
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Presidential Election Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Day after Thanksgiving Day

Day of Observance

When a KCTCS designated holiday falls on a Saturday, KCTCS observes that holiday on Friday. If the KCTCS designated holiday falls on a Sunday, KCTCS observes that holiday on Monday. KCTCS lists the holiday schedule on the KCTCS website.

Institutional Closing

In addition to these holidays, KCTCS observes a two-week institutional closing that begins in late December and includes Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. When New Year's Day falls on a Saturday, the holiday will be observed on the Friday within the institutional close period. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the following Monday.

KCTCS lists the institutional closing schedule on the KCTCS website, and Administrative Policy 2.14.13 contains additional information about this closing period.

Spring and Fall Breaks

Regular faculty who are not assigned to work as essential personnel during spring and fall breaks, but remain available for meetings and other KCTCS business that occur on-site during those periods, shall be paid at their regular rate during those breaks.

Faculty who leave the area or are otherwise unavailable for meetings and other on-site KCTCS business shall request and use, as applicable, vacation/annual leave, sick leave, or compensatory time when available. KCTCS shall require faculty without such leave or compensatory time to take unpaid leave.

Spring and fall break periods do not apply to college and system office staff and cannot be claimed as paid holiday leave.

Holiday Pay

Eligible KCTCS employees shall be authorized to receive compensation related to holidays through one of two avenues:

1. Holiday leave entitlement, or
2. Working on a designated holiday.

Employee/Supervisor Duty to Plan in Advance: For employees who work during a holiday or who are on paid holiday leave, supervisors and employees are encouraged to coordinate and use advance planning and adjusted/flexible scheduling during weeks in which a holiday occurs, in order to try to ensure that regular full-time employees reach, but do not exceed, 37.5 hours of combined work hours and paid holiday leave hours during the work week (or the designated prorated amount for regular part-time employees) when feasible.

Compensation provisions during a holiday are as follows:

1. Holiday Leave Entitlement
   • Regular Full-Time and Regular Part-time Employees Leave Eligibility
     Eligible regular full-time non-essential employees shall be granted time off with pay on a holiday. Eligible regular part-time non-essential employees (i.e., whose work schedule constitutes 50% or more of a full-time schedule on an annualized basis) shall be granted paid holiday leave computed on a pro rata percentage to full time.
     
     
   • Eligibility in Alternate Circumstances
     Work schedules and employee status for both regular full-time employees and regular part-time employees may affect employees’ eligibility for holiday pay and other compensation as follows:
     1. Regular Full-Time Employees on Flex-Time/Alternate Schedules: If eligible, regular full-time employees who work a flex-time, evening, or night schedule and/or those employees whose scheduled work weeks are not consistent throughout the year shall be granted holiday time off with pay of 7.5 hours per individual holiday (or a prorated amount for partial day holiday on Good Friday) if the holiday day occurs during their assignment period.
        
        
     2. Regular Part-Time Employees on Flex-Time/Alternate Schedules: If eligible regular part-time employees (as stated above) work flex-time, evening, or night schedules and/or have scheduled work weeks that are not consistent throughout the year, they shall receive paid holiday leave at a pro rata percentage to full-time that is calculated using the average number of hours worked per week on an annualized basis.
        
        
     3. Holiday As a Previously Scheduled Non-Scheduled Work Day: When eligible regular full-time or eligible regular part-time employees with a flex-time/alternate schedule are not scheduled to work the day on which a holiday occurs, KCTCS shall grant time off with pay on another day within one week of the holiday.
        
        
     4. Ineligible Regular Part-Time Employees: Regular part-time employees who work a schedule of less than 50% of a full-time schedule on an annualized basis are not eligible for and shall not receive holiday leave with pay.
        
        
     5. Temporary Employees Ineligibility: Temporary employees are not eligible for and shall not receive holiday leave with pay.
        
        
     6. Effect of Retirement on Holiday Leave Pay: Eligible employees whose retirement occurs during a designated holiday shall receive that holiday pay, up to and including on their last day of employment.
        
        
     7. Effect of Other Leave on Holiday Leave Pay: If a holiday occurs while eligible employees are on authorized paid leave such as vacation leave, sick/temporary disability leave, bereavement leave, or compensatory leave, an otherwise eligible employee is entitled to paid holiday leave and shall not be charged vacation leave or sick/temporary disability leave time, bereavement leave, or compensatory leave for the holiday.
        
        
     8. No-pay Status: Employees in no-pay status for any reason during any portion of either the scheduled work day or leave day that falls immediately before and/or after a holiday are not eligible for and shall not receive paid holiday leave.
        
        
     9. Weekly Overtime Calculation: Paid leave time due to a holiday is not counted as "time worked" for the purpose of calculating overtime compensation for the week for eligible employees. 
        
        
2. Working on a Designated Holiday
   
   Essential Services
   
   When essential services are required during a holiday (as well as an emergency closing or institutional closing), KCTCS shall officially designate employees as “essential personnel” and assign them to work on the holiday and/or at other times that are adjacent to the holiday and are outside employees’ regularly scheduled work days/hours (i.e., evenings and weekends).
   
   The following definitions and practices apply to issues surrounding “essential personnel” who perform essential services for their hours worked on KCTCS designated holidays:
   
   
   1. Essential Personnel: Definitions of “essential personnel” and “non-essential personnel are included in the KCTCS policy regarding emergency closings.
      
      
   2. Designation of Essential Personnel: Whenever possible, supervisors shall designate “essential personnel” in advance of the holiday and shall communicate to those essential personnel their responsibilities and assigned work hours for the holidays on which they are required to work. For a given holiday, essential personnel may be assigned to work a full day or only a partial day(s) on the actual holiday and/or evenings/weekends adjacent to holidays. Supervisors shall also notify the payroll department of essential personnel when they do work during an emergency closing, preferably via their employees’ time sheets.
      
      
   3. Applicable Compensation: Applicable compensation for essential personnel for hours worked on a holiday varies by employees’ personnel system, as addressed below:
      1. Definitions: “Exempt” and “nonexempt” positions are defined in the KCTCS policy for compensation.
         
         
      2. Exempt Employee Compensation: Essential personnel under all personnel systems who are exempt employees required to work on a holiday shall receive the regular rate of pay for hours worked on the designated holiday. Any additional provision, if applicable, is stated below.
         
         
      3. Compensation and Overtime Provisions for Essential Personnel: The following information specifies compensation and overtime provisions for hours worked by essential personnel on designated holidays. These provisions are based on the employees’ personnel system:
         
         
         • KCTCS Personnel System – Nonexempt Employees
           For hours worked during a holiday (full or partial day), essential personnel shall:
           • Receive holiday pay at their regular pay rate. In addition, because they are considered to have worked overtime, for the hours worked they shall be paid at 1½ times their regular rate. If necessary and feasible, employee work schedules may be adjusted for the week in order to maintain the regular number of total hours for the workweek.
           • Receive holiday pay for the regular pay rate for those hours worked on evenings/weekend days that are adjacent to the holiday(but are not designated as a holiday since they are evenings/weekend days). In addition, because they are considered to have worked overtime, for these hours worked they shall be paid at 1½ times their regular rate.
             
             
         • UK Personnel System
           • Nonexempt Employees
             For hours worked during holidays (full or partial day), essential personnel shall:
             
             • Be paid at the regular pay rate (unless total hours worked are in excess of 40 hours for the week), and take equal time off within 6 weeks of the holiday.
             • Be paid at the regular rate on evenings/weekend days that are adjacent to the holiday period (but are not designated as a holiday since they are evening hours/weekend days) unless total hours worked are in excess of 40 hours for the week, and take equal time off within 6 weeks of the holiday period.
             • Be paid the overtime rate of 1.5 hours for every hour worked in excess of 40 hours during the week in which the work on the holiday occurs, if it is not possible to adjust employee work schedules for the week in order to maintain the regular number of total hours to be worked.
           • Exempt Employees
             For time worked during a holiday (full or partial day) and adjacent evening hours/weekends, essential personnel shall:
             • Be paid at the regular pay rate (and shall receive no additional compensation for working on a holiday), and take equal time off within 6 weeks of the holiday.
               
               
         • 151B/18A Personnel System
           • Nonexempt Employees
             For hours worked during holidays(full or partial day), essential personnel shall:
             • Be paid at the regular pay rate, unless total hours worked are in excess of 40 hours for the week.
             • Be paid at the regular pay rate for working on evenings/weekend days that are adjacent to the holiday(but are not designated as a holiday since they are evening hours/weekend days), unless total hours worked are in excess of 40 hours for the week.
             • Receive overtime compensation for every hour worked in excess of 40 hours during the week in which the work on the holiday occurs (if it is not possible to adjust employee work schedules for the week in order to maintain the regular number of total hours to be worked), in accordance with the administrative regulations for KRS Chapters 18A and KRS Chapter 151B.
           • Exempt Employees
             For time worked on holidays (full or partial day), the following shall apply to essential personnel:
             • During the week in which the work on the holiday occurs, if the total hours worked in that work week exceed 40 hours, when combined with all other hours worked during that same work week, employees shall receive compensatory time at the regular rate for the hours worked in excess of 40 hours (if it is not possible to adjust employee work schedules for the week in order to maintain the regular number of total hours worked), in accordance with the administrative regulations for KRS Chapters 18A and KRS Chapter 151B.

Other Holidays

In addition to the designated holiday schedule, employees may occasionally request time off in order to celebrate religious holidays within their faith tradition. In recognition of the religious diversity of its workforce, KCTCS encourages departments to accommodate such requests whenever possible. Time off for religious holidays shall be charged to a vacation day or compensatory leave time, if available. Alternately, employees’ supervisors may exercise discretion to allow employees seeking time off for religious holidays to substitute one of the designated KCTCS holidays for their religious holiday. Additionally, supervisors may arrange for employees to use flexible scheduling when taking time off for employees to observe religious holidays not designated as a KCTCS holiday, allowing employees to make up the time by working additional hours, provided the arrangement is completed within the same workweek. If one of the above arrangements is not applied, the time off for religious holidays shall be unpaid.

Related Policies

Additional provisions regarding holidays shall be adhered to in accordance with other KCTCS policies and procedures related to holidays, compensation , and leaves of absence.

In addition, KCTCS has separate policies and procedures governing leaves due to institutional closing and emergency closing.