HOLIDAY/VACATION POLICY
Generally, holidays are paid leave with no loss of credit for the employee’s 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 don’t 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
{ Insert Name of Company } 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:
1. Work a full shift on the employee's last scheduled work shift prior to the paid
holiday.
2. Work a full shift on the employee's first scheduled work shift following the
holiday.
3. 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 90 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,
{ Insert Name of Company } 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 10 days in advance of the requested date.
Religious Holidays
{ Insert 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 { Insert Company
Name }, an employee is entitled to { Insert Number } days of paid vacation. The
employee's vacation days increase to { Insert Number } days after five years of continuous
employment with { Insert Company Name }, { Insert Number } days after 15 years of
continuous employment with { Insert Company Name }, and { Insert Number } days after
30 years of continuous employment with { Insert 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 { Insert
Date }.
{ Insert 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 40 hours.
Pay will not be granted in lieu of vacation time not taken.
Scheduling Vacations
{ Insert Company Name } will attempt to grant all employees vacation at the time they
desire to take it. However, { Insert 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 { Insert Company Name } practice to have an annual shutdown of { state period of
time } during the month of { Insert 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 { Insert 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
{ Insert 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.
Basic seniority Accrual Method
Employees who have completed one year of service and who work a 5-day, 40-hour
week, are entitled to vacation as follows:
Service Vacation entitlement in week/hours
After 1 year 1 week/40 hours
After 2 years 1 week plus 1 day/48 hours
After 3 years 1 week plus 2 days/56 hours
After 4 years 1 week plus 3 days/64 hours
After 5 years 2 weeks/80 hours
After 6 years 2 weeks/80 hours
After 7 years 2 weeks/80 hours
After 8 years 2 weeks plus 1 day/88 hours
After 9 years 2 weeks plus 2 days/96 hours
After 10 years 3 weeks/120 hours
After 11 years 3 weeks/120 hours
After 12 years 3 weeks/120 hours
After 13 years 3 weeks/120 hours
After 14 years 3 weeks/120 hours
After 15 years 3 weeks/120 hours
After 16 years 3 weeks plus 1 day/128 hours
After 17 years 3 weeks plus 1 day/128 hours
After 18 years 3 weeks plus 1 day/128 hours
After 19 years 3 weeks plus 2 days/136 hours
After 20 years 4 weeks/160 hours
After 21 years 4 weeks/160 hours
After 22 years 4 weeks/160 hours
After 23 years 4 weeks/160 hours
After 24 years 4 weeks/160 hours
After 25 years 5 weeks/200 hours
Vacation must be taken during the calendar year at times convenient to you and your
supervisor.
Seniority Accrual Method (#2)
Vacation accrual is usually based on some element of seniority. Most companies reward
long-term employees with additional vacation days. Illustrated below is another basic
policy that accrues vacation based on years of service and is more generous than the first
sample.
Service Vacation
6 months 1 week
1 year 2 weeks
2 years 2 weeks, 1 day
3 years 2 weeks, 2 days
4 years 2 weeks, 3 days
5 years 2 weeks, 4 days
6-10 years 3 weeks
11 years 3 weeks, 1 day
12 years 3 weeks, 2 days
13 years 3 weeks, 3 days
14 years 3 weeks, 4 days
15-24 years 4 weeks
25 or more years 5 weeks
Vacation Accrual for New Employees
Vacation accrual based on years of service does not address new employees who are
hired after the beginning of the year. One way to provide vacation to new employees
during the year of hire is assign a schedule of vacation days based on month of hire.
The schedule could be set up as follows:
Month of Employment Vacation Days
January 10 days
February 9 days
March 7 days
April 5 days
May 4 days
June 3 days
July 2 days
August 1 day
September-December 0 days
Simple Monthly Accrual
Another method of vacation accrual is based upon crediting employees with one day of
vacation for each month of active employment. As employee gain seniority they earn
more days of vacation per month and are eligible to accrue a greater number of vacation
days each year.
This type of accrual schedule might look like this:
1-5 years of service: an employee earns 1 day per month up to a
maximum of 10 day per year.
6-15 years of service: an employee earns 1.5 days per month up to a
maximum of 15 days per year.
16-25 years of service: an employee earns 2 days per month up to a
maximum of 20 days per year.
26 or more years of service: an employee earns 2.5 days per month up to
a maximum of 25 days per year.
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 20 hours per week could earn one vacation day
per month up to a maximum of 10 days. One day of vacation would equal four hours (20
hours per week divided by five days in the week) and the maximum vacation time that
could be earned would be 40 hours (10 days multiplied by four hours).
Funeral Leave Policy
The following sample company policy statements are for funeral leave. Generally,
funeral leave is granted with pay and without loss of credit for the employee’s length of
service with the company. If you want your policy to differ 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.
Salaried Employees
The purpose of funeral leave is to provide you with time to attend the funeral of a
member of your family and to handle personal affairs without disrupting your income.
Only permanent full-time employees are eligible for funeral leave benefits, and the
benefits become effective after you complete your training and adjustment period.
Time allowed: You may be granted up to a three-day leave (three consecutive working
days) with pay in the event of the death of an immediate family member.
Definition of immediate family member: The term immediate family member is
defined as:
Brother
Child
Father
Father-in-law
Husband
Mother
Mother-in-law
Sister
Stepbrother
Stepchild
Stepfather
Stepmother
Stepsister
Wife
Funeral pay: Your funeral leave pay will be figured at your regular rate of pay.
Leave without pay: If you are not eligible for funeral leave with pay, you may be given
time off without pay in case of a death in the family. Time off without pay may be
arranged to attend the funeral of a close friend. Each day off will be counted as an
absence without pay.
Forfeiture: You forfeit your rights to funeral leave benefits if you terminate employment
before returning to your assigned position to work at least one workday after you have
used funeral leave benefits.
When you are granted funeral leave benefits, it is mandatory that you attend the funeral
of the relative for whom such funeral leave was requested. We reserve the right to ask
you to supply the name and relationship of the deceased and the name of the funeral
home that handled the arrangements.
Sample (hourly employees)
All hourly employees, subject to the conditions below, will receive funeral leave in the
event of a death in their immediate family. The employee will be compensated for his
scheduled work hours from which he is absent due to the funeral leave, not exceeding
eight hours each day, at his regular basic straight time hourly rate.
The following points will be considered in determining whether an employee will receive
pay for funeral leave:
Employee has to have been continuously employed for 90 days prior to the death of
someone in his immediate family.
Immediate family is defined as spouse, child, parent, brother, or sister of the
employee.
Funeral leave will be granted from work for three consecutive days, including the day
of the funeral, but limited to one day following day of funeral.
The funeral allowance will be paid only for scheduled work time lost and will not be
counted in computing overtime.
No funeral allowance will be paid unless the employee gives reasonable prior notice
of his intended absence from scheduled work and the time and date he intends to
return to work.
No funeral allowance will be paid if the employee does not attend the funeral.
Promptly upon return to work, the employee must apply for the funeral allowance.
Proof of relationship to the deceased may be required.
Sample Sick Leave Policy
The following sample company policy statements are for sick leave plans. Generally,
sick leave is granted with pay and without a loss of credit for the employee’s length of
service with the company. If you want your policy to differ from the policies set out
below, you should change these policies to reflect those differences. If you make
substantive changes to these policies, however, you should have your attorney look over
the changes.
Pay for Illness
Employees will become eligible to participate in the paid time for illness program as
follows:
if employed prior to July 1, employees will be allowed up to 10 days in the following
year
if employed between July 1 and December 31, employees will be allowed up to five
days in the following year, and up to five days in the succeeding years.
In addition to illness, sick leave may also be granted for medical, dental, or optical
examinations or when a member of your household requires your personal care and
attention due to illness.
Pay and benefits during sick leave. Illness pay will be based on a regular eight-hour
day at straight time and at the employee’s base rate. Illness absence of less than three
hours in a day will not be considered for payment. Saturdays, Sundays, daily overtime
hours, paid holidays, and paid vacation time are excluded as time for which payment will
be made under this program.
Weekly insurance benefits will continue to be paid commencing with the first day of
certified disability due to accidents and the fourth day due to illness. Thus, in accident
and illness cases, the insurance benefit will be paid rather than the paid illness allowance,
and any unused illness allowance will be available for use later in the year as needed.
Certification of illness. Certification of illness by a physician will not normally be
required to qualify for payment under this program.
Effect on performance. While the company pays you for authorized sick days, we
expect you to be honest with us in taking days off only when you are actually ill. Any
abuse of this benefit will be taken into account in evaluations of your performance. The
company reserves the right to require a statement from your doctor.
At termination. When termination of employment occurs, no payment for sick leave
will be made.
Accrual of Sick Leave
Starting with the first day of employment, sick leave will accumulate at the rate of one
(1) day per month. Sick leave may accumulate to a maximum of sixty (60) days.
An employee may receive compensation for his/her sick leave that has accumulated in
excess of 60 days at the rate of one day’s pay for each two days of sick leave
accumulated in excess of 60 days. Payment for unused sick leave will be made during
the month of December each year, or at other times as designated by [person who
approves sick leave].
One day of sick leave for those employees who normally work a 40-hour week shall be
eight hours. A day of sick leave for employees working fifty-six (56) or more hours per
week shall be twelve (12) hours.
Permanent part-time employees are entitled to sick leave as earned on a pro rata basis.
No sick leave shall accumulate to seasonal or temporary employees. All sick leave
payments are to be approved by [person who approves sick leave]. Thus, any employee
who is ill is responsible for reporting his or her absence to the appropriate person within
one hour after his or her designated time for reporting to work.
Personal Leave Policy
The following sample company policy statement is for personal leave. Generally,
personal leave is granted without pay, but without loss of credit for the employee’s
length of service with the company. Not all companies allow employees to retain their
service credit, however. If you want your policy to differ from the one below, you should
modify it to fit your circumstances. If you make substantive changes to this policy,
however, you should have your attorney look over the changes.
A personal leave of absence without pay may be granted an employee at the discretion of
the company. A personal leave of absence is defined as an absence of two weeks or
longer. It is not our general policy to grant personal leaves of absence and such leaves
will be granted only under unusual circumstances. A personal leave of absence is not
available instead of medical leave.
Granting of such a leave depends on the review of the merits of each case, including the
effect the employee’s absence will have on the workload of the other employees.
Probationary employees are not generally eligible for leaves of absence. An employee
must have one year of continuous employment before such a leave will be considered.
Applications for leaves of absence may be granted or rejected as dictated by the judgment
of { name of person who approves requests }.
Salary and benefits are not payable to an employee while the employee is on a personal
leave of absence, with the exception of company-paid term life insurance that is
continued for eligible employees for one year of a leave of absence. Health insurance
may be continued if the employee pays the full premium at the group rate. Although
employees do not accrue benefits while on leave, those benefits accrued up to the time
the employee started the leave will be retained.
The employee’s exact position, tour of duty, or work area may not be guaranteed upon
return from a personal leave of absence; however, all efforts will be made to place the
employee in the first available similar job with similar pay. The employee’s date of
initial employment will be adjusted to reflect the time spent on personal leave.
It is the employee’s responsibility to return to work on the date the leave of absence
expires. Should the employee fail to return and fail to notify [name of person who should
receive requests] of a request for an extension, we will assume that the employee does not
intend to rejoin the company and will consider the employee to have resigned from
employment. A request for extension of a leave of absence must be in writing and must
be received at least five working days prior to the expiration of a leave.
Jury Duty Policy
Jury duty leave is usually granted without any loss of credit for the employee’s length of
service with the company. Leave is frequently paid by the employer, with the
understanding that the jury duty stipend paid by the court system is turned over by the
employee to the employer. If you want to allow your employees to keep the stipend, you
should modify this sample accordingly. If you make substantive changes to this policy,
however, you should have your attorney look over the changes.
Paid Absence
Time off taken for jury duty is treated as a paid absence for up to [time limit] during any
one year. Employees are paid for the time they are absent for jury duty, less the amount
they receive for performing jury duty service.
[The above clause for pay during jury duty should be edited to reflect the jury duty
laws in your state.]
Advance Notice
Employees must give advance notice of the need for time off for jury duty. A copy of the
summons should accompany the request.
[The above clause for notification of need for jury leave should be edited to reflect
the jury duty laws in your state.]
Return to Work
If employees are dismissed from jury duty before the end of the workday, they must
report to work for instructions on whether to return for work for the rest of the workday.
Military Leave Policy
The following sample company policy statements are for military leave. Generally,
military leave is granted without pay, or with an offset of pay, and without loss of credit
for the employee’s length of service with the company. If you want your policy to differ
from the policies set out below, you should change these policies to reflect those
differences. If you make substantive changes to these policies, however, you should have
your attorney look over the changes.
It is the policy of { Insert Name of Company } to permit employees to take military leaves
of absence.
Military Activities
{ Insert Name of Company } will grant the employee's request for military leave of
absence for [number] days per year to be used for military training, reserve duty, drills,
maneuvers, etc. In addition, if the employee should be called to active duty, the
employee may take active duty leave for up to { Insert Time Limit }. Military leave is
only granted to { Insert Name of Company } permanent employees.
Employment Rights
The employee's employment rights will be preserved while the employee is on military
leave. Pay increases, vacations, and other benefits that would have accrued had the
employee not been on military leave of absence will be given to the employee upon
returning to { Insert Name of Company } after the military leave is over.
Reinstatement
Unless circumstances at { Insert Name of Company } change so drastically while the
employee is on annual or active duty military leave that reinstatement is impossible or
impractical, when the employee returns to { Insert Name of Company } after military
leave, the employee will either be reinstated to the position the employee held before
taking military leave or be given a similar position with the same seniority, status, and
pay, if in either case the following conditions are met:
1. Proof of honorable discharge from duty.
2. Proof of ability to resume the position.
3. Notice of intention to return is given.
If the employee is unable to return to the same position after annual or active duty
military leave, { Insert Name of Company } will arrange for another position at the same
seniority, status and pay.
Notice of intention to return to work must reach { Insert Name of Company } within
{ Insert Number } days of the employee's discharge from military duty.
Annual Vacation Leave
Annual military leave of absence is in addition to any annual vacation leave the employee
is entitled to. { Insert Name of Company } will not make deductions from annual vacation
leave for time spent on annual military leave.
Nondiscrimination
{ Insert Name of Company } makes it a policy not to discriminate in any way against
employees who are members of the military. The employee's job will not be in jeopardy
if a military leave of absence is requested or taken. In addition, the employee will not be
discharged by { Insert Name of Company } for one year after returning from military leave
without just cause.
Pregnancy/Maternity Leave Policy
The following policy should be modified to reflect your circumstances. For example, if
your short-term disability policy has terms and conditions that are different from the one
referred to below, you should change the policy to reflect those terms. Also, you don’t
have to offer 16 weeks of leave. If you want to offer a different amount of time, you
should modify this policy. If you make substantive changes to this policy, however, you
should have your attorney look over the changes.
To be eligible for a pregnancy leave of absence, the employee must be a non-temporary,
full-time female employee.
Maximum Length of Leave
The maximum length of pregnancy leave allowed is { Insert Number } weeks. If the
employee needs a longer leave due to medical complications, the employee should notify
{ Insert Name of Company } as soon as possible. The additional leave will be treated the
same as any other medical or disability leave.
Written Requests
A written request for pregnancy leave must be submitted within a reasonable time. The
employee must submit a written doctor's statement, indicating the anticipated delivery
date. The employee should inform { Insert Name of Company } of the expected duration
of her pregnancy leave so that { Insert Name of Company }may plan around the absence
efficiently until her return.
Transfers
An employee requesting pregnancy leave may also ask for a transfer to another less
strenuous or less hazardous position if so desired. The request must be in writing and
must state the reason for the transfer.
Paid Leave
{ Insert Name of Company } provides for paid pregnancy leave for the period of { State
Time Period }. The employee may use any accumulated paid sick days and/or paid
vacation days to extend her pregnancy leave beyond the paid leave period. The employee
will be paid for those designated days.
Medical Incapacity
At her option, the employee may continue to work up to the delivery date, depending
upon the employee's medical circumstances and the nature of the employee's job. In the
event the employee is physically incapable of performing her regular job duties at any
time during her pregnancy, the employee may request that the employee be placed on
pregnancy leave. An advance notice of a minimum of one (1) week should be given,
accompanied by a statement from the employee's physician attesting to the employee's
incapacitation.
Benefits
While an employee is away from work on an approved pregnancy leave of absence, she
continues to participate in { Insert Name of Company } company employee benefit
programs. { Insert Name of Company } will endeavor to return the employee to the same
or equal job she had before taking pregnancy leave. Although { Insert Name of
Company } does not guarantee a return to the identical job, the employee will suffer no
loss in seniority.
Time Off to Vote
The following policy contains clauses that you will need to address in your policy. Edit
these clauses below to reflect the requirements of your state's laws regarding time off to
vote.
It is the policy of { Insert Name of Company } to give employees time off to vote.
Advance Request
Before taking time off to vote, the employee must make a written request for time off
{ Number of Days of Advance Notice } days before voting day.
Paid Absence
Time off to vote will be treated as a paid absence.
Voting Hours
The employee is allowed { Number of Hours } hours of time off to vote. Time off to vote
is granted if the polls open fewer than { Number of Hours } hours prior to work starting
time or close fewer than { Number of Hours } hours after quitting time. Time off to vote
may be taken before coming in to work or at the end of the workday.
Covered Elections
This time off to vote policy applies to { Types of Elections } elections.
