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Attendance & Leave
Manual

Instructions

Introduction

Attendance (Part 20)

Absence with Pay
(Part 21)

Leaves Without Pay (Part 22)

Drawing of Earned Credits Upon Separation
(Part 23)

Crediting Other Public Service Employment as State Service (Part 24)

Suspension of Rules
(Part 25)

Applicability (Part 26)


Appendices

A. Civil Service Attendance Rules

B. Calendar of Legal Holidays & Religious Holy Days

C. Alternative Work Schedules

D. Part-Time Employment

E. Seasonal Employment

F. Attendance Rules for Managerial/Confidential Employees

G. Reciprocal Agreements

H. Leave Donation

I. Family & Medical Leave Act

Disclaimer

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Advisory Memorandum No. 2005-05

Section 21.1 Holidays - November 2005

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TO: All State Agencies
FROM: Terry Jordan, Director Staffing Services Division
SUBJECT: Christmas Day 2005 and New Year’s Day 2006—Additional Clarification

The purpose of this memo is to provide additional clarification concerning Christmas Day, December 25, 2005, and New Year’s Day, January 1, 2006, both of which fall on Sunday this year. This memorandum should be read in conjunction with Advisory Memorandum 2005-04 dated August 2005. Questions should be referred to the Attendance and Leave Unit of this Department at (518) 457-2295.

Date of Holiday

As stated in Advisory Memorandum 2005-04, under the provisions of the General Construction Law, holidays that fall on Sunday are observed as legal holidays in New York State on Monday. However, some bargaining units have a contract provision providing that when Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on Sunday, employees for whom that day is a regularly scheduled work day will observe the holiday on Sunday instead of Monday. The bargaining units that have this provision are the ASU, ISU, OSU, PS&T, SSU, SSpU and ALES units.

With respect to employees in these bargaining units, Advisory Memorandum 2005-04 stated:

the day designated as the Christmas and New Year’s holiday depends upon the employee’s regular work schedule on Sunday December 25 and Sunday January l. For purposes of this discussion, a “regularly scheduled workday” means that the employee is normally scheduled to work on this day as part of his/her basic 37.5 or 40 hour workweek. It does not mean a day that is scheduled as the employee’s pass day on which the employee is scheduled or directed to work on an overtime basis.

Based on questions we have received, that language appears to require further clarification.

Full-Time Employees (ASU, ISU, OSU, PS&T, SSU, SSpU and ALES units)
A full-time employee in these units will observe these holidays on Sunday if those Sundays are part of his/her basic 37.5 or 40 hour workweek schedule for the weeks in which these holidays fall. Full-time employees scheduled or directed to work on those Sundays on an overtime basis outside the basic 37.5 or 40 hours workweek observe these holidays on Monday, not Sunday.

An employee in these units who does not normally have Sunday as a scheduled workday within his or her basic 37.5 or 40 hour workweek, but whose basic work schedule has been officially changed for the weeks in which the Christmas and New Year’s holidays fall so that those Sundays are part of the employee’s basic 37.5 or 40 hour workweek will observe those holidays on Sundays. This is true even if the employee is not normally scheduled to work on Sundays.

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Part-Time Employees (ASU, ISU, OSU, PS&T, SSU, SSpU, and ALES units)
Part-time employees eligible to observe holidays are entitled to observe those holidays that fall on days they are regularly scheduled to work or actually do work, up to a maximum of 7.5 or 8 hours.

When part-time employees are directed to work hours in addition to their normal schedule within the 37.5 or 40 hour basic workweek of their position, such time becomes part of their scheduled hours for the week, even if it had not been scheduled in advance. If they are directed to work on a pass day, it ceases to be a pass day for them and instead becomes a regular workday so long as they are within the 37.5 or 40 hour workweek of the position. For example, if a part-time employee who does not normally work on Sunday is directed to work on a Sunday, that day becomes a regular workday for the employee so long as the employee is within the 37.5 or 40 hour basic workweek.

When a part-time employee in these units is directed to work on Sunday, December 25, within the 37.5 or 40 hour basic workweek of the position, that day becomes the employee’s Christmas holiday, even if the employee is not normally scheduled to work on Sundays. The employee’s holiday benefit is based on the number of hours he/she is scheduled or directed to work on that day up to a maximum of 7.5 or 8 hours of work.

In such cases, if Monday, December 26, is also a scheduled workday for the part-time employee who worked on Sunday, Monday is no longer the employee’s Christmas holiday. If the employee had intended to be off on Monday, December 26, he/she is no longer entitled to be absent on that day without charge to credits. The employee would either have to charge the absence to leave credits or work on that date. If the employee works on that day, the employee receives only straight time pay and is no longer eligible for holiday compensation. The same principle applies to Monday, January 2.

Accordingly, administrative agencies that plan to be closed on Monday, December 26, or Monday, January 2, should take steps to ensure that part-time employees for whom Monday is a scheduled work day are not directed to work on Sunday, December 25, or Sunday, January 1, within their 37.5 or 40 hour basic workweek.

Sunday, December 25, and Sunday, January 1, are not holidays for any employees, full- time or part time, who are directed to work on those days in overtime status (beyond their 37.5 or 40 hour basic workweek).

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