The Winter Break schedule is announced each year by University Human Resources. With the exception of the Christmas Eve holiday, the Christmas Day holiday, and the New Year's Day holiday, Winter Break days off are not official University holidays, nor will they count against a staff member's vacation time.

Note: Employees who work less than 12 months and who are not scheduled to work during the Winter Break period and employees who are on an unpaid leave are not eligible for pay for Winter Break. 

Employees who are not eligible for holiday pay are not eligible for pay for the Winter Break. Sufficient time has been provided to departments to assess workloads and evaluate staffing needs during the Winter Break. To assist managers in ensuring consistent treatment of staff who will be required to work during the Winter Break, below are guidelines to help administer this paid time off.

Winter Break is provided to staff to afford employees additional time off. Departments should manage their operations to minimize additional payroll expenses during this time. However, there may be circumstances due to department operations where staff who are required to work during the Winter Break can be paid straight time for hours worked in the pay period in which the hours are worked. Leaders should communicate to staff the Winter Break plan in advance.

Toward that end, managers of departments that must remain operational during the break have two options:

1. Compensate staff with compensatory time in lieu of paying additional wages; the compensatory time accrued during the break does not create a legal obligation to pay staff within the same pay period because staff are already being paid for the time worked; consequently, the time worked can be "banked."
2. Pay staff for hours worked during the Winter Break.  This will be in addition to the Winter Break pay.

If a department knows in advance that employees will be required to work during the break, it can designate other days during November or December that may be taken off in place of the days anticipated to be worked during the break. In cases where time off during November or December is not feasible, employees can be granted compensatory time off prior to June 30 of next year, equal to the hours worked during the Winter Break. Employees who leave Brown prior to taking the accrued compensatory time should be paid for this accrued time. There may be exceptional cases where staff members are unable to take the accrued compensatory time by  June 30. In these instances, this time should be paid as straight time in the first pay period following June 30.

Supervisors are reminded to consider operational requirements when presented with vacation requests for December and January. Some departments may wish to restrict vacations near the Winter Break due to workload requirements; others may actually encourage employees to use vacation time during the period between semesters. Department heads should pay attention to this issue and use their discretion.

Questions regarding bargaining unit members should be directed to the HR Business Partner for the specific area; all other questions should be directed to the Senior Director of Employee and Labor Relations at 3-3896.

^*For most offices and staff, winter break will start on Friday, December 20, 2024 at the end of the day, however, final exams extend until Saturday, December 21, 2024, so faculty and staff should plan accordingly.