Holidays, Banked Holidays, Floating Holidays, Holiday Closedown

See UNL’s Holiday Leave policy. A regular employee is eligible for holiday pay if they are in an active pay status for the full work shift on the last scheduled workday prior to the holiday and the first scheduled workday after the holiday. This is also true for accruing Floating Holiday pay.

Time Entry

Holiday pay is coded as HOL.

NOTE: Payroll does not perform bulk postings of holiday hours.


BW Time Entry

BW employees eligible for holiday pay must enter and code holiday pay as HOL in ESS Time (based on their FTE, 1.00 = 8hrs/day). Holiday hours must be posted on a holiday.

Essential BW employees eligible for holiday pay and required to work on a holiday must be paid for the holiday plus the hours worked using one of the following options as determined by the department:

  1. Employee enters both holiday pay (based on their FTE, 1.00 = 8hrs/day) and the hours they worked on the holiday in ESS Time. The holiday must be entered first, during the employee’s core hours, (see Work Schedule Rules), followed by the hours worked.

    Example: Full-time BW, leave-eligible employee on 5DAY_8HR work schedule rule works 8a-Noon on Thanksgiving
    8:00 AM – 4:00 PM = HOL
    4:00 PM – 8:00 PM = REG

    Example: Full-time BW, leave-eligible employee on 5DAY_8HR work schedule rule works an 8-hour shift on Thanksgiving
    8:00 AM – 4:00 PM = HOL
    12:00 AM – 8:00 AM = REG

  2. Employee enters the hours they worked on the holiday in ESS Time and banks the holiday (hour for hour, up to 8 hours) for later use by coding the holiday hours as BHOL (Banked Holiday Earned) on the holiday. The banked holiday earned hours must be entered first, during the employee’s core hours (see Work Schedule Rules), followed by the hours worked. When used, the Banked Holiday Earned hours are coded as BKUS (Banked Holiday Used), must be used within one year, and should be mutually agreed upon by the department and employee.

    NOTE: The BHOL wage type code has two functions; it generates pay for hours worked and banks holiday time equal to the number of hours worked.

    Example: Full-time BW, leave-eligible employee on 5DAY_8HR work schedule rule works 8a-Noon on Thanksgiving
    8:00 AM – 12:00 PM = BHOL
    12:00 PM – 4:00 PM = HOL
    Result:  The BHOL code generates pay for 4 hours worked and banks 4 hours holiday time, and the HOL code generates 4 hours holiday pay for the non-worked hours.

    Example: Full-time BW, leave-eligible, employee on 5DAY_8HR work schedule rule works an 8-hour on Thanksgiving
    8:00 AM – 4:00 PM = BHOL
    Result: The BHOL code generates pay for 8 hours worked and banks 8 hours holiday time.

  3. While this option is rarely used, employee enters both holiday pay (based on their FTE, 1.00 = 8hrs/day), and the hours they worked on the holiday in ESS Time. The holiday must be entered first, during the employee’s core hours (see Work Schedule Rules), followed by the hours worked. The employee takes the holiday later without pay; time coordinator must enter as DOFF via CATS.

    Example: Full-time BW, leave-eligible employee on 5DAY_8HR work schedule rule works 8a-Noon on Thanksgiving
    8:00 AM – 4:00 PM = HOL
    4:00 PM – 8:00 PM = REG

    Example: Full-time BW, leave-eligible employee on 5DAY_8HR work schedule rule works an 8-hour shift on Thanksgiving
    8:00 AM – 4:00 PM = HOL
    12:00 AM – 8:00 AM = REG


MO Time Entry

MO leave-eligible employees do not need to enter holiday hours; if they are in an active payroll status, they will receive pay for the holiday based on their FTE.

Essential MO employees eligible for holiday pay and required to work on a holiday will be paid for the hours worked and bank the holiday (hour for hour, up to 8 hours) for later use by coding the holiday hours as BHOL (Banked Holiday Earned) on the holiday via ESS Leave. The banked holiday earned hours are coded as BKUS (Banked Holiday Used) when used, must be used within one year, and should be mutually agreed upon by the department and employee.

Example: Full-time MO employee on 5DAY_8HR work schedule rule works 8a-Noon on Thanksgiving
8:00 AM – Noon = BHOL

Example: Full-time MO employee on 5DAY_8HR work schedule rule works an 8-hour day on Thanksgiving
8:00 AM – 4:00 PM = BHOL


Floating Holiday

BW and MO employees who wish to use accrued floating holiday pay for an absence must code the hours as FLH. Accrued floating holiday pay is used by employees during the December campus closedown, and employees who wish to use it for absences at times other than the December campus closedown must have departmental approval. A maximum of 40 hours of floating holiday can be carried over into the next calendar year. An employee cannot earn floating holiday time that exceeds the 40 hour maximum.


Holiday Closedown

Each year in mid-November, Payroll sends out a memo to functional offices that outlines the Holiday/Closedown Schedule and posting determinations for those dates.

Time Entry

BW employees must enter holiday/floating holiday/vacation/comp time used/unpaid leave/banked holiday used and/or banked holiday earned hours via ESS Time.

MO employees must enter floating holiday/vacation/unpaid leave/banked holiday used and/or banked holiday earned via ESS Leave. Holiday leave should not be entered for MO employees.

NOTE: During the closedown, employees may take unpaid leave without having to first use any vacation or compensatory time earned. Use of sick time over the holiday closedown is only permitted for employees who have been hospitalized and can provide supporting documentation to their immediate supervisor.