Q: What will the holiday schedule be this year?
A. The holiday schedule will begin Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018, at 10:30 p.m., and offices will reopen on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. During that time, all nonessential operations will be closed at all Kent State campuses. Eligible classified and unclassified employees will receive paid leave for any regularly scheduled work time from Dec. 26-31 (referred to as additional days in the following questions). The paid leave is in addition to the paid holidays of Dec. 24, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Normal business operations will resume with the start of the first shift on Wednesday, Jan. 2.
Q: Does this mean the university will be closed between Christmas and New Year's?
A: All nonessential operations will be closed at all Kent State locations. In early December, the Division of Human Resources will publish a list of departments and their status during the holiday schedule.
Q: Is the holiday schedule for all Kent State locations?
A: Yes, including the College of Podiatric Medicine and the Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg.
Q: Does the holiday schedule include all staff employees?
A: Full- and part-time classified and unclassified employees who normally accrue vacation throughout the year are eligible to receive paid leave for the additional days. Employees not eligible for the paid leave include student employees, classified temporary staff, temporary agency staff, short-term unclassified appointments, unclassified intermittent appointments and employees in a layoff status.
Q: Do I have to be in paid status prior to Dec. 21, 2018, in order to be paid during the holiday closure?
A: Yes, you must be in paid status on Dec. 21 in order to be paid during the holiday closure period, per Policy 6-09.3(c)(2).
Q: How will the holiday schedule apply to employees on a nontraditional work week schedule?
A: An eligible employee on a nontraditional work week schedule may receive alternate paid days during the period of Dec. 26-31 to make their pay whole. Using established guidelines, the Division of Human Resources will work with individual departments to create customized pay schedules as needed.
Q: What about faculty?
A. The impact of the holiday schedule for 12-month faculty who accrue vacation is the same as for unclassified employees who accrue vacation.
Q: If my department is closed, how will I be paid?
A: Classified and unclassified employees not scheduled to work will be paid for the additional days. These employees do not need to take vacation or compensatory time. However, supervisors of hourly employees in this group must enter hours as "University Closure" in Empower for the additional four days. The number of hours entered should correspond to the number of hours the employee is regularly scheduled to work.
Q: If I work in a department that remains open, how will I be paid?
A: Hourly employees required to work must clock in and out as normal and can receive overtime payment or opt to take comp time for days off in the future:
- To receive payment for actual time worked, at a rate of 1.5 times the normal hourly rate (for example, if you work four hours, you will be paid for six; if you work six hours, you will be paid for nine, etc.), employees should clock in and out as normal. Supervisors must send a list of all employees choosing this option to payroll@kent.edu no later than noon on Jan. 4, 2019, and the Payroll Office will make any necessary adjustments. If the list is not received by the Jan. 4 deadline, no adjustment will be made and the employee will be given straight comp time equal to the number of hours worked.
- To receive straight comp time, employees should clock in and out as normal. Supervisors of employees using Empower can add the pay code "straight comp" equal to the number of hours worked. This pay code can be added just like you would add a "sick" or "vacation" pay code. The "straight comp" pay code will add the number of hours worked during the holiday break to the employee's comp bank to be taken as "comp used" at a later date. All hours worked will be paid as straight time unless the total weekly hours actually worked are over 40 or the actual holiday is worked (normal overtime rules apply if the holiday is worked).
All hourly employees working partial days should clock in and out for actual hours worked, and their supervisor must enter the remaining hours as "University Closure." For example, the normal shift is eight hours, but the employee only works three hours on Dec. 27. The supervisor must enter five hours as "University Closure" and three hours of straight comp in Empower. If the employee wants overtime for the time worked that will need to be reported to the Payroll Office.
Salaried employees required to work will be given the opportunity to take comparable time off (on a paid basis) at a later time, as approved by their supervisor.
Q: I'm a supervisor. How do I enter time for my employees in Empower?
A: For the week of Dec. 16-22, all time should be approved before the end of the day on Dec. 22 once the employee has completed working for the week. This must be completed because the Payroll Office will be processing these hours during the break.
Supervisors may enter and approve time for the period Dec. 23-29 as early as Dec. 19, so long as the employee is not working during the break. Supervisors of areas that will be closed during the holiday schedule are strongly encouraged to do this. The deadline to enter time in Empower for the week of Dec. 30 is end of the day on Jan. 4, 2019.
If the supervisor misses the payroll deadline, no overtime adjustment will be made and the employee will be required to use the straight comp option and take time off at a later date. Manual checks for overtime corrections will not be processed.
Q: How will the holiday closing impact the Dec. 31 pay period?
A: Faculty and unclassified employees with direct deposit who are scheduled to receive their second pay of the month on Dec. 31 will be paid on Dec. 21, as was done last December. Classified employees will be paid on Dec. 21 as scheduled.
Q: How will employees (including faculty) who do not use direct deposit get their end of December paychecks?
A. As always, all employees are encouraged to use direct deposit. Any employee who does not have direct deposit will receive their paycheck in the usual manner. Any checks not picked up by 3 p.m. on Dec. 21 will be mailed to the address printed on the check. You can review and/or update your permanent address in FlashLine. Click on Flash, scroll to the bottom and on the right side select "Addresses & Phone numbers." Then select "Update Addresses and Phones."
For more information, please contact the Payroll Office at 330-672-8640.