As in previous years, UC Riverside plans to observe a Winter Holiday Closure during the 2020-2021 holiday season. This year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure will be extended to include three additional days, which will allow for a two-week closure. Similar actions are being taken at other University of California campuses.

To be clear, the extended UCR holiday closure is different from the UC Office of the President's proposed curtailment, which is currently under consideration. 

UCR’s holiday closure will not mandate leave without pay during curtailment days, and will not affect pay for ladder-rank faculty. However, pending further direction from the UC Office of the President, UCR anticipates there may be additional curtailment days between January and July 2021. This would likely include mandatory leave without pay for all staff and faculty, based on salary levels. We expect further information regarding such a program in January 2021.

The UCR campus is scheduled to close beginning Monday, December 21, 2020, and will reopen on Monday, January 4, 2021. Pursuant to Personnel Policy 2.210: Absence from Work and relevant provisions of our collective bargaining agreements, the campus will observe the holidays on the following days:

Winter Holiday Closure Dates | Actual Holidays | Holiday Observed/Leave Taken

• Monday, December 21, 2020 | N/A | Curtailment Leave
• Tuesday, December 22, 2020 | N/A | Curtailment Leave
• Wednesday, December 23, 2020 | N/A | Curtailment Leave
• Thursday, December 24, 2020 | Christmas Eve | Christmas Eve
• Friday, December 25, 2020 | Christmas Day | Christmas Day
• Saturday, December 26, 2020 | N/A | N/A
• Sunday, December 27, 2020 | N/A | N/A
• Monday, December 28, 2020 | N/A | Curtailment Leave
• Tuesday, December 29, 2020 | N/A | Curtailment Leave
• Wednesday, December 30, 2020 | N/A | Curtailment Leave
• Thursday, December 31, 2020 | New Year's Eve | New Year's Eve
• Friday, January 1, 2021 | New Year's Day | New Year's Day
• Saturday, January 2, 2021 | N/A | N/A
• Sunday, January 3, 2021 | N/A | N/A
• Monday, January 4, 2021 | Campus Reopens 

Four University-paid holidays (12/24, 12/25, 12/31, and 1/1) will be observed while the campus is closed. However, six days (12/21, 12/22, 12/23, 12/28, 12/29, and 12/30) are considered curtailment leave days and are not paid holidays. Employees have the choice of the following options to cover the non-paid days during the holiday closure period:

• Employees may use vacation days in advance of their actual accrual.
• Newly-hired employees, represented and policy-covered, may use their vacation accruals before completing six (6) continuous months on pay status.
• Employees with accrued compensatory time may elect to use it to cover the six days off or to offset the use of vacation time. 
• Employees who do not wish to use vacation or compensatory time off may request leave without pay, pending departmental approval. In this case, employees will not lose hourly vacation or sick leave accruals for these six days.

In accordance with regular procedures for scheduling vacation, employees should notify their supervisors in advance as to which option or combination of options they choose to use.

For represented employees, closure days will be processed in accordance with existing contract provisions and are subject to discussion and/or collective bargaining where applicable.

As in previous years, certain essential services will not be closed during this time period. Employees who might be expected to work should check with their supervisors for confirmation. 

Researcher access to critical research facilities will continue and select research facilities requiring access will continue to be maintained by Facilities Services. In addition, grading deadlines will remain unchanged. 

Comments or questions regarding application of personnel policies during the winter closure may be sent to Human Resources Policy at hrpolicy@ucr.edu. Comments or questions regarding application of collective bargaining agreements may be sent to Labor Relations at labor.relations@ucr.edu.

Visit the 2020-21 Winter Holiday Closure webpage for more information.