April 13, 2018

Dear colleagues:

We are pleased to announce that a program providing additional paid days off during our December/January holidays has been extended to a third straight year.

Employees who are eligible for leave benefits will again receive three paid gift days for this year’s Reduced Service Days – on December 27, 28 and 31. Before the program began in 2016, employees had been required to draw from their annual pool of paid time off to be paid for the reduced service days.

The program is reflected in the FY 2019 Holiday Schedule that will be distributed to employees this month. Our universities, hospital and clinics, and system offices will follow up with more details, including how to report the gift days and how they can be used on different days by essential employees who must work on December 27, 28 or 31. As in years past, the gift day program will be evaluated after the holidays to determine whether it will be extended.

For employees in union-represented bargaining units, paid time off for the holidays is addressed through the required collective bargaining process.

Our employees are the foundation of our excellence and our global standing as a go-to destination for students and research discovery. We hope this program illustrates just how much we appreciate everything you do.

Sincerely,

Tim Killeen, President, University of Illinois System
Barb Wilson, Executive Vice President, University of Illinois System
Michael Amiridis, Chancellor, University of Illinois at Chicago
Robert Jones, Chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Susan Koch, Chancellor, University of Illinois at Springfield