April 12, 2019

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 fourth straight year.

Employees who are eligible for leave benefits will receive three paid gift days for this year’s Reduced Service Days – on December 27, 30 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.

New this year, employees of the UI Hospital and Clinics will receive the gift days as three additional floating holidays that may be used any time between December 27, 2019, and June 30, 2020, with supervisor approval. This approach will ensure that these units can maintain excellent patient care services during the holiday break and as always, seven days a week.

The program is reflected in the FY 2020 Holiday Schedule that will be distributed to employees. 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, 30 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. We hope by continuing this program it demonstrates in concrete terms just how much we appreciate everything you do!

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