Discretionary day

General Information

The discretionary holiday is designed to give eligible employees a choice in the selection of the time to take this holiday, and to give them an additional day off without the university closing on a given day. An employee must have worked for the state at least six (6) months before he or she is eligible for a discretionary holiday. An employee who is re-instated or re-employed, will be eligible for a discretionary holiday after working six (6) continuous months in an eligible position. Full-time employees receive one full day at the straight-time rate for the discretionary holiday. An employee working less than full time shall receive a proportional number of hours based on their work schedule.

All hours for a discretionary holiday shall be taken on the same day. It is available to an employee for observation of a religious or other special occasion day, but is subject to an employee's advance request and subsequent supervisory approval. Such approval, however, may be withheld under only the most compelling circumstances, and, if withheld, the discretionary holiday shall be rescheduled.

The discretionary holiday must be taken between the beginning of the first pay period of the calendar year and the last pay period of the calendar year. See the appropriate year's Holiday Schedule for the pay period dates. An employee may not be paid for the holiday in lieu of taking the time off.

An employee may use the discretionary day for any reason and should schedule the holiday in advance with his or her supervisor. It must be used in the calendar year that it is granted and it cannot be carried over to the next year. It must also be used before the employee's last day at work when the employee is leaving the university.

9 month faculty and temporary university support staff employees are not eligible for the discretionary day.

Viewing Discretionary Day Balance

Please refer to the appropriate GUS HR Training Resources document for instructions on viewing absence balances.

Reporting Discretionary Day

Please refer to the appropriate GUS Cloud Job Aid "Entering Time Worked and Leave Taken" to report this type of leave.