Legal Holidays
ShareThe University of Wisconsin grants nine days of paid legal holidays per year to eligible employees.
- New Year's Day (January 1st)
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Third Monday of January)
- Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)
- Independence Day (July 4th)
- Labor Day (First Monday in September)
- Thanksgiving (Fourth Thursday in November)
- Christmas Eve (December 24th)
- Christmas Day (December 25th)
- New Year's Eve (December 31st)
Full-time employees earn eight hours of leave for each legal holiday. Part-time employees earn a pro-rated amount based on their appointment percentage.
Legal Holidays that Fall on the Weekend
- If a legal holiday falls on a Sunday, the legal holiday is observed and the UW is closed on the following Monday.
- If a legal holiday falls on a Saturday or you work on a legal holiday, you will be given a floating legal holiday.
- Floating legal holidays can be used like any other paid leave.
- Floating legal holidays must be used by the end of the end of the year in which earned (calendar year for Classified employees, fiscal year for Unclassified Faculty, Academic Staff or Limited appointees).
Eligibility
To be eligible for a paid legal holiday, you must:
- Be eligible for sick leave; and
- Be actively employed on the legal holiday; and
- One of the following:
- Be paid for the work day immediately before the legal holiday; or
- Be paid for the first work day immediately following the legal holiday; or
- Work on the legal holiday.