Holidays

Holiday Information

University of Montana employees are entitled to paid time off for State of Montana legal holidays. This page covers which holidays are observed, how holiday pay works, and how to use your floating holiday.

Who This Applies To

Faculty | Staff | Contracts

Holiday benefits apply to all non-student employees. Student employees are paid their regular hourly wages for any hours worked on a holiday and are not entitled to paid holiday time off. 

Holiday Pay Eligibility

To receive holiday pay, you must be in an active pay status on either the last scheduled working day immediately before the holiday or the first scheduled working day immediately after the holiday. If you are absent on both of those days without advance supervisor approval, you will forfeit holiday pay. 

  • Full-time employees receive up to eight hours of holiday pay regardless of their work schedule. Employees on alternate schedules such as four 10-hour days receive eight hours of holiday pay. Any remaining hours in the scheduled day may be covered with annual leave, accrued compensatory time, or leave without pay. 
  • Part-time employees receive holiday pay on a prorated basis based on their regularly scheduled hours. 
  • On-call employees who work within the pay period that includes the holiday are entitled to holiday pay. 
  • Temporary employees are paid for a holiday if they are normally scheduled to work on that date. 
  • Employees on approved leave without pay or on layoff are not compensated for holidays. 
  • New employees who begin work on the day after a holiday are not entitled to holiday pay for that holiday. 

Employees may not designate a holiday as their final day of work when separating from employment. 

Holidays occurring while an employee is on paid sick or annual leave are not charged as sick or annual leave. 

Observed Holidays

UM observes the following State of Montana legal holidays each year. When a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is observed. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed. 

List of holidays

Holiday 

Date 

New Year's Day 

January 1 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 

Third Monday in January 

Lincoln's and Washington's Birthdays 

Third Monday in February 

Memorial Day 

Last Monday in May 

Independence Day 

July 4 

Labor Day 

First Monday in September 

Veterans Day 

November 11 

Thanksgiving Day 

Fourth Thursday in November 

Friday after Thanksgiving 

Exchanged for Columbus Day 

Christmas Day 

December 25 

Floating Holiday 

One per calendar year 

The Board of Regents may exchange certain designated workdays for the same number of legal holidays listed above. Common exchanges include: 

  • The Friday following Thanksgiving 
  • The Monday before Christmas Day or New Year's Day if either holiday falls on a Tuesday 
  • The Friday after Christmas Day or New Year's Day if either holiday falls on a Thursday 

The current holiday schedule is published each year by HRS. Download the current Holiday Schedule for specific dates. 

Working on a Holiday

If you are required to work on a holiday: 

  • Non-exempt employees are compensated at time and one-half for all hours worked on the holiday, in addition to holiday pay. 
  • Exempt employees are entitled to additional paid time off at a rate of one hour for each hour worked on the holiday. 

Floating Holiday

Each eligible employee receives one floating holiday per calendar year. The floating holiday is separate from the State of Montana legal holidays listed above and may be used at any point during the calendar year at your discretion, subject to supervisor approval. 

Key rules for floating holidays: 

  • Hours are prorated based on your FTE. A full-time (1.0 FTE) employee receives eight hours. A 0.5 FTE employee receives four hours. 
  • The floating holiday must be taken in a single continuous block. It cannot be split across multiple dates. 
  • Employees scheduled for shifts greater than eight hours receive the full allotment of their regularly scheduled hours. 
  • Floating holiday hours must be used within the calendar year. Unused hours are forfeited at the end of the year and do not carry over. 
  • Advance supervisor approval is required before using your floating holiday. 
  • Supervisors must make every reasonable effort to allow employees the opportunity to use their floating holiday before the end of the year. 

Resources and Forms

Governing Policy

UM Holiday Policy 807

Frequently Asked Questions

  • If a holiday falls on a day you are regularly scheduled off, you are entitled to an alternate day off with pay in the same pay period, either the day before the holiday or another day after, as requested by you and approved by your supervisor. If an alternate day off cannot be provided, your department may provide eight hours of pay at your regular rate instead.

  • No. The floating holiday must be taken in a single continuous block. It cannot be split across multiple dates or used in partial increments.

  • Unused floating holiday hours are forfeited at the end of the calendar year. They do not carry over and are not paid out. Supervisors are required to make every reasonable effort to allow employees to use their floating holiday before year end. Contact HRS if you have been unable to schedule your floating holiday due to departmental constraints.

  • Holiday pay provided in lieu of an alternate day off is not included in determining hours worked for overtime purposes. All other holiday provisions follow standard overtime rules.

  • Yes. CBA provisions may differ from the general holiday policy for bargaining unit employees. Contact HRS to confirm the holiday provisions that apply to your specific position.

Contact this Team

For help, please submit a ticket through AskHR, email askhr@umontana.edu, or call 406-243-6760.