Public Employee Press

Floating holiday: use it or lose it!

There’s a new Top Ten List in town that’s no laughing matter. This list isn’t from the Late Show with David Letterman. It’s a city list that reveals a sad fact: Every year, thousands of employees fail to use their floating holiday.

Here is PEP’s Top Ten List of agencies and how many employees at each wasted their floating holiday in 2003:

10) Environmental Protection: 376
  9) Corrections: 449
  8) Juvenile Justice: 462
  7) Homeless Services: 487
  6) Parks and Recreation: 578
  5) Health and Mental Hygiene: 600
  4) Police: 796
  3) Children’s Services: 1,315
  2) Human Resources: 1,377
  1) Fire: 2,424

The flexible procedure replaced the former fixed Lincoln’s Birthday holiday, Feb. 12, in 1997 under the 1995-2000 contract. Employees are entitled to one floating holiday in each calendar year in which they are in active pay status before Feb. 12.

According to Evelyn Seinfeld, associate director of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept., the contract specifies that the floating holiday must be used in the calendar year it is earned in and may not be carried over to the next year (unless the agency has not allowed the employee to take it) or cashed out upon separation from service.

Employees can use the floating holiday on Feb. 12 if they submit a request by Jan. 15. But they can also pick their own day off. Requests to use the floating holiday must be filed on agency forms at least 30 days in advance; authorized supervisors must approve or reject the requests within 10 workdays. The floating holiday does not apply in agencies and facilities that are normally closed on Lincoln’s Birthday.

If time is precious, time off is even more precious. So the message is clear: Use it or lose it!