The university observes eight holidays, during which employees may receive holiday pay as outlined in UM System HR Policy Manual HR-401 Holidays:

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Memorial Day
• Juneteenth
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Friday after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day

When a holiday falls on Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed. When a holiday falls on Sunday, the following Monday is observed. Other days may be designated by the president.

There are multiple types of paid leave staff may use depending on their situation and the reason for using leave. Visit the UM System Information on Leave, Including Holidays webpage for additional details on:

• Caregiver leave
• Family and medical leave (FMLA)
• Military
• Organ and bone marrow donor
• Paid time off (PTO)
• Parental leave
• Personal days
• Vacation
• Shared Leave Program
• Short-term disability
• Sick leave
• Voting
• Winter break
• Additional types of leave

Full policy information for each of these leave types is also available in the UM System HR Policy Manual Leaves (HR-400) index.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law providing employees the right to take a leave of absence for family reasons, medical reasons or for military families while maintaining job protection. FMLA provides job protection but is not a paid leave program.

Visit the About the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) webpage for more information.

For additional information, access HR-407 Family and Medical Leave Act or review frequently asked questions regarding FMLA as part of the HR-407 Family and Medical Leave Act Q&As.

If needed, staff may also request a leave of absence without pay in instances of prolonged illness or injury, when the requirements of the department permit or for any other exceptional personal or institutional reason. This type of leave may be granted only after all appropriate accumulated leave has been used.

Additional information, including eligibility, approvals and procedure are outlined in UM System HR Policy Manual HR-408 Leaves of Absence and the corresponding HR-408 Leaves of Absence Q&As. Requests can be initialized by completing form UM 108, Request for Leave of Absence (PDF).

Seasonal Leaves of Absence

Certain types of work at the university are conducted seasonally, with workloads that ebb and flow significantly throughout the calendar year. In these cases, a seasonal leave of absence may be implemented during the ‘off-season’ when there is not enough work to go around. These leaves of absence may be full or partial depending on department needs but are not considered a break in service.

Employees on seasonal leave have special considerations related to their pay, university insurance and other benefits, as well as using/accruing paid leave. Visit the Employees on Seasonal Leave of Absence webpage for additional information.

The shared leave program enables eligible employees to donate accrued vacation leave benefits (PTO leave is not eligible to donate) to a pool that provides additional paid leave benefits to eligible MU employees experiencing certain catastrophic events (personally or within their family) and have exhausted other sources of paid leave.

Donations are submitted through myHR, or a paper application if you do not have regular access to a computer. Minimum initial donation is eight hours, though you may choose to donate more (in whole hour increments).

Instructions for donating, applying to use donated shared leave and frequently asked questions are available on the UM System Shared Leave Program webpage. Full policy details are outlined in HR-414 Shared Leave and HR-414 Shared Leave Q&A.