The State Human Resources Commission permits educational institutions to adopt a holiday schedule that differs from the state-wide schedule in order to meet operational needs of the campuses. Institutions may not grant additional paid holidays beyond the 12 days authorized by the General Assembly. The 2023, 2024 & 2025 holiday schedule for Western Carolina University will be as follows:
| Holiday | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
New Year’s Day |
Monday, January 2nd |
Monday, January 1st |
Wednesday, January 1st |
|
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday |
Monday, January 16th |
Monday, January 15th |
Monday, January 20th |
|
Good Friday |
Friday, April 7th |
Friday, March 29th |
Friday, April 18th |
|
Independence Day |
Tuesday, July 4th |
Thursday, July 4th |
Friday, July 4th |
|
Labor Day |
Monday, September 4th |
Monday, September 2nd |
Monday, September 1st |
|
Thanksgiving |
Thursday - Friday, November 23rd - 24th |
Thursday - Friday, November 28th - 29th |
Thrusday - Friday, November 27th - 28th |
|
Extended Winter Closing |
Monday - Monday, December 25th - January 1st (2024)* |
Monday - Wednesday, December 23rd - January 1st (2025)* |
Wednesday - Friday, December 24th - January 2nd (2026)* |
*The holidays at Christmas are obtained by combining the Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day holidays with the three holidays given for Christmas. For 2023, no additional leave days will be required. To allow for an extended winter closing in 2024, the University will remain closed two additional days on Monday, December 30th and Tuesday, December 31st, 2024. To allow for an extended winter closing in 2025, the University will remain closed two additional days on Thursday, December 24th, 2025 and Friday, January 2nd, 2026. FLSA exempt leave earning employees may account for time on these dates by charging the hours to vacation leave, bonus leave or personal observance leave (if available) or leave without pay. FLSA non-exempt employees may charge the hours to vacation leave, bonus leave or personal observance leave (if available) or compensatory time if eligible. The Smart Time cascading program will adjust leave based on current program rules. As always, compensatory time is charged before personal leave accounts.
This schedule will enable the University to lower building temperatures during the closing and, thereby, achieve significant energy savings. Building temperatures, except in areas where research or other essential operations require exceptions, will be lowered to approximately 55 degrees during the period the University is closed. Requests for exceptions to this temperature level should be directed to Mr. Joe Walker, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management, at 828.227.7441.
Permanent and probationary SHRA, FLSA non-exempt employees who are required to work on a designated University holiday will be paid straight time plus holiday premium pay equal to one-half of their regular straight-time hourly rate for the hours worked on these holidays. In addition, they will be given compensatory time off equal to the holiday hours worked. Hourly employees and those on temporary staff appointments receive straight-time pay plus a premium of one-half straight-time pay for work on designated University holidays, but they are not given compensatory time off.
Questions concerning the 2023-2025 University Holiday Schedules may be directed to the Office of Human Resources and Payroll at 828.227.7218.