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 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
New Year’s Day |
Monday, January 1st |
Wednesday, January 1st |
Thursday, January 1st |
|
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday |
Monday, January 15th |
Monday, January 20th |
Monday, January 19th |
|
Good Friday |
Friday, March 29th |
Friday, April 18th |
Friday, April 3rd |
|
Independence Day |
Thursday, July 4th |
Friday, July 4th |
Friday, July 3rd |
|
Labor Day |
Monday, September 2nd |
Monday, September 1st |
Monday, September 7th |
|
Thanksgiving |
Thursday - Friday, November 28th - 29th |
Thrusday - Friday, November 27th - 28th |
Thursday - Friday, November 26th - 27th |
|
Extended Winter Closing |
Monday - Wednesday, December 23rd - January 1st (2025)* |
Wednesday - Friday, December 24th - January 2nd (2026)* |
Thursday - Friday, December 24th - January 1st (2027)* |
*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 Wednesday, December 24th, 2025 and Friday, January 2nd, 2026. To allow for an extended winter closing in 2026, the University will remain closed one additional day on Thursday, December 31st, 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.
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 2023-2026 University Holiday Schedules may be directed to the Office of Human Resources and Payroll at 227-7218.