Winter Curtailment Information for Academic Employees

Information for 2025-26

The UCSC Winter Curtailment period for 2025-2026 begins on Monday, December 22, 2025, and continues through Friday, January 2, 2026; with campus resuming operations on Monday, January 5, 2026.

Designated University Holidays: December 24, 25, and 31, 2025 and January 1, 2026
Designated Winter Curtailment Days: December 22, 23, 26, 29, 30, 2025 and January 2, 2026

Due to the diverse responsibilities of academic appointees and the flexibility in performing their assigned duties, it is anticipated that some academic appointees will choose to continue working during the curtailment period.

Faculty and other academic-year appointees: academic-year appointees are not in service during the intersession and do not need to record time off over curtailment.
Researchers and other fiscal-year appointees: explicit pre-approval is not required but they should email their supervisor with their curtailment work plan.
Librarians: may work only with the explicit approval of the University Librarian.

Holiday Pay: Academic appointees must be on pay status during the week in which the holiday falls to receive holiday pay.

Questions and Answers for Academic Employees

Academic Appointees who Accrue Vacation and/or Sick Leave

Are appointees eligible to use up to six (6) days of vacation leave December 22, 23, 26, 29 and 30, 2025 and January 2, 2026?
Appointees in eligible accruing titles may use vacation leave for the six (6) curtailment days, if they would have been scheduled to work had these days not been curtailment days.

What if an appointee doesn’t have enough vacation hours available to cover the six (6) unpaid curtailment days (i.e., December 22, 23, 26, 29 and 30, 2025 and January 2, 2026)?
Appointees who do not have sufficient accumulated vacation may borrow ahead up to six (6) days of vacation leave from future accruals.

Part-time appointees use and borrow vacation on a prorated basis according to their appointment percentage and schedule.

What if an appointee does not wish to use vacation to cover the unpaid curtailment days (i.e., December 22, 23, 26, 29 and 30, 2025 and January 2, 2026)?
Appointees who do not wish to use vacation may elect to use up to six (6) days of leave without pay (LWOP).

Can an appointee use sick leave during winter curtailment?
An appointee may use accrued sick leave only if they become ill during curtailment or if they are on approved medical leave of absence. The use of sick leave is in accordance with policy and collective bargaining agreement requirements.

Will there be an impact on an appointee’s vacation and sick leave accruals if they take leave without pay (LWOP) during the curtailment period?
Under winter curtailment provisions, up to six (6) days of unpaid leave shall be considered time on pay status for the purposes of accruing vacation and sick leave. Any additional days of LWOP could result in the appointee accruing less vacation and sick leave. Appointees must be on pay status at least 50% of the working hours of any given pay period to be eligible to accrue proportionate vacation leave.

Postdoctoral Scholars

Are appointees eligible to use up to six (6) days of PTO for December 22, 23, 26, 29 and 30, 2025 and January 2, 2026?
Appointees may use banked Personal Time Off (PTO) for the six (6) curtailment days, if they would have been scheduled to work had these days not been curtailment days.

What if an appointee doesn’t have enough PTO days available to cover the six (6) unpaid curtailment days?
Appointees who do not have enough PTO days may elect to use up to six (6) days of leave without pay (LWOP).

Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs)

Are GSRs eligible to use up to six (6) days of PTO for December 22, 23, 26, 29 and 30, 2025 and January 2, 2026?
Appointees may use banked Personal Time Off (PTO) for the six (6) curtailment days, if they would have been scheduled to work had these days not been curtailment days.

Teaching Assistants (TA), Teaching Fellows (TF), and Associate Instructors (AI)

Do TAs, TFs, and AIs need to record time off over the curtailment period on timesheets?
The winter curtailment period occurs between the service periods for fall and winter quarters, and therefore does not impact December or January pay. Time off does not need to be recorded on their timesheets for the curtailment days, however, the timesheet does need to be submitted and approved by the last working day in the quarter (typically grades due date).