Skeleton Crews
According to the Texas Government Code, the university must provide minimum services on skeleton crew days. This does not apply to a holiday that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, or the 24th or 26th of December.
When skeleton crews are required
Vice presidents and deans determine how their reporting departments will handle skeleton crews. For example, if the work of the department involves conducting business with the public, then a skeleton crew would probably be necessary.
Depending on the type of work, the vice president or dean might allow the skeleton crew to work from an off-campus location or by phone. Vice presidents or deans determine the minimum number of staff required for an on-site skeleton crew.
Skeleton crew compensation
If you're part of an on-site skeleton crew, you'll be granted compensatory time in addition to the holiday. In this situation, time worked is recorded on your time entry calendar in addition to the holiday time.
If you're working as a skeleton crew off-site, you will not receive compensatory time.
Compensation for Holidays
To be paid for a holiday, you must be at work or using paid time off the day before and after the holiday, unless the holiday falls at the end of the month or at the beginning of a month. In these situations, you must be working or using paid time off the day before an end of the month holiday or the first workday after a beginning of the month holiday. For example, if you are using paid time off the day before Thanksgiving, but not the day after Thanksgiving, you will not receive compensation for the Thanksgiving holidays.
If you work any part of a day before or after a holiday, you are given credit for working the entire day for purposes of receiving compensation for the holiday. For example, you are using paid time off for four hours on the day after New Year’s Day, you would receive four hours of pay for the day after New Year’s Day and full credit for New Year’s Day.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Holidays
If you are on FMLA during the holidays and do not have paid time off, you will not receive pay for the holidays. If you wish to come in and work part of a day to receive credit for the holidays, you must have a return to work release if the leave was taken for your illness. If the FMLA was for maternity or paternal leave, then you must have the approval of your department to return to work and then take time off again.