CU Boulder leadership has granted employees four additional administrative leave days*: Dec. 24 through January 1. If the governor should issue an additional governor’s holiday for this period, that will replace one of the administrative leave days already granted.

Campus-based employees: For those on campus, these administrative days are in addition to the paid holidays of December 25, 28, and January 1. This results in a Winter Break from December 24, 2026 – January 1, 2027. Normal operations will resume on Monday, January 4, 2027. Campus based employees do not need to take any personal leave during this time.

NOAA-based employees: Employees based at NOAA will still follow the federal holiday schedule with the addition of five days to be taken December 24, 29, 30, 31 (four days total). Please note there are always slight differences in the holiday schedule for campus and NOAA (e.g., this year, campus-based employees have November 27 and December 28 as a holiday; NOAA-based employees do not.) December 28 would still need to be recorded as vacation time for NOAA embedded employees who choose to be away from work from the entire winter break period of December 24-January 1. 

*Prorated for part-time employees.
 

Some details:

• Eligible employees: This additional time off applies to all leave-eligible CIRES employees regardless of work location.
• Funding source: The funding for this leave will come from each individual’s current salary funding source. 
• Recording time: Employees should record the time as “Administrative Leave” for campus designated days
• CIRES administration & campus operations: CIRES and all campus administrative offices will be closed  November 26-27 for the Thanksgiving holiday, and December 24 – January 1, for Winter Break—please plan accordingly. 
• Alternate administrative leave: People who must work those days will be allowed to flex time off – please work with your supervisor to determine if flex time is necessary. These employees and their supervisors should find alternate days (by June 30, 2027) on which our employees can use this leave based on the scheduling needs in their unit or department. When this admin leave is entered into MyLeave, please annotate “annotate in the comments section of MyLeave that this Admin Leave is from the “winter break 2026-2027 allowance.”
• MyLeave Guidance: Staff and faculty who submit timesheets should record the time as “Administrative Leave” for Dec. 24, 29, 30, and 31. 

If you have any questions about the above information, please contact cireshr@colorado.edu. Thank you and enjoy your well-deserved extra leave!