Regular full-time employees in established management positions shall be entitled to take all authorized holidays at full pay, not to exceed eight (8) hours for any one (1) day, provided they are in a full pay status on both their regularly scheduled workdays immediately preceding and following the holiday. Part-time employees shall be entitled to holiday pay in proportion to the average percentage of full- time hours worked during the two (2) pay periods immediately preceding the pay period, which includes the holiday. If two or more holidays fall on succeeding or alternate pay periods, then the average full-time hours worked in the two (2) pay periods immediately preceding the first holiday shall be used in determining the holiday pay entitlement for the subsequent holiday.
The holidays for the County are:
- January 1 (New Year’s Day)
- Third Monday in January (Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday)
- Third Monday in February (Washington’s Birthday)
- March 31 (Cesar Chavez’s Day)
- Last Monday in May (Memorial Day)
- June 19 (Juneteenth)
- July 4 (Independence Day)
- First Monday in September (Labor Day)
- Second Monday in October** (Columbus Day/ Indigenous Peoples Day)
- November 11 (Veterans Day)
- Fourth Thursday in November (Thanksgiving Day)
- Friday following Thanksgiving Day
- December 25 (Christmas)
- Every day appointed by the President of the United States or the Governor of the State of California to be a day of public mourning, thanksgiving, or holiday. The granting of such holidays shall be discretionary with the Board of Supervisors.
** Effective February, 2001, the Lincoln’s Birthday holiday was eliminated and replaced with a floating holiday (8 hours of holiday time) which will accrue on February 12. The floating holiday may be used starting in the first pay period that begins after February 12th.
If the legislature or the Governor appoints a date different from the one shown above for the observance of one of these holidays, then San Mateo County shall observe the holiday on the date appointed by the Legislature or the Governor.
Holiday Falling on a Sunday
If one of the holidays listed above falls on Sunday and the employee is not scheduled to work that day, the holiday will be observed on Monday
Holiday Falling on Employee’s Regular Day Off
If any of the holidays listed above falls on a day other than Sunday and the employee is not regularly scheduled to work that day, the employee shall be entitled to equivalent straight time off with pay. This equivalent straight time off earned is limited to 120 hours with any time earned in excess of 120 hours cashed out at the equivalent straight time rate. If an employee leaves County service with accrued hours, those hours will be cashed out.
Wellness Days
In addition to the paid holidays listed above, employees shall be entitled to sixteen (16) hours of time off as wellness days or days of reflection (floating holiday) each fiscal year. Employees may use the wellness time off on any day mutually agreed by the employee and their supervisor. Wellness days not used by the end of the fiscal year will be deemed forfeited and have no cash value.
Winter Recess Days
(1) Effective in December 2024, December 2025 and December 2026, the County shall provide three (3) paid winter recess holidays (the equivalent of twenty-four (24) hours for a full-time employee) per year.
(2) For a three (3) day period designated by the County between December 26th and December 31st of 2024, 2025, and 2026 the County agrees to hold a Winter Recess. During the Winter Recess, County departments and divisions employing members of this bargaining unit may move to minimum staffing levels and/or close business, depending on the needs of the department and the public served. Which departments and divisions will close or go to minimum staffing and which bargaining unit members will be required to work is entirely within the discretion of the or their designee. The determination for closure shall be made by the Department Head and subject to County Manager and Board of Supervisors’ approval.
(3) During the Winter Recess, regular full-time employees in established positions shall be entitled to eight (8) hours of full pay for each day of the three-day Winter Recess, provided they are in a full pay status on both their regularly scheduled workdays immediately preceding and following the holiday. Part-time employees shall be entitled to holiday pay, not to exceed eight (8) hours for any one (1) day, in proportion to the average percentage of hours worked during the two (2) pay periods without holidays immediately preceding the pay period which includes the holiday.
(4) If any of the Winter Recess days falls on a day the employee is not regularly scheduled to work, or if an employee is required to work on a Winter Recess day, the employee shall be entitled to equivalent straight time off with pay. “Winter Recess” exchange days shall be scheduled in the same manner as vacation, unless the department’s policy is to schedule vacation per a vacation sign up list, in which case these days shall be scheduled in the same manner as a Floating Holiday This equivalent time off is limited to twenty-four (24) hours. No employee will be allowed to have an accumulation of more than forty-eight (48) hours of Winter Recess time to their credit at any one time. If an employee leaves County service with accrued Winter Recess hours, those hours will be cashed out with terminal pay.
(5) Employee working on a Winter Recess day shall be compensated in accordance with the provisions of this MOU.
(6) Winter Recess hours will not be included as hours worked for the purpose of calculating overtime.