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• Time Off and Leaves

Time Off and Leaves

Alameda County provides employees with a range of time-away-from work opportunities, including paid holidays, vacation time and paid or unpaid leaves of absence. This section provides details on our various programs.

• Holidays
• Vacation
• Vacation Purchase Program

Holidays

The County observes the following holidays:

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday
• Lincoln’s Birthday
• Washington’s Birthday
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day*
• Admissions Day*
• Veteran’s Day
• Thanksgiving
• Friday after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day

*Only applies to specific labor organizations.

In addition, most employees receive up to four floating holidays each year. You must be hired before July 1 to be eligible; if hired after July 1, you are not eligible until the following calendar year. This benefit is pro-rated for part-time employees.

Note: Building Craft & Trades members receive two floating holidays per year; PPOA members receive three floating holidays per year.

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Vacation

Most County employees accrue vacation time on the following schedule:

Years of Employment	Vacation Accrued
First 4 years	2 weeks
5 to 11 years	3 weeks
12 to 20 years	4 weeks
Over 20 years	5 weeks

Refer to your Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for your eligibility and your vacation accrual maximums.

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Vacation Purchase Program

The County’s Vacation Purchase Program offers eligible employees the opportunity to purchase an additional one week or two weeks of vacation through payroll deductions. You make this election during the annual Open Enrollment period.

Your eligibility to purchase vacation during Open Enrollment is based on your vacation purchase plan balance as of a specific eligibility cut-off date each year (announced prior to Open Enrollment). Here’s how this works:

Vacation Purchase Program Eligibility

Vacation Purchase Plan Balance as of Annual Eligibility Cut-Off Date	Eligibility to Purchase Vacation
5.1 days or more	You are ineligible to purchase for the coming Benefit Plan Year
0.1 to 5.0 days	Purchase 1 week
0 days	Purchase 1 week to 2 weeks

The cost to purchase additional vacation is based on your pay. Your contributions toward the program are deducted from your pay in equal increments on a pre-tax basis throughout the year. Note, if you experience a pay rate change during the Benefit Plan Year (e.g. resulting from a promotion or job change), your total annual cost will not be adjusted.

Vacation purchase hours are not considered eligible service hours towards retirement.

Refer to your Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for your eligibility to participate in this program and to clearly understand how the Vacation Purchase Program works. There have been recent changes that make Vacation Purchase hours subject to the same parameters as leave without pay hours.

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