Advisory Memorandum No. 2023-04

Section 21.1 Holidays - September 2023

TO: Manual Recipients
FROM: Jessica Rowe, Director of Staffing Services
SUBJECT: Veterans’ Day—November 11, 2023

A number of agencies have inquired about Veterans’ Day, which falls on Saturday, November 11, 2023.  We have been advised by the Office of Employee Relations that another day will not be designated to be observed as a holiday by State employees in lieu of November 11, 2023.

Full-time employees who are entitled to observe holidays, and for whom Saturday, November 11 is a regular day off, should be credited with compensatory time off in lieu of the holiday either as holiday compensatory time (for all units except for Security Services, Security Supervisors, and Agency Police Services Units) or as an additional day of vacation (for Security Services, Security Supervisors, and Agency Police Services Units).

Part-time employees who are eligible to observe holidays are entitled to observe only those holidays that fall on days when they are regularly scheduled to work or actually do work.  However, eligible part-time employees in the Professional, Scientific & Technical Services, Rent Regulation Services, Administrative Services, Institutional Services, and Operational Services Units, and those designated Managerial/Confidential, who are regularly scheduled to work at least half-time, and who do not work on Saturday, November 11, but who are regularly scheduled to work on Friday, November 10, will be credited with holiday leave equivalent to the number of hours in the employee’s regular Friday schedule not to exceed 7.5 or 8 hours.

Employees required to work on Saturday, November 11, 2023, should be paid holiday pay or granted holiday compensatory time off (holiday leave), as appropriate, except that Managerial/Confidential employees at salary grade 23 and above are not eligible for holiday pay and must be granted holiday compensatory time off.

Employees required to work on a holiday which coincides with a pass day may also be entitled to overtime pay in accordance with the Budget Director’s Rules.

When an eligible veteran, who has elected holiday pay for holidays worked, is required to work on November 11, Veterans’ Day, such employee is entitled to holiday pay pursuant to the negotiated agreement and also to holiday leave pursuant to Section 63 of the Public Officers Law. If, on the other hand, such employee waived holiday pay, one day of holiday leave satisfies both the contractual entitlement and the legal entitlement.

Restoration of Honor Act
Veterans granted status in accordance with the Restoration of Honor Act (ROHA), may be eligible for leave under Section 63 of the Public Officers Law so long as they meet all other eligibility criteria under the law.

The New York State Division of Veterans’ Services adjudicates all ROHA applications. When an application meets the law’s criteria for restoration of eligibility for the enumerated State benefits, the Division of Veterans’ Services will issue a letter on its letterhead, signed by the agency’s Director or designee, stating that the veteran now meets the character of discharge criteria for all of the benefits and services listed in the Restoration of Honor Act.

More information on the Restoration of Honor Act is available on the Division of Veterans Services website at the following link:

Restoration of Honor Act | New York State Department of Veterans' Services (ny.gov)

Questions concerning the observance of Veterans’ Day should be referred to the Attendance and Leave Unit of this Department at (518) 457-2295.

Attachment
Summary of Benefits Under Public Officers Law, Section 63

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