All ORA & RPC Staff,
I am writing to summarize important information related to the upcoming Winter Closure and services within the UCLA Research Administration (ORA) at the Wilshire Glendon Building during that time.
ORA Closure Dates: Consistent with the campus final Winter Closure notice below we will be closed starting Saturday, December 19, 2020 through Sunday, January 3, 2021. We will re-open on Monday, January 4, 2021. Please set your voicemail and email out of office auto-reply accordingly. You may also consider adding a notice of the upcoming closure to your email signature line following guidance from your unit management.
Options for Paid Time Off or Leave Without Pay: Four University paid holidays will be observed including: December 24, 25, 31, 2020 and January 1, 2021. However, six days (December 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, and 30, 2020) are not paid holidays. Staff may choose to use accrued vacation time or leave without pay or in combination to compensate for these six unpaid work days. (See Campus Human Resources memo at the end of this message for additional details.) Following the standard procedures for scheduling vacation, employees should submit requests for time off before/after the closure period in advance to their respective supervisor.
For the holiday closure only, current and newly hired staff with insufficient vacation accruals may utilize up to six (6) vacation days in advance of actual accrual. (See PPSM-2.210, Section F.2., Curtailment Leave).
If a staff member chooses to use Leave Without Pay (LWOP) for any unpaid days during the closure period, the hours must be reported on the timesheet (TRS) by selecting LWOP from the drop down menu. Please be aware that LWOP impacts years of service credit.
Working during the closure period requires prior approval from the unit Director. Requests are not routinely approved and will only be granted based on emergency/critical operational need. Exceptional approval for on-site building access, only for the days the building is open during the closure (see below), must be obtained in advance from your AVC/Director no later than Thursday, December 17th.
Pay Check Deposit: Monthly paid employees with direct deposit will receive pay at their financial institutions on/around January 4, 2021 depending on your bank’s processing time. Biweekly paid employees will receive pay on January 6, 2021. A separate email will follow with instructions for submitting biweekly timesheets for the December 13 to December 26, 2020 pay period.
Computer/IT Services: The ORIS Service Desk will be closed for the duration of the Winter Closure. ORIS staff will not be available, and the Service Desk email and phone will not be monitored. Office365 email and our enterprise applications will remain online, but may be subject to extended maintenance (e.g. PATS, S2S Grants, PAMS, ERS, webIRB, RATS, SafetyNet, eDGE, ORA Portal, PI Portal, etc.). Normal services will resume at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, January 4, 2021.
Mail Services: All U.S. mail will be held at Mail & Document services for the duration of the closure period and distributed on January 4, 2021. All UPS and Federal Express courier services will be directed to be delivered to Mail & Document services or held safely and securely in the Building loading dock. Please contact Aiza Almario in OBFS for any mail that requires special handling.
Building Services and Access: The Wilshire-Glendon Building will be Closed on December 24, 25, 31, 2020 and January 1, 2021, with no engineering, janitorial, parking, or HVAC services. The Building will be Open on December 21-23, 28-30 with essential operations and parking services only, and no HVAC services. For security and safety purposes, all UCLA staff members and visitors with approved access are expected to check in with the Lobby Officer to access the building. Building security may be contacted via the main lobby phone (310) 794-3432 or cell phone (310) 560-0998. Contact the Office of the Building at (310) 794-0671 for any requests during this time.
Please note that UCLA’s Campus Human Resources reports they have no additional information at this time regarding UCLA’s plans to adopt the UC President’s curtailment leave, which is separate and distinct from the existing curtailment leave policy referenced throughout this message.
Should you have any questions regarding any of this information, please contact Aiza Almario or me directly.
Wishing you a very happy and joyous holiday season!
Rory Constancio
Senior Director, Office of Business & Financial Services
Senior Director, Office of Research Data Management