To enable UP faculty and staff to celebrate the Christmas holidays with their families and loved ones, and to enable the University to save on utilities and maintenance during this holiday season, a mandatory break throughout the UP System shall be observed on 19, 22, 23, 26, and 29 December 2025 (five working days), subject to the following guidelines:
- Work shall be planned and schedulcd such that all transactions and the relevant required reports are completed by Thursday, 18 December 2025.
- All offices will be closed during the mandatory break except for units that should remain operational albeit with a small number of essential employees (examples: health services, security, and police services, emergency campus maintenance and sanitation, PABX).
- The safety and security of officcs and building premises shall be ensured.
Guidance on Mandatory Leave for Employees:
- Covered employees: Permanent, Temporary, UP Contractual / Casual, Substitute (with employer-employee relationship)
- Thc employee’s mandatory leave is charged to thc current year’s vacation leave credits. However, if thc employee has already exhausted their mandatory leavc credits for 2025, the mandatory leave shall be charged against their accumulated vacation leave credits.
- An employee who has an approved vacation leave prior to the holiday break or has not filed any vacation leave within the year, has the option to file for the disapproval of the mandatory leave for one, two, or all three working days before December 25 (i.e., Decembcr 19, 22, and 23), subject to the exigency of scrvicc and the approval of the head of unit. The working days after December 25 shall remain mandatory leave days for all employees, except for employees belonging to offices covered by the exemptions stated in Guideline No. 2.
- Those with accumulated vacation leave credits of less than 10 days may opt not to go on mandatory leave before December 25. The working days after December 25 shall remain mandatory leave days for all employees, except for employees belonging to offices covered by the exemptions stated in Guideline No. 2.
- Officials and employees with accumulated vacation leave of 15 days who availed of monetization for 10 days shall still be required to go on mandatory leave (Reference. CSC MC No. 41 s. 1998).
- Those who will be grantcd an exemption from the mandatory break must physically report to their office/workstation during the day/s covered by the exemption. Regular employees who will report physically to the office must be issued an Office Order by the Office/Unit Head authorizing them to report for duty during the holiday break and specifying thc inclusive date/s along with a brief dcscription of their tasks and/or expected outputs.
- Those who need to report for work because of exigency of service thrust be given the appropriate tasks and submit reports or deliver the expected work outputs. A certification from the immediate supervisor that tlic assigned tasks were done should be attached to the Daily Time Record (DTR) or Certificate of Service (COS) for December 2025.
- Should any of the days specified under the five-day mandatory leave period in this memorandum be declared a holiday, thc mandatory leave charged for that day shall bc reverted to the employee’s leave credits.
Guidance for Contract of Service/Job Order personnel:
- Contract of Service (COS) and Job Order (JO) personnel are not covered by the mandatory leave rules under Section 25 of CSC MC No. 41, s. 1998 (Omnibus Rules on Leave). COS/JO engagement is based on outputs and deliverables; hence, COS/JO pcrsonnel are required to render service during the working days specified in paragraph 1. This is consistent with the monthly payment scheme provided under Memorandum No. ACR 24-90.
- Depending on the nature of their engagement, COS/JO personnel may shift to flexible work arrangements on December 19, 22, 23, 26, and 29, with corresponding tasks and deliverables mutually agreed upon by the unit head and the COS/JO personnel. Accomplishments and deliverables are to be reported in the Work Accomplishment and reviewed by the unit head.
- COS/JO personnel who need to report physically to the office during these days must be issued an Office Order by their Office/Unit Head authorizing thcir entry to UP premises. The Office Order must clearly indicate thc specific date/s and the tasks and/or expected outputs to be accomplished.
- A regular employee must be present to oversee the office when a COS/JO personnel physically reports to the Office on December 19, 22, and 23. Appropriate arrangements must be clearly specified in the Office Order issued to the COS/JO personnel.
- All COS/JO personnel may shift to flexible work arrangements on December 26 and 29 for the preparation of engagement reports, summary of deliverables, and other tasks that may be performed off-site, subject to agreement with the unit head.
As the operations of the UP Philippine General Hospital are different front the operations of the constituent universities, a separate advisory on appropriate work arrangements for this period for UP PGH employees shall be issued.
Please be guided accordingly.
ANGELO A. JIMENEZ
President
University of the Philippines
