Dear SFUSD employees,

Welcome to the new calendar year in EMPowerSF! We are writing to clarify our time entry guidance for the observance of Lunar New Year on Jan. 23. 

Lunar New Year (observed) is a non-work day for SFUSD school sites only. Employees at sites who are not working do not need to enter a paycode for this day. Please leave this row on the timesheet blank unless you are working. 

• Site-based classified staff (clerks, site-funded custodians, paraeducators) are not scheduled to work and can leave the timesheet blank. To get paid for this day, you will need to request Vacation, Floating Holiday, or use Comp Time. The request must be done through the EMPowerSF Time Off Request process in Time & Attendance prior to the deadline for time submission (January 17).
• Central offices are open for Lunar New Year (observed) on Monday, Jan. 23. All central-office-based employees must enter work time or have auto-populated work time during this week, unless time off is requested.

What’s the difference between a holiday and a non-work day for school sites? Any federal holiday where all of SFUSD is off is categorized in the timesheets as a holiday. Work done during a holiday is eligible for holiday pay. Holiday pay is specific to your job classification’s calendar code. 

If only a subset of district employees are not working, we call it a non-work day. Examples include Spring Break, Lunar New Year, and César Chavez Day. On these days, central offices are open. 

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,
EMPowerSF Team