Beginning this year, eligible employees receive two floating holidays, totaling 16 hours, each year in addition to the 11 holidays already observed by Sandia. These floating holidays are part of the new and enhanced employee benefits that were introduced in 2024.

“We care about our employees’ health and well-being, and having a good work-life balance is essential for maintaining one’s overall wellness,” Executive Director and Chief Human Resources Officer Brian Carter said. “Work-life balance continues to come up in our employee engagement surveys as a reason people stay at Sandia. We want that to continue, and through the Lab’s People & Culture Strategy, one of the ways we’re continuing to promote work-life balance is by providing additional time off through our new floating holidays.”

A successful benefit

More than 2,000 Sandians have already used their floating holiday hours. For example, more than 400 employees took off part or all day on Monday, Jan. 15, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Additionally, nearly 550 Sandians used floating holiday hours on Monday, Feb. 19, for Presidents Day. Chief of Staff Lindsay Klennert and her children went skiing in Durango that day.

“It was great being able to spend Presidents Day having fun with my kids and celebrating another holiday in addition to our Sandia-observed ones,” Lindsay said.

Germaine Almager-Laughlin, ethics and business conduct officer, also used a floating holiday on Presidents Day.

“My husband and I were able to extend our weekend camping trip an extra day,” Germaine said. “These new floating holidays are a real benefit for employees, and I appreciate having the extra time off.”

Business Management manager Jac Pier used a floating holiday last month to celebrate his birthday.

“My birthday this year fell on a Thursday right before one of my regularly scheduled 9/80 Fridays off. I had a nice, relaxing day on my birthday and a decent chunk of time off with a four-day weekend. The cool thing about this new benefit is that it gives us the gift of time, which is a precious resource,” he said.

Rate analyst Natasha Hart spent a fun-filled day with her family during spring break by using one of her floating holidays.

“I don’t normally take time off during spring break, but this year I enjoyed a one-day staycation with my family. We stayed overnight in a hotel with a swimming pool for the kids, then woke up and went to Topgolf in the morning, a high school basketball game in the afternoon and then dinner afterwards,” she said. “I got to spend additional time this spring break with my family, and I’m thankful for those extra hours.”

Since the new floating holidays can be used in one-hour increments, manager Lorenzo Stanton has been able to use his extra time off for a variety of activities.

“I used a few of my floating holiday hours to leave work early on Valentine’s Day, run some errands on another day and tack on some additional time to my vacation,” Lorenzo said.

Senior Technical Recruiter Doan Phung used one of her floating holidays to celebrate Lunar New Year in February.

“I’m Vietnamese and the most important holiday in my culture is Lunar New Year. We celebrate it for about a week or more, primarily spending time with family: feasting, attending festivals, handing out red envelopes with money to children and lighting red firecrackers for good luck,” Doan said. “Even though this year’s Lunar New Year started on a Saturday, I was able to extend my celebration by using one of my floating holidays.”

Creative Services manager Rebecca Brock hasn’t used her floating holidays yet, but she knows exactly what she is going to do with them.

“I’m saving my floating holidays for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in October. Our Jewish holidays change each year with the Hebrew calendar,” Rebecca said. “Previously I had to use vacation time to observe my faith. And although Sandia has always promoted diversity really well, being able to now use holiday hours for my religion’s holy days makes me feel even more included at the workplace. This feels like I belong.”

Regardless of how employees choose to use their new floating holidays, they now have more time off from work to spend resting, recharging and doing the things that matter most to them.