Hurricanes are a fact of life in Florida. At times, UF must close campus for the safety of students and employees, as was recently the case during Tropical Storm Elsa. When this happens, most employees are compensated for the time they missed at work. But for hundreds of UF workers, a hurricane day threatens their finances right when a storm threatens their lives and homes. Temporary and part-time employees known as OPS aren’t given a choice on whether to work or not when campus closes, and they don’t get paid for the time missed. For OPS workers, a hurricane impacts them no matter how strong the storm is. Nature may leave storm damage to chance, but UF guarantees financial harm to OPS workers. 

We are calling on UF to begin providing paid hurricane days for all OPS staff who are employed by the University in an effort to make the University a more just and equitable place. This would apply to OPS workers who work in more hurricane-prone areas of the state as well. The University employs OPS workers all over the state of Florida, and all of them are shut out of their jobs without pay when a hurricane impacts the state. This is unfair and does not align with the University's stated mission of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Sign this pledge to tell UF to pay ALL their workers on hurricane closure days.