Fairfax County employees will get an additional day and a half of paid leave in December thanks to a Board of Supervisors decision Nov. 16.
The supervisors voted to give county employees one half day off on Dec. 24 and a full day off on Dec. 31 that were previously not included in Fairfax’s work calendar.

The supervisors said they wanted to reward the county staff for "doing more with less," as a result of budget cuts. The extra paid leave, which Fairfax County chairman Sharon Bulova (D) and Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross (D) brought to the rest of the board, will cost the county approximately $1 million.

At first, Bulova and Gross had suggested giving county employees two half days on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31. But Sully District supervisor Michael Frey (R) convinced the supervisors to give county employees a full day off Dec. 31, saying that little would get accomplished during a half day of work on New Year’s eve.

"A half day of work on Dec. 31 would not necessarily be a productive day," said Bulova, agreeing with Frey.

Several supervisors said the additional vacation days were also supposed to ease the pain of the one furlough day county employees had to take during the first week of January this year.