State workers will not start their holidays early this year with their usual paid half-day off on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.

Gov. Linda Lingle waived the tradition because of concern over the state's looming $1.1 billion budget shortfall, according to a letter from Marie Laderta, director of the state Department of Human Resources Development, to department heads.

It involves an estimated $15 million that will be paid for work instead of administrative leave on those two days, said Russell Pang, spokesman for the governor.

The memorandum applies to 53,000 state employees in all departments, including the state Department of Education and the University of Hawaii, Pang said.

Fiscal concerns led the state administration to waive administrative leave on holiday eves in 2002, three weeks after Lingle took office, and in 1999.

Under the tradition, an employee was paid for administrative leave for one of the holiday eves, alternating with co-workers so the state offices were staffed.

Laderta recommended that department heads grant vacation leave to people who want to take the additional holiday time off, “;being mindful of the need to maintain adequate staffing levels so that customer service will not be negatively impacted.”;