Staff Leave: Use it or Lose it!
The deadline to use or lose leave is approaching.
It is that time of year again. (December 31st). Supervisors of benefited employees are responsible for ensuring their employees have taken minimum required 40 hours in a year (prorated if less than 1 FTE) and will not have over 240 hours (prorated) in their annual leave balance. The 40 hour requirement does not apply if it is the first calendar year of their employment.
Forecast the leave your employees need to use before December 31.
Supervisors can find their employees’ use-or-lose leave by forecasting the balance.
- Log into PeopleSoft HCM at https://adminsys.ndus.edu/psp/hehp/?cmd=login&languageCd=ENG
- Click Employee Self Service
- Click on the Time Tile
- Click on Manage Absence
- Click on Forecast Balance
- Change the As of Date to 12/31/2024
- In the Absence Name field, use the drop down and select Annual Leave
- Click on the Forecast Balance button – this usually takes a few seconds to compute
- When the balance appears, subtract 240 hours to see the use-or-lose amount. (Prorate for part time)
How to mitigate the amount of “lost” time
Prevention & Planning
In January of each year, work with the employee to plan out their year of annual leave. This is especially important when working with individuals who have worked at UND for many years and accrue annual leave at the highest rate. While every decision does not have to be finalized and there will be unforeseen circumstances, it helps greatly if you plan the year so that the employee can take time away from work for some well-deserved R & R and not have unused leave time at the end of the year that will be lost. Please remember to monitor the maximum amount of dependent sick leave used. If an employee exceeds the 80 hours of allowable dependent sick leave, the difference will need be charged to annual leave unless otherwise approved by Human Resources.
Review Upcoming Leave
If your employee must use leave before the deadline, visit with them to determine if they already plan to take leave prior to the deadline. Additionally, ensure your employees are submitting their time in HCM, as soon as they have used it. This goes for both annual and sick leave. Subtract any upcoming leave from the forecast balance to determine if this will bring the employee below the cap.
Encourage Additional Leave
If your employee is still above the cap, identify days that will work for your department for them to take additional leave. Once you and your employee have identified additional leave hours to be used, subtract these hours from the forecast balance to calculate if the employee will be below the use-or-lose cap by the deadline.
Consider Leave Donation
If an employee is unable to use their leave prior to the deadline, employees who have been approved to receive donated leave would greatly appreciate any donations of the use or lose leave. Contact Joanne Barstad for information on donating to specific employees or the General Leave Donation Pool.
Questions?
If you or a staff member are interested in donating leave or have any questions regarding the use-or-lose process, contact Joanne Barstad, joanne.barstad@UND.edu or 701.777.2156.
