Don’t Lose Your Leave!
The deadline to use or lose leave is approaching.
It is that time of year again. This is your reminder to check your annual leave balance and confirm your balance is 240 hours or less and you have taken at least 40 hours of annual leave, per NDUS HR policy 6. Additionally, if you have taken leave ensure you have submitted all time taken into HCM. Please note, the 40 hour requirement does not apply if you were hired this year.
Part-time employees – these requirements are prorated for you. An employee scheduled for half time must keep their balance below 120 and use 20 hours of leave per year as an example.
Forecast the leave you must use prior to December 31.
Employees can calculate their 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 Absence Balances
- 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 “lost” time
Prevention & Planning
In January of each year, work with your supervisor to plan out the year’s annual leave. This is especially important if you 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 you 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.
Absence requests should be entered into HCM in time for the pay period the leave is for. Late entries may make the balances incorrect when forecasting. Please remember to monitor the maximum amount of dependent sick leave used. If you exceed the 80 hours of allowable dependent sick leave, the difference will need be to be charged to annual leave unless otherwise approved by Human Resources.
Review Upcoming Leave
If you must use leave before the deadline, subtract any time you already plan to take prior to the deadline. Additionally, ensure you have submitted all leave taken this year in HCM. This goes for both annual and sick leave.
Take Additional Leave
If you are still above the cap, identify days that will work for your supervisor and department to take additional leave. Once you and your supervisor have identified additional leave hours to be used, subtract these hours from the forecast balance to calculate if the you will be below the use-or-lose cap by the deadline.
Consider Leave Donation
If you will be unable to use your 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. If you or a coworker are interested in donating leave contact Joanne Barstad for information on donating to specific employees or the General Leave Donation Pool.
Questions?
Contact Joanne Barstad, joanne.barstad@UND.edu or 701.777.2156.
