Planning Time Off?

Now is a good time to visit with your supervisor to plan out your annual leave.

It’s time to look forward to the end of the year. This is your reminder to forecast your end of the year annual leave balance and confirm your balance your balance will be below 240 hour after you’ve taken your required 40 hours of leave, per NDUS HR policy 6. 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.

Forecast the leave you must use prior to December 31.

Employees can calculate their use-or-lose leave by forecasting the balance.

1. Log into PeopleSoft HCM at https://adminsys.ndus.edu/psp/hehp/?cmd=login&languageCd=ENG
2. Click Employee Self Service
3. Click on the Time Tile
4. Click on Absence Balances
5. Click on Forecast Balance
6. Change the As of Date to 12/31/2025
7. In the Absence Name field, use the drop down and select Annual Leave
8. 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

The best time to begin planning your leave is January 1; the second best time is now. This is especially important if you have worked at UND for many years and accrue annual leave at the highest rate.  These decisions are not final, but will help you plan to take well-deserved R & R. Stepping away from work and taking time to decompress is important, but can be hard to do if you are unable to schedule in leave. Through planning ahead, you can avoid losing your leave time at the end of the year.

Submit Leave Already Taken

Additionally, if you have taken already taken some leave, ensure you have submitted all time taken into HCM, as late entries may make the balances incorrect when forecasting. This goes for both annual and sick leave. Ensure you’ve entered all absence requests into HCM in time for the pay period the leave is for.  If you’ve used dependent leave (pulls from sick leave), make sure you remain below the maximum. Leave taken above the 80 hour limit will be charged to annual leave.

Review Upcoming Leave

If you must use leave before the deadline, remember to subtract any time you already plan to take before the end of the year from the forecasted balance. (i.e., if you’ve forecasted you’ll have 264 hours on Dec. 31 and you plan to take one day of leave before the end of the year, you only need to use another 16 hours before the end of the year).

Take Additional Leave

If you are still above the cap, identify days that will work for your supervisor and department to take additional leave. 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

Are you unable to use your leave prior to the deadline? You may have a coworker in need of leave! An approved employee can receive leave you would have otherwise lost. Your coworkers will greatly appreciate any donations of the use or lose leave.  Complete a Request to Donate Leave form to donate to specific approved employees or the General Leave Donation Pool.

Questions?

Contact Joanne Barstad, joanne.barstad@UND.edu or 701.777.2156.