University of Wisconsin–Madison
Human Resources

How to View Time Off Balances in Workday

Overview

This guide provides information on how to view and understand your time off balances, including how to project your time off balances as of a date in the future, and how to review your carryover balances. Checking your current time off balances (such as vacation, sick leave, and personal holidays) can help you stay up to date and manage your time off effectively.

Click through the accordion tabs below to learn more about your time off balances. 

   

How to Navigate to Your Time Off Balances

Workday has many ways to view time off balances. Below is one way to view your time off balances directly from your Employee Profile in Workday.

  1. From the Workday Home Page, navigate to your employee profile by clicking on the Employee Profile icon in the upper right corner, and click View Profile.

    Workday homepage, with a box around the person icon, and the View Profile button

  2. From your employee profile, click Absence from the options on the left side of the page.

    Employee profile in the left hand navigation bar with a box around Absence.

  3. Select Absence Balance from the options on the top of the page.

    The tabs from the Absence menu with a box around Absence Balance

  4. This report will show you your time off balances as of the period listed in the right column.

    The time off balance report with a box around the As Of Period column

Note: If viewing this report in the middle of a pay period, it will not reflect the time off you accrue in the pay period, as time off accruals are updated on the last day of each pay period. This applies to Vacation Year to Date and Sick. 

How to View Projected Time Off Balances

Workday allows you to look ahead and see your estimated time off balances for a future date. This is a helpful tool for planning significant events or changes in your life (e.g., planning for retirement, anticipating a maternity/paternity leave, scheduling lengthy medical procedures, or considering job changes).

Note: Employees should work with their local HR department if planning to take an extended leave of absence to ensure their projected time off balances are accurate.

  1. From your employee profile, click Actions, hover over Time and Absence, and click View Time Off Balance
    Employee profile highlighting the the Actions button, Time and Absence option, and the View Time Off Balance report

  2. A pop up will appear, and you can change the date to see past, or future projected time off balances. Enter the date you’d like to see, then click OK. A new time off Balance report will appear.
    Projected Time Off Balance screen, with 06/27/2026 as the "As Of" date

    1. Note: To see your projected balances as of the end of the fiscal year, select the final Saturday in the pay period before July 1. This will give you an estimate of your balances at the end of the fiscal year.

    2. The outcome of this report does not include:

      1. Time off entries the employee has not yet made in the system
      2. Changes to the employee’s position (i.e., FTE change, unpaid Leave of Absence, etc.)

Understanding Your Time Off Balances

Information from the report can be broken down into two parts: 

  1. the year to date information, 
  2. the current pay period information.

Example of the columns from the Time Off Balance report. There is a box around the first four columns that relate to the year to date information. There is a second box around the six columns that relate to the current pay period information.

Year to Date Columns (A)

These columns show the balances as they relate to the fiscal year as a whole

  • Beginning Year Balance: This is the number of hours on July 1 (the beginning of the fiscal year)
    • Note: For Vacation Year to Date, the beginning period balance on July 1 may show less than the Vacation Available if July 1 is in the middle of a pay period
      Example of vacation available beginning period balance of 155 hours, and the vacation year to date beginning period balance of 154.400952 hours.
  • Carryover Balance: The remaining balances of hours carried over from the previous fiscal year. When an employee uses time off from this time off plan, it first subtracts from the Carryover Balance
  • Accrued Year to Date: The number of hours accrued since the beginning of the fiscal year (or from the mid-year hire)
  • Absence Paid Year to Date: The number of hours used since the beginning of the fiscal year (or from the mid-year hire)

Current Pay Period Columns (B)

These columns show the balances as they relate to the current pay period from the As of Period 

  • Beginning Period Balance: The time off balances as of the beginning of the pay period
  • Accrued in Period: The number of hours accrued during the pay period
  • Absence Paid in Period: The number of hours paid during the period from this time off plan
  • Carryover Forfeited in Period: The number of hours forfeited in the period due to policy rules, including:
    • Expiring Vacation Carryover
    • Expiring Personal Holiday
    • Expiring Legal Holiday
    • Expiring Postdoc time off
    • Compensatory time greater than 80 hours
  • Balance As of Date: The time off balance as of the date in the As Of Period column, reflecting time off that has already been approved
  • Balance As of Date (Includes Events Awaiting Approval): the time off balance as of the date in the As Of Period column, including time off requests that have been entered, but not yet approved
  • Total: The total number of hours across all time off types in the Balance As of Date columns
    • Note: This number may not be accurate because it adds together both Available and Year to Date balances, so those hours are double counted in the totals.

Example of the total time off balance, showing a total of 746.08409 hours.

Time Off Plans and Accruals (Rows in the Report)

Employees may be eligible for the following time off plans based on their job category, FTE, years of service, and other factors. Employees should consult with their local HR departments if they have questions.

FAASLI and University Staff Time Off Plans 

Vacation Available 
  • Shows the total estimated Vacation time off that an employee has remaining in the year if they remain in full paid status through June 30.  
  • Sets the limit on the total Vacation an employee may use in the year.  
  • Though the total estimated Vacation time off is available for use on July 1, vacation accrues throughout the year (see Vacation Year to Date). 
    • Note: Different employment types accrue Vacation at different rates. See the UW-Madison Vacation policy for more information. 
  • Mid-year job changes may impact hours accrued.
  • Adjustment to accruals will occur if the employee has an FTE change, hours in unpaid status (including leaves of absence with an accrual effect), or paid hours different from the FTE for part-time employees. 
  • For Seasonal compensation basis, this is based on the Working FTE and does not adjust when the employee has FTE adjustments unless the Working FTE changes.
Vacation Year to Date (YTD) 
  • Shows the total Vacation, including carryover, that the employee has accrued but not used in the fiscal year.  
  • Accrues at the end of each pay period based on the employee’s hours in paid status. 
  • This is not a separate balance from the Vacation Available. It shows what portion of the Vacation Available the employee has as of the selected effective date. 
  • Since an employee may use Vacation before it is earned, the balance may show as a negative if the employee has used more vacation than they have accrued. 
  • If an employee ends employment, positive Vacation Year to Date balances pay out and negative balances must be repaid.  

Personal Holiday 

  • Total Personal Holiday available is 36 hours, prorated by FTE. 
    • Note: Craftworkers are not eligible to earn Personal Holiday
Legal Holiday 
  • Accrues 8 hours times FTE on the date of the holiday. 
  • Can be overused by a maximum of 16 hours times FTE at any given time 
    • Note: A negative balance at the end of the fiscal year or if employment is terminated will be recouped by the University. 
  • For part time employees and employees on continuous leave, the accrual is adjusted after the pay period ends based on actual hours in paid status. 
Sick 
  • Shows the sick time off available as of the report date.  
  • Accrues at the end of each pay period based on the employee’s hours in paid status.

Postdoc Time Off Plans

Postdoc Medical Available 
  • Total Postdoc Medical time off available is 96 hours times FTE as of July 1. 
  • Shows the total estimated Medical time off that an employee has remaining in the year if they remain in full paid status through June 30.  
  • Though the total estimated Postdoc Medical time off is available for use on July 1, it accrues throughout the year. 
  • Mid-year job changes may impact hours accrued. 
Postdoc Medical Year to Date 
  • Shows the total Postdoc Medical time off the employee has accrued but not used in the fiscal year. 
  • Accrues at the end of each pay period based on the employee’s hours in paid status. 
  • This is not a separate balance from the Postdoc Medical Available plan. It shows what portion of the Postdoc Medical Available balance the employee has accrued as of the selected effective date. 
Postdoc Personal Available 
  • Total Postdoc Personal time off available is 176 hours times FTE as of July 1. 
  • Shows the total estimated Postdoc Personal time off that an employee has remaining in the year if they remain in full paid status through June 30.  
  • Sets the limit on the total Postdoc Personal time off an employee may use in the year.  
  • Though the total estimated Postdoc Personal time off is available for use on July 1, it accrues throughout the year. 
  • Mid year job changes may impact hours accrued. 
Postdoc Personal Year to Date 
  • Shows the total Postdoc Personal time off that the employee has accrued but not used in the fiscal year.  
  • Accrues at the end of each pay period based on the employee’s hours in paid status.
  • This is not a separate balance from the Postdoc Personal Available plan. It shows what portion of the Postdoc Personal Available the employee has accrued as of the selected effective date

Other Time Off Plans

Banked Leave 
  • Only visible if the employee is eligible for the Banked Leave plan.
Compensatory “Comp” Time 
  • Only visible if the employee has compensatory time off available.  
  • Accrues at the end of the pay period in which it’s earned. 
  • Maximum of 80 hours combined between carryover and current year. 
    • Note: Comp time in excess of 80 hours is not paid out and is forfeited in the pay period in which it is earned. 

Catastrophic Time Off 

  • Only visible if the employee is on Catastrophic Leave of Absence.  
  • Employees may have a negative balance if they have requested more Catastrophic Time Off than has been donated. Until donations are processed and time off is updated, any negative balance will be unpaid time off.  

Paid Parental Time Off 

  • Only visible when the employee is on Paid Parental Eligibility Period LOA.

Troubleshooting Tips

  • Blue Links: Click on the blue linked text to find additional information
  • Negative Hours in Accrued in Period or Accrued Year to Date: If there is a negative accrual balance in the Accrued in Period column, it is likely due to the employee using more time off than was accrued in that period, or year to date.
    • To see the total number of hours accrued year to date vs the total number of hours used year to date, click the blue link in Vacation Year to Date and Accrued Year to Date. This will open a pop out box with more details.
      The time off balance report, with a box around the blue link of accrued year to date column for vacation year to date plan. It shows a pop out window that highlights the accruals of the various plans, and the time off used, showing how the accrued year to date number is calculated.

Understanding Your Vacation Balance and Carryover

Vacation time is provided up front at the beginning of the fiscal year, which starts on July 1. 

You will see two rows for Vacation: 

  • Vacation Available - This shows how much vacation the employee is entitled to for the fiscal year, and any vacation carryover from the previous fiscal year.
  • Vacation Year to Date - This shows how much vacation the employee has accrued since the beginning of the fiscal year (or their mid-year hire), and any vacation carryover from the previous fiscal year.

Vacation Carryover

Vacation that is carried over from the previous fiscal year to the next will display in both the Vacation Available and Vacation Year to Date plans.

To easily see how many hours of Vacation Carryover you have left in your balance, cross the Carryover Balance column with the Vacation Available row.

  • Vacation time off entries will deduct from the Vacation Carryover first
  • If this displays 0 hours, the employee has no remaining Vacation Carryover hours.

Example #1: 

  • This employee below has 79 hours of Vacation Carryover left in their balance. 
  • They carried over 155 hours of vacation from the previous year. 
  • Any future vacation entries made before June 30 will be taken from the carryover balance until it reaches 0. 
  • The 79 hours will forfeit at the end of the fiscal year if not used.

Example of the time off balance report with boxes highlighting the Carryover Balance and Vacation Available plan, showing a balance of 79 hours.

Example #2

  • This employee below has 0 hours of Vacation Carryover left in their balance.
  • They carried over 119 hours from the previous year. 
  • Any future vacation entries made before June 30 will be taken from the current year’s vacation accrual.

Example of the time off balance report with boxes highlighting the Carryover Balance and Vacation Available plan, showing a balance of 0 hours.

Important notes: 

  • Refer to Vacation Year to Date and Balance as of Date as it includes your vacation carryover balance and the vacation you have earned so far, minus what you have used.
    • If this number is negative, it means you have used more vacation time than you have accrued so far in the year.
  • If you separate from the University, you are only entitled to the vacation you have earned up to the separation date (the amount in the Vacation Year to Date row as of the separation date)
  • Time off accruals are updated on the last day of each pay period.

Additional Resources

Questions?

Contact your local HR department.

Updated: May 13, 2026Source URL: https://hr.wisc.edu/hr-guides/for-employees/how-to-view-time-off-balances-in-workday/

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