Overview of What is Changing Leave of Absence

What is changing for leave of absence? 

Starting July 2025, employees will use Workday for leave of absence. 

What is changing 

Difference between time off and leave of absence terminology in Workday 

• In Workday, taking time away from work such as vacation or sick, is referred to as time off. 
• Leave of Absence is time away for a specific reason that will require separate approvals (FMLA, WFLMA, Paid Parental Leave, Faculty Sabbatical, etc,.). Time off may be used during some leaves of absence.

General changes 

• Most leave of absences are unpaid by default. 
  • Paid leave of absence is no longer an option. 
  • To be paid during a leave of absence, employees will need to enter time off such as sick or vacation. 
  • One exception of an unpaid leave of absence is Faculty Sabbatical.
• Employees can request a leave of absence in Workday. 
  • Absence partner approves the leave of absence through Workday. 
  • Manager receives a notification of the leave of absence through Workday.
• Bone Marrow and Organ donation are now a leave of absence reason and can be tracked in Workday.
• During Intermittent FMLA and WFMLA leaves of absence, intermittent time off takes must be used to apply time off  to the absence and to count the time absent toward an employee's applicable FMLA and WFMLA entitlements. 
• Work schedules may impact time off accrual proration for exempt staff who are on leave for a part of a pay period. 

Employees with Multiple Jobs 

• When requesting leave of absence, employees must select the appropriate position. 
• When supplementing leave of absence with time off, employees will need to select the position using the time off. 

What to know

FMLA/WFMLA 

• Time off entries can be entered in quarter hour increments to supplement the leave of absence. 
• Entitlements continue to be on the calendar year, January 1 to December 31.
• Employee eligibility can be determined in Workday.
• Employee leave entitlements are able to be viewed and tracked in Workday for each covered reason of FMLA/WFMLA 
  • Employees on continuous leave of absence will have their entitlement balances reduced based on the number of hours they're scheduled. 

Legal Holiday 

• Employees can use up to 16 hours of legal holiday (prorate for part time) before it is earned. 
• Employees must be in paid status the day before or the day after the legal holiday to earn the holiday hours. 
• When to count a legal holiday as a FMLA/WFLMA leave of absence is not changing. 
• If a legal holiday falls on an approved Paid Parental Leave, eligible employees will receive the legal holiday instead. 
• When to manually enter a legal holiday 
  • Employees on a continuous leave of absence using time off and earn the legal holiday 
  • Employees on intermittent FMLA/WFMLA 

Seasonal Employees 

• Definition: Seasonal employees have a set change to their work schedule that occurs annually (e.g., agriculture workers who have a full-time schedule March - November and do not work December - February), their compensation basis is "seasonal" and they may have a working FTE in addition to an FTE. Their seasonal status must be identified at the time of recruitment.
• Only employees with seasonal compensation are eligible for the Short Work Break leave of absence. 
• Seasonal employees earn time off when they are actively working based on their FTE or hours paid in a pay period. 
• Legal holiday hours will be loaded based on FTE when the holiday occurs. 

Banked Leave 

• Banking leave for FAASLI is not changing. Once live in Workday, an employee will have until September to bank leave. 
• University Staff can bank leave starting in July and have until September. If eligible and the employee chooses to receive the payout, that will happen on the payroll after the request has been made. 

What stays the same 

• The overall intent of the University's leave of absence policies. 
  • Including during leave of absence cleanup actions.
• The HR and DDR responsibilities for the different types of leave of absence approval. 
• A unit's process for managing leave of absence including:
  • Communicating with employees
  • Gathering required information
  • Approving or denying requests
  • Issuing decision letters and retaining documents 

How to prepare 

• Review HR Business Process Maps.
• Employees will be notified when Leave of Absence training is developed and scheduled. 
• See also Leave of Absence Cutover Dates. 
• See also Transition Period Actions for Leave of Absence for HR Professionals. 

Questions?

Contact leave@ohr.wisc.edu.