REMINDER: Vacation credits greater than 10 days will automatically be carried over in Workday until August 31, 2020. Please refer to the memo released about Staff vacation carryover on April 29, 2020.
The Workday user guide “View absence balances” and "Understanding your vacation balance" has information on viewing and understanding your balance as of July 1, 2020. Below is a sample of what can be viewed in Workday.
- Carryover balance: carryover hours from previous years accrual. Expiry is August 31, 2020.
- Accrued year to date: hours accrued from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020
- Ending period balance total: Carry over plus accrual balance
To: Regular ongoing non-unionized staff and their managers
From: Marilyn Thompson, Associate Provost, Human Resources
Date: April 29, 2020
Subject: We are extending the deadline for vacation carryover
Note: This email is for information
- If you have 10 days or less of vacation remaining in this year, you can automatically carry over these days until June 30, 2021.
- If you have more than 10 days of vacation left, you can automatically carry over these days until August 31, 2020
On April 2, 2020 I wrote to you with information about the university’s vacation policy. Recognizing the unusual circumstances with COVID-19, we’re making a one-time change to the normal rules on vacation carryovers to make sure you can make the most of your time off for this year and to recognize changes to your vacation plans.
Taking vacation is important for your health and wellness, even if you can’t get away
Even though you are working from home, taking time away from your computer is an important thing all of us must do. The pressures of work make taking time just for you and your family as important now as it was before COVID-19. I encourage you to work with your manager and think about taking days off to make sure you can rest and recuperate from the stresses and strains of our new work environments.
Taking vacation time is important for your health and wellbeing. It is also important for the University so we can deliver our core activities to the best quality we can achieve. These are reasons why we are keen that you use your vacation allowance in the year you are entitled to take it.
We are making a one-time change to the number of vacation days you can carry forward
We know that many of you have had to cancel your plans with family and friends because of the restrictions surrounding COVID-19. Plans to use time away from work and home were changed by travel restrictions. For many, this means you have days of vacation remaining for this year.
In normal circumstances, we automatically approve the roll over of vacation days you have not used to the next year – up to 10 days. This year, we are making the following changes to help you manage and use vacation days during these unfamiliar times:
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we will automatically carry forward any additional days over 10 until August 31, 2020 to allow you more time to plan to take vacation
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we will manually adjust Workday by July 6 for the initial carryforward and again in the first week of September to show the maximum 10-day vacation carryovers that are approved for the balance of the vacation year
Please note that this one-time change applies to all employees, even those who submitted a Special Request for Vacation Carryover form for approval. Any forms received to date will not be used for this year’s carryforward process.
If you are a people manager, we’ve also made changes to Workday to make it easier for you to view your team’s vacation balances. From your Workday home screen, click on the Manager Reports application to select the UW CR Staff Vacation Report. We’ve given some detailed instructions on the Workday website.
Thank you for everything you are doing to help the University manage through the challenges of COVID-19. As always, the Human Resources team is available to help you if you need it. If you have questions you can email HRhelp@uwaterloo.ca or contact your HR Partner.