A message from Marilyn Thompson, Associate Provost, Human Resources.
- We encourage you to take vacation before the end of June based on your 2021-22 balance
- Employees can automatically carry up to 10 unused days of vacation forward
- Only employees in exceptional circumstances will be approved to carry forward more unused days.
Taking vacation time is important, particularly during the pandemic. We know that the changes and challenges of the last two years mean people are working more and finding it harder to separate their life away from work. Vacation time lets you take a mental and physical break away from the stresses of work. From Workday reports, we know that some employees are unfortunately not submitting requests or using their vacation time.
The new vacation year on July 1 will be here before we know it. As it approaches, I’m reminding you that, with respect to your July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 balance:
- employees can carry forward up to 10 unused vacation days for use by June 30, 2023, and,
- employees will forfeit any unused vacation days above 10 on June 30, 2022, unless an excess carry forward is approved.
We don’t want employees to lose out on days off that they have earned. As such, we encourage you to review your outstanding vacation balance in Workday and work with your manager to take vacation between now and the end of June. We recommend people with large vacation balances take week-long blocks of time away from work.
Requests for carry forward balances more than 10 days will be considered for those employees with exceptional circumstances. This will likely not include impacts of the pandemic. Excel files are being prepared for each Executive Council member for distribution to managers of staff with an excess balance. Documented rationale is required for any excess carry forward requests.
Managers, we ask that you connect with your teams and encourage them to take time away from work—especially those with large vacation balances—to promote a healthy workforce. That’s also important as we plan for how we handle any unused days of vacation. Managers can view their team’s vacation balances in Workday. From the Workday home screen, click on the Manager Reports application to select the UW CR Staff Vacation Report.
Thank you for everything you are doing to help the University manage through these times of continuous change. As always, the Human Resources team is available to help you if you need it. If you have questions, you can contact your HR Partner.