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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-03-13
Setup Considerations: Buy Time Off

Setup Considerations: Buy Time Off

You can use this topic to help make decisions when planning your configuration and use of Buy Time Off. It explains:
  • Why to set it up.
  • How it fits into the rest of Workday.
  • Downstream impacts and cross-product interactions.
  • Security requirements and business process configurations.
  • Questions and limitations to consider before implementation.
Refer to detailed task instructions for full configuration details.

What It Is

Buy Time Off provides you the ability to configure time offs that your workers can buy using the
Buy Time Off
 task. You can configure the:
  • Time period when workers can buy time offs.
  • Maximum quantity of time off that workers can buy.
  • Period in which the maximum quantity of time off applies.
  • Allowable time off increments for workers to buy.
  • Time when worker’s time off balance is updated.
  • Time when payroll adjustments start and end.
  • Pay rate to use for payroll adjustments.

Business Benefits

With this feature, you can configure time offs that can be purchased so that workers can buy time off, allowing them to take more time off than they currently have accrued, and pay off the purchased time off in 1 or more pay periods. Workday automatically adjusts the workers’ time off balance when time off is bought.

Use Cases

Administrators can define the criteria for workers to buy time off on the accruals and buy schedules, including the pay rate at which the time off is purchased, and when the worker’s time off balance is updated. They can use calculations when creating earnings and deductions.
Workers can buy time off when needed. They can also view details of the time offs that they bought, including the pay rate at which they bought the time off, and the time off balance.
Workday Payroll can automate the purchase of time off that workers buy.
Managers and administrators can use the standard report or create custom reports to identify the:
  • Time offs that workers bought.
  • Accruals that have been configured for buying.
  • Pay component related calculations for time off bought.

Questions to Consider

Questions
Considerations
How do you want your employees to view the task for buying time off? Example: Should they see “purchase leave” or some other term?
You can use custom labels to override the "buy time off" term. Employees see the custom label and can search for the custom label when they buy time off.
When do you allow employees to buy time off? Only during a specific time frame, such as open enrollment or any time throughout the course of a year?
You can set up schedules to allow when workers can buy time off. Different time offs can have different schedules. You can configure the schedule using the
Create Schedule for Buying Time Off
 task, as well as on the accrual that is configured for buying, under the
Available to Buy During
 field.
What pay rate do you want to use when employees buy time off?
When you set up the accrual, you can select the pay rate you want the time off to be purchased at:
  • At the start of first pay adjustment
    . Workday uses the worker’s pay rate at the start of the first pay adjustment period for all pay periods. This is fixed.
  • Current rate during each pay period
    . Workday uses the worker’s pay rate for each pay period. This could vary if the worker’s pay rate changes in a pay period.
  • When time off was purchased
    . Workday uses the worker’s pay rate at the time when they purchased time off for all pay periods. This is fixed.

Recommendations

When testing payroll, consider your business requirements as well as any scenarios that may occur. For example:
  • A worker who bought time off is terminated before the full amount is paid back. Workday will calculate the amount that the worker owes and reduce their pay by the full amount.
  • A worker is on leave and has no gross pay. Review your configuration for workers on leave on the
    Nonactive (On Cycle, On Demand Replacement)
     tab of the run category, as well as how you track arrears and configure recouping.
Ensure you test how Workday handles the scenarios with your configuration, so you know how to advise your workers.

Requirements

No impact.

Limitations

  • Managers and administrators can’t buy time off on behalf of workers.
  • You can't add accruals configured for buying time off with position-based time off plans.
  • You can't use manual pay inputs in Workday Payroll. On the deduction or earning, clear the
    Input Amount Allowed?
     check box in the
    Calculation Details
     section and clear the
    Input Allowed?
     check box in the
    Related Calculations
     grid.
  • Buy Time Off shouldn't be considered FLSA eligible.
  • Third-party payroll integrations, such as Payroll Effective Change Interface (PECI), Payroll Interface (PICOF), and Data Changes on Demand (DCOD), aren't currently supported. You can add report fields on the Buy Time Off Event business object in integrations or create External Payroll Inputs to export the deductions through the integration. For more information, see:

Tenant Setup

No impact.

Security

Configure the
Buy Time Off
 security domain in the Time Off and Leave functional area.

Business Processes

Business Process
Considerations
Buy Time Off
Enables:
  • Workers to buy time off.
  • Editable documents to be dynamically generated when a worker buys time off.

Reporting

Reports / Report Fields / Tasks
Considerations
Time Off Bought by Workers
Enables you to identify workers who have bought time off within a selected date range and view details of the time off they bought.
Maintain Accrual and Time Off Adjustments/Overrides
Enables you to view details of time off bought by a worker.
All Accruals
These additional columns on the
All Accruals
 report enables you to easily view which accruals are configured for buying:
  • Allow to Buy Time Off
  • Buy Time Off Display Name
  • Fixed Period
  • Anytime
  • Buy Schedule
  • Balance Updated in Period
  • Maximum Limit to Buy
  • Period in which balance is updated
  • Balance Period
  • Allowable Increments to Buy
  • Pay Rate for Adjustments
Report Fields
You can use these report fields on the Buy Time Off Event business object (secured to the
Public Reporting Items
 domain) in your custom reports to view bought time off details:
  • Accrual
  • Date Payroll Adjustments Begin
  • Date Payroll Adjustments End
  • Date Time Off Balance Updated
  • Date Time Off Bought
  • Effective Date of Pay Rate for Payroll Adjustments
  • Pay Rate for Adjustments
  • Time Off Quantity Bought
  • Unit of Time
You can use these report fields on the Accrual business object (secured to the
Public Reporting Items
 domain) in your custom reports to view configuration options:
  • Allow to Buy Time Off
  • Allowable Increments to Buy
  • Anytime
  • Balance Period
  • Balance Updated in Period
  • Buy Schedule
  • Buy Time Off Display Name
  • Fixed Period
  • Maximum Limit to Buy
  • Pay Rate for Adjustments
  • Period in which balance is updated
You can use the
Accrual on Buy Time Off Event
 report field on the Absence Component business object (secured to the
Set Up: Calculations - Generic
 domain) to identify the accrual against which time off was bought and can be used in the context of Workday Payroll.
Report Data Source (RDS) and RDS Filter
  • Buy Time Off Events for Workers
     (secured to the
    Worker Data: Time Off
     and
    Worker Data: Time Off (Time Off Manager View)
     domains). Enables you to create custom reports to view instances of workers who bought time off.
  • Buy Time Off Events by Organization and Date Range
     RDS filter on the
    Buy Time Off Events for Workers
     RDS. Enables you to view instances of workers across multiple organizations who bought time off within a selected date range.
Calculations
You can use these calculations when you create earnings and deductions:
  • Quantity of Bought Time Off to Pay Off in the Current Pay Period
  • Last Pay Period to Pay Off Bought Time Off
  • Quantity of Bought Time Off to be Paid
  • Quantity of Bought Time Off to Pay Off Each Pay Period
  • Time Off Bought in a Buy Time Off Event
  • Total Pay Periods to Pay Off Bought Time Off
Pay Component Groups
You can create custom reports to identify the pay component related calculations for time off bought:
  • Buy Time Off in Days
  • Buy Time Off in Hours
  • Pay Rate for Time Off Bought in Days
  • Pay Rate for Time Off Bought in Hours

Integrations

Integrations or Web Services
Considerations
Get Schedules for Buying Time Off
Retrieves the buy schedule information.
Put Schedule for Buying Time Off
Uploads:
  • A new buy schedule or a buy schedule that was created in a third-party system or in another Workday tenant.
  • Additional fields to an existing buy schedule.
Get Accruals
,
Put Accrual
, and
Put Time Off Plan
These web services have additional fields for buy time off options.

Connections and Touchpoints

When using Workday Payroll, Buy Time Off interacts with this feature in Workday:
Feature
Considerations
Payroll Calculations
You can create either a memo earning to help convey the pay rate to a deduction or a negative earning to reduce gross wages without creating a deduction.
Worker eligibility isn't needed on both the earning and deduction. Workday uses the Pay Component Group for the pay component related calculations to determine the workers who bought time off for the period schedule used in the earning and deduction.
We don't recommend setting the pay component for proration on the earning and deduction, as this may cause calculation issues.
Workday offers a Touchpoints Kit with resources to help you understand configuration relationships in your tenant. Learn more about the Workday Touchpoints Kit on Workday Community.