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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-03-14
FAQ: Pause Annual Time Off Accruals for Absent Workers

FAQ: Pause Annual Time Off Accruals for Absent Workers

Can you pause annual time off accruals for absent workers?
Yes, you can delay annual time off accruals to the next available working day, for workers who are absent on the day of their annual accrual and the day before. Workday processes the accrual only when workers return to work and bases the accrual on the
Days to Include
 settings of the related time off plans or absence table tiers. This helps reduce manual effort in entering and correcting accrual details.
How can I configure accruals to pause annual time off for absent workers?
You can use the
Accrual Date Paused if Worker is Absent
 instance value calculation (IVC) as an accrual frequency override on an accrual that uses a balance period such as anniversary or year-to-date (YTD). When the accrual is on an absence table, we determine a worker’s working days based on a combination of the
Days to Include
 settings on the absence table tiers.
  1. Access the
    Edit Accrual
     task.
  2. Select the accrual.
  3. On the
    Time Off Plan Overrides
     tab, for
    Accrual Frequency Method
    , select
    Custom Frequency
    .
  4. From the
    First Accrual Date
     prompt, select
    Accrual Date Paused if Worker is Absent
    .
  5. Don't enter a value for these options:
    • Accrual Recurs Every
    • Accrual Recurs Unit of Time
How does the IVC determine the next accrual date?
When workers are sick on the day before and the day of their anniversary, the IVC looks for the next available working day free of a time off event up to a maximum of 364 calendar days. The IVC determines the working days from the
Days to Include
 settings across the absence table tiers to accrue automatically on the correct date, instead of accruing on the 364th calendar day.
When workers have a time off event on their anniversary date, the IVC looks back 100 calendar days to find a working day, and to check whether the workers also have a time off event on that day. If there's no working day with a time off event within the 100-day period, which can happen for seasonal workers, the workers accrue on their anniversary date, even if the last working day beyond the 100-day period has a time off event.
When the anniversary of a worker falls on a nonworking day, so there's no time off event, the worker accrues time off on the next working day.
How does Workday determine the accrual date for multiple tiers in an absence table?
When you select the
Accrual Date Paused if Worker is Absent
 IVC as an accrual frequency override on 2 or more tiers in an absence table, each with different
Days to Include
 settings, Workday determines the accrual based on the combined settings and processes the accrual on the first appropriate day.
Example: Alice has a continuous service date of 2018-05-01, so her expected accrual date each year is May 1. Alice's company uses the
Accrual Date Paused if Worker is Absent
 IVC as an accrual frequency override on an absence table that contains 2 tiers. The tiers have time off plans with these settings:
Option
Tier 1 Time Off Plan
Tier 2 Time Off Plan
Balance Period
Anniversary Balance Period (based on Continuous Service Date)
Anniversary Balance Period (based on Continuous Service Date)
Days to Include
Weekdays (Mon-Fri)
Configure Days to Include (Sunday-Wednesday)
 and
Include Holidays from Holiday Calendar
Alice takes 2 sicks days on the day before and the day of her anniversary from 2020-04-30 to 2020-05-01 (Thursday-Friday). Saturday isn't a working day for Alice. She takes another sick day on Sunday. As Monday is a bank holiday, Alice receives her annual accrual when she returns to work on 2020-05-05 (Tuesday).
What happens when workers are on long-term sick leave?
When workers have sick leave time off events on the day before their expected accrual date, and continuously until the next expected accrual date, Workday doesn't increment their accruals for a time off plan twice for the same period schedule.
Examples:
  • Organization A has a time off plan with a monthly period schedule and a balance period based on employee anniversary dates. Rachel has a hire date of 2018-06-17, so her expected accrual date each year is June 17.
    Rachel has a time off entry on 2019-06-16 and 2019-06-17. Workday pauses the accrual because Rachel has a time off entry on the day before and the day of her anniversary. However, Rachel's time off entry continues up to 2020-06-14.
    Workday processes the accrual on 2020-06-17 for the 2020 period, but Rachel forfeits her 2019 accrual because Workday prevents the same accrual occurring twice in the same period.
  • Organization B has a time off plan with a weekly period schedule and a balance period based on employee anniversary dates. John has a hire date of 2018-07-12, so his expected accrual date each year is July 12.
    John takes sick time off from 2019-07-11 to 2020-07-07. He returns on 2020-07-06 but 2020-07-07 is a nonworking day as per the
    Days to Include
     settings. John forfeits his 2019 accrual because the next working day is 2020-07-08, and he returns to work with his next accrual occurring within the same period schedule.
Setting up time off plans with a weekly schedule can limit the number of accruals workers forfeit, depending on
Days to Include
 settings. However, this configuration can affect performance.
Do pending time off events have an impact?
No, Workday doesn't consider pending time off requests when determining whether to pause accruals.
Similarly, after Workday pauses an accrual, subsequent pending time off events don't trigger absence table tier reevaluation or affect whether Workday processes the next accrual for the balance period. However, you can view balances that may be impacted by pending events on these reports:
  • My Time Off Results by Period
  • Time Off Results by Period
  • Time Off Results by Period for Workers
What happens when the annual accrual date for a balance period coincides with the period schedule start date or end date?
When the accrual date for a balance period occurs on the first day of a period schedule, workers receive their accrual on the day before the period schedule start date.
When the accrual date for a balance period occurs on the last day of a period schedule, workers receive their accrual on the last day of the period schedule. To limit the number of accruals workers forfeit, you can:
  • Check that any carryover limits set for time off plans on the absence table tiers can accommodate the accruals.
  • Run the
    Carryover Balances for Organization (by Carryover Date)
     report to see who will have balances on the last day of the period.
  • Consider adjusting the amount of time before expiration on the time off plan.
Can I use the Maximum Unpaid Time Off Units Allowed validation with this instance value calculation?
To ensure that the
Accrual Date Paused if Worker Is Absent
 IVC resolves correctly, you must:
  • Only use the
    Maximum Unpaid Time Off Units Allowed
     validation on time offs that are part of an absence table tier.
  • Always have at least 1 tier without a
    Maximum Unpaid Time Off Units Allowed
     validation.