Setup Considerations: Time Off

What It Is

Workday time off functionality enables:

Workers to record when they’re taking time away from work.

Administrators to manage the impacts a time off can have on other areas of Workday and other third-party applications. Example: Workday Payroll.

Business Benefits

Improve efficiency in your organization as managers can predict trends, and plan resources accordingly.

Integrate with a Payroll solution to enable you to process payments for workers on time off.

Provides flexibility in creating time offs that suit the specific requirements of your organization. This functionality improves the user experience as they can quickly find the correct time off for their request.

Workday provides reports that enable you to track costs. You can easily view how much absenteeism is costing your organization and calculate your liability.

Use Cases

Enable workers to view and request some time off types, but not others.

Enable workers to request time off on behalf of another. Managers can also correct time off requests.

Import large volumes of time off events into Workday.

Enable workers to enter time off requests through different actions in calendars in Absence Management, Time Tracking, or both.

Questions to Consider

When deciding if you should create a time off or leave of absence, consider:

Question	Consideration
When do you expect your workers to return to work?	You can create: A time off for absences that have a short duration with a known return to work date. Workday creates a time off request for each day a worker expects to be off work. Example: Use annual leave for a vacation with a planned return date. A leave of absence for longer durations, or for time away from work with an estimated end date. Example: Use parental leave for new parents.
How do you want a worker's status to display?	You can create: A time off if you want a worker's status to remain unchanged. A leave of absence if you want a worker's status to display as On Leave . You can configure if this status displays on each leave type. Example: You can configure Workday to hide workers on leave from search.
How do you want to restrict a worker's absence balance?	You can create: A time off if you want workers to accrue their balance over time. Example: Paid sick leave can accrue over a period to enable workers to take up to 10 days per year. A leave of absence if no accrual is necessary. Leave Types have an entitlement that each eligible worker can use. Example: You grant parental leave based on a worker's eligibility and company requirements.
How do you want your workers to return to work?	You can create: A time off if you want a worker to return to work without their manager approving it. A leave of absence if managers must ensure that the leave of absence ends before workers can return to work. A worker's status displays as On Leave until their manager returns them to work.
What periods do you use when tracking absences?	You can create: A time off if you want workers to accrue their balance within a specified period. The period schedule used for Time Off aligns with the schedule you use for Payroll. A leave of absence if the balance period is rolling backwards or forwards from the effective date of the leave, or first date of the leave.

When setting up time offs, consider:

Question	Consideration
How do you want your workers to view their available time offs?	You can configure Workday to display available time offs and time off balances on the calendar, or when entering a request. The balance displays as of the date of the request, so your workers can view their accrual on that date. Workers can also change the date to include in future accruals and time off requests. Example: Workers can view their remaining balance as of the end of the calendar year. Workers can also see their balances as of today when first accessing absence worklets or calendars.
How do you want workers to enter their time off requests?	When deciding how you want workers to enter a particular time off, consider who must approve it and whether workers should request it ahead of time. You can specify whether workers can enter requests for time off through: Time Tracking: If you want managers to approve time off and worked time in the same event, use Time Tracking. Absence: Workers can enter planned sick and vacation time through absence. Both: You can also enable time off requests through both Absence and Time Tracking. You can configure Workday Assistant to enable workers to enter time off requests, or view their existing balance using Workday Assistant.
How do you want to pay workers on time off?	You can configure payroll to create earnings based on paid, unpaid, or total time off.
Who do you want to enter time off?	You can configure security groups to enable groups of workers to enter time off requests for others. You can also enable individual workers. Example: You can enable an assistant to enter time off requests for a CEO, or managers to enter time off requests for contractors. You can also only display available time offs to your managers. You can create time off segments and use them in segment-based security groups to provide access to specific time offs for different groups of users.
How do you want to manage unused time offs for terminated workers?	You can configure the Termination business process to either forfeit or pay out unused time offs.
When do you want to process payment to your workers on time off?	You can pay workers for approved time offs: Up to the start of the current period. Up to and including the current period.
What information do you want workers to enter when requesting time off?	You can require workers to select additional reasons when they're requesting time off. You can then use reports to view how often your workers select this reason. You can also require workers to enter start and end times for their time off request.
How do you want to update time off requests?	You can configure these options to update a time off request before the manager approves it: Send the request back to the initiator with a comment asking the worker to make the revision. Deny the request and add a comment asking the worker to enter a new request with the correct information. Approve, then correct the request. Cancel the request and enter a new request on the worker's behalf. Review projected time off balances for the worker and see pending requests awaiting approval. View any adjustments made. You can also configure the Workday mobile app to enable workers to correct time off requests with or without start and end times.
How do you want to prevent your workers from entering an invalid time off request?	You can: Define validation rules to prevent workers from entering invalid requests. You can also configure a validation message that displays to workers when they attempt to enter the request. Example: You can create a rule that prevents multiple entries for the same time off on the same day. Configure the days for which workers can request time off. Example: Enable workers to enter time off for scheduled work days. Display time off only on your managers self-service interface.
When do you want your workers to accrue time off?	You can set your accruals: Period by period. Example: Workers accrue 2 days per month. Front-loaded. Workers accrue their full balance at the start of the balance period. Custom frequency. Assign accruals when a worker completes their probationary period or for a specific anniversary date.
How do you want your workers to carryover their time off balance?	You can define carryover rules to enable your workers to carryover time off balance from 1 balance period to the next. Carryover rules also enable you to configure: How many units to carryover. When the carryover expires.
For which days do you want your workers to enter time off requests?	You define specific days in which your workers can request time off. You can also specify if a time off is available on a public holiday. Example: One of your international offices doesn't have Monday to Friday as the standard working week. You can define Sunday to Thursday as the working week. Workers in that location can request time off on Saturdays.

Recommendations

When you opt in to Segmented Security for Time Off, we recommend that:

You either secure all absence table tier time offs or none of the tier time offs to each time off segment. If you secure some but not all tier time offs to a segment, users have access to all of the tier time offs on that absence table.

After you create new time offs, you must add them to the appropriate time off security segment to enable users to access them in a time off request or correction. We recommend performing this step after you add the new time offs to a time off plan.

To improve performance when workers are entering time off requests, or when you run reports:

Store calculated time off balances on a regular basis.

Hide balances on your calendars and worklets in your tenant.

Populate the country or region in all your time off plans.

Configure your period schedules 2 years into the future and don't use daily period schedules.

When you define validation rules to prevent users from entering invalid requests:

To ensure accurate calculations, use the same time units in validation rules and time off plans.

Avoid conflicting rules.

Apply maximum and multiple request rules consistently.

Prevent multiple entries for the same time off on the same day.

Avoid overly complex calculations.

Limit calculations that reference calculated fields.

For terminations:

Create a separate time off to pay out or forfeit a worker's time off balance.

Create an eligibility rule so that workers are eligible for the termination time off in the relevant period.

To increase efficiency, configure priorities on your time offs and accruals in the order you want workers to take time off. This configuration removes the need to correct requests if workers enter a request before they accrue the amount requested.

Ensure that the Request Time Off
and Correct Time Off
business processes have the same configuration.

Requirements

If you use the same time off type with more than one time off:

Select only time offs that are associated with time off plans that use the same unit of time (hours or days).

Ensure that workers are eligible for only 1 time off at a time. Otherwise, they're able to request more than one time off with the same name and potentially reduce the time off plan balance twice.

If you apply maximum or multiple request rules to a validation set, each time off must have the same limits and include the same time offs. Otherwise, the same combination of time off requests that is valid in 1 situation might not be valid in another.

Limitations

The sequence in which time offs process, combined with a lower time off limit, can affect the number of units treated as paid or unpaid time off for a worker. Example: Jane accrues 14 total hours per month (10 vacation + 4 sick hours). She previously requested 8 hours of vacation time off, leaving her with 6 available hours. She enters a request for 8 hours sick time off, which Workday rejects.

You can only use time off plans that track balances with Workday Payroll.

Tenant Setup

Select the

Edit Time Off Type

option to enable workers to change the time off type when they correct an approved time off request.

Security

Domain	Considerations
Process: Enter or Correct Time	Users with access to this domain can enter or correct time off for any worker.
Self-Service: Time Off	Users with access to this domain can access the Time Off and Leave worklet to enter time off requests.
Set Up: Time Off (General)	Users with access to this domain can create time off types. They can also control access to the time off types by creating rules.
Set Up: Time Off (Calculations - Absence Specific)	Users with access to this domain can: Create a time off definition for each time off workers can request. Specify the time off type, enable adjustments, and configure validation rules. Define requirements if a time off has eligibility requirements or limits that differ from the time off plan. Define rules to warn users of invalid time off requests or prevent workers from entering them. View absence eligibility details for active workers within selected organizations.
Access Time Off (Segmented)	Users who are members of segment-based security groups with access to this domain can request or correct time off for time off types in the time off segment secured to their security group. If users have access to time offs for their own self-service needs, and those same users hold a support role for their organization, they can see all of the time offs in both time off segments. Example: Absence partners support the organizations that they belong to.
Worker Data: Time Off (Adjustments and Overrides)	Users with access to this domain can adjust a worker's time off.
Worker Data: Time Off (Time Off Manager View)	Users with access to this domain can view all time off requests on their absence calendars.

Business Processes

Business Process	Considerations
Correct Time Off	You can add steps to this business process to enable users to correct a worker's approved time off, and to dynamically generate editable documents during the correction process. You can also define a conditional rule to prevent workers from entering time off requests on accrue-as-you-go plans before an effective date.
Change Job	Add the Update Time Off Requests action step to this business process after the completion step. This transfers time off events when a worker changes roles.
Request Time Off	You can also add steps to this business process to: Configure who approves time off requests. Enable users to bulk load time off events. Dynamically generate editable documents when a worker requests time off.
Termination	Add automated leave processing after the completion step to enable you to terminate workers while they're on leave.

Reporting

Reports or Dashboards	Consideration
All Time Blocks and Time Off Entries All Worker Time Off Approved Time Off My Team’s Upcoming Time Off Time Off - All Statuses for Active and Terminated Employees (Indexed)	Use these reports, report data sources, and dashboards to display all time offs for workers in organizations that you manage or support. The information enables you to allocate resources and plan for future time offs.
All Time Offs	Use this report to view all time offs and their configurations, including: Their related time off plan, time off type, and unit of time. Their eligibility and scheduling rules. Whether they allow adjustments or overrides, negative time off limits, and data entry validations for time off requests. Whether they're configured for crossing over midnight.
All Time Off Security Segments	Use this report to view the time off security segments in your tenant and their associated time offs and security groups.
Manage Absence	Use this report to manage your own time off or view another worker's absence calendar, review and edit their absence, or request absence on their behalf.
Mass Operation Management - Correct Time Off Mass Operation Management - Request Time Off	Use these reports to enable members of segment-based security groups to perform mass operations on time off business processes.
Time Off Approvers with Events Awaiting Action	Use this report to identify approvers who have unapproved time off events awaiting their action.
Time Off for Payroll Interface	Use this report to view approved time off requests for 1 or more organizations within a specified period of time to find out what time off you haven't yet paid.
Time Off Liability	Use this report to view the liability of an organization for time off balances. For the time off plans and date you select, Workday reports the plan balance and total liability for each worker. For workers paid in a different currency, Workday displays the liability in the currency paid.
Time Off Liability for Position	Use this report to view your liability for time off plan balances for employees' positions in the supervisory organizations you select.
My Time Off Results by Period Time Off Results by Period Time Off Results by Period for Workers Time Off Results Summary	Use these reports to view accruals, paid, and unpaid time off for each period. You can also view time offs to pay out when a worker is terminated.
Time Off Types	Use this report to view all the time off types that users can select in prompts when they enter or review time off requests. You can associate a time off type with multiple time offs.
View Time Off View Time Off Balance View Time Off Results by Period	You can access these reports from the related actions menu of a worker to view their time off details.
View Time Off Data Validation Custom Text	Use this report to view specific custom text messages for time off validations in your tenant and their usage.
View Worker Time Off Eligibility by Organization	Use this report to view time off eligibility details for active workers within the selected organizations as of the current day.

Integrations

Web Services	Consideration
Adjust Time Off	Use this web service to adjust or correct an existing time off entry.
Enter Time Off	Use this web service to add new time off entries.
Import Time Off Request Event Batch	Use this web service to bulk upload a high volume of new time off requests into Workday. Before loading the data from the spreadsheet: Change the line key when the worker changes. Complete required business process tasks and approvals to confirm the new data values for workers. Don’t include time off requests more than 99 weeks old. Enter a line key for each worker. Use the same header key for all requests for individual workers. You can use multiple header keys. Follow these tips to help ensure a smooth and efficient import process for time off requests: To prevent bad data in absence tables, avoid disabling the Maximum Unpaid Time Off Units Allowed validation. Avoid loading multiple files in parallel, as this can reduce performance and introduce risks. Keep re-evaluation enabled to prevent invalid data that can affect workers’ balances and payroll. For extremely large volumes of data, split the data across multiple files, but be aware that this introduces risk. Include all time off entries for a worker in the same file for easier management. Order requests chronologically, from oldest to most recent, to maintain clarity and accuracy.

Connections and Touchpoints

Touchpoint	Consideration
Workday Assistant	Workers can request time off, view their time off balance, and view holiday schedules using Workday Assistant. Workday Assistant doesn't support these features and configurations: Attachments. Business process comments. Time offs configured with Start Time and End Time . Time offs that workers can only enter through Time Tracking.
Payroll	You can configure Workday Payroll to create earnings based on a paid, unpaid, or total time off for a worker.
Third-Party Payroll	You can configure the Payroll Effective Change Interface (PECI) integration to include grouped time off entries in the Time Off Earnings and Deductions data section of the Data Changes Audit report. Groupings can span pay periods. Workday groups time off in date ranges and produces separate groupings for: Full and partial-day absences. Different time off types.
Time Tracking	Workers can enter and submit time through Workday Time Tracking while they're on leave. You can also create a time validation to prevent submission. You can also configure Time Tracking to display absence balances on time entry templates.

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.