This document provides HR Partners (HRPs) directions on how to request a Leave of Absence (LOA) on behalf of a worker in Workday.  This document discusses the process for Staff and Academic workers.

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• After submitting a leave of absence request on behalf of an employee, a Leave Administrator will determine employee eligibility based on the information provided.
• Personal LOAs and Intermittent Leave requests cannot be initiated by an employee but instead must be initiated by the employee’s HR Partner. In certain other cases, an HRP may also request the LOA on behalf of the employee.
• If the Estimated Last Day of Absence date changes, contact the Leave of Absence Administration team at leaveadministration@uchicago.edu for approval before updating it in the system. The Return Worker from Absence business process will automatically kick off on the date listed in this field therefore it must be accurate.
• If the LOA is due to a qualifying life event (e.g. birth/adoption) and the employee wishes to enroll child(ren) in a University of Chicago medical plan, this must be done within 31 days of the date of birth/adoption using Workday.  The employee has 31 days to complete any qualified life event benefit changes in Workday, as well.
  • Direct the employee to the Changing Benefits for Life Events in Workday Knowledge Base article for more information.
• To complete this business process, you will need to know the following:
  • Estimated Last Day Worked.
  • Estimated First Day of Absence.
  • Estimated Last Day of Absence.
  • Leave Type.
  • Paid time off accruals, if Medical Leave. See the Viewing Time Off Balances and Requests in Workday Knowledge Base Article for more information.
  • If Leave is for Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Official completed FMLA form.
• At least one supporting document is requested.  You may continue with the LOA request without uploading any documents.
  • If the Leave of Absence is for FMLA, upload the completed federal FMLA form or other medical certification that confirms leave necessity and expected duration. 
  • If you have any questions, work with the Leave Administrator to determine which documents are required.
• The LOA return process is handled by the Leave Administration team.  Email leaveadministration@uchicago.edu to initiate the process.

Academic Workers:

• The Office of the Provost handles all Academic Leaves, until/unless the leave becomes Long Term Disability.  As an HRP, make sure to
  • Email the LOA admin team to let them know someone is on an unpaid LOA.  This is so the employee can be billed for their benefits.
  • Make sure to reinstate the worker from EACH leave event before adding a new leave event.
• There are three distinct Leave Types for Academic workers:
  • (Paid) Partial Pay Academic Leave (in Paid Leave of Absence category)
    • If a portion of the leave is paid and the other is not, be sure the Leave Type indicates Paid or Partial Pay, as appropriate.
  • Paid Academic Leave (in Paid Leave of Absence category)
    • If a portion of the leave is paid and the other is not, be sure the Leave Type indicates Paid or Partial Pay, as appropriate.
  • Unpaid Academic Leave (in Unpaid Leave of Absence category)
    • Only use if the entire leave is unpaid.
• If a leave is accompanied by a Stop-The-Clock, refer to the Managing Academic Appointments in Workday Knowledge Base Article to update the Reason associated with the employee’s Primary Academic Appointment.
  • When selecting a Reason, choose from the Stop The Clock category and select the most appropriate Reason.
  • The Academic HR Administrator or Academic Leave Administrator will adjust the appointment dates in accordance with the agreed-upon terms of the Leave of Absence.

Steps

1. Log into Workday using your CNetID and password.
2. Navigate to the Employee’s Profile by typing their name or another unique identifier (Chicago ID, SSN, Employee ID, etc.) in the search box at the top of the screen. Select the appropriate suggested record that appears below the search box, or press Enter to run the complete search, and find the right employee.
   1.  Use the prefixes worker: or id: to refine the search results. For details on how to use prefixes, review the Workday Search Prefixes Knowledge Base Article.
3. Within the Employee’s Profile, select the Actions button under the employee’s name and title. Hover over Time and Absence and choose Request Absence for a Worker.
4. A monthly calendar will display with two tabs along the top: Calendar and Date Range. Both tabs allow you to request a leave of absence; choose the tab of your preference. Above both tabs is an indication of who you are requesting an LOA on behalf of.
   1. Regardless of the tab you are on, at the bottom there is a View Balances hyperlink and a View Teams hyperlink.
      1. Select View Balances to see a summary of the employee’s accrued hours as of the current date. Update the Select as of date field at the top to view time off balances as of another date. A total time off balance amount will display at the bottom of the screen.
      2. Select View Teams to see a list of the employee’s teammates’ time off requests. A teammate is considered as any employee that belongs to the same Supervisory Organization in Workday as you.
   2. The Calendar tab allows you to request leave of absence using a monthly calendar display.
      1. To navigate between months, use the Previous and Next arrows at the top right of the calendar, or select the downward arrow next to the month and year to jump to a specific month within the selected year.
      2. To choose multiple consecutive days in a row, select and drag the mouse across several dates.
      3. To deselect a date, choose the date again.
   3. The Date Range tab allows you to request a leave of absence using a specific range of dates.
      1. Enter the corresponding Start Date and End Dates.
5. Select Continue.
6. The Request Absence dialog box will appear.
7. Use the Hamburger Menu (the icon with three dots and three dashes) to the right of the Type of Absence field and select between Leave of Absence and Other Absence Types to choose the most appropriate type.
8. Select Continue.
9. Review the Instructional Information at the top of the new screen.
   1. Type of Absence field auto-fills with the selection made on the previous screen.
   2. Last Day of Work field auto-fills as one day before the First Day of Absence previously chosen.
   3. First Day of Absence and Estimated Last Day of Absence fields auto-fills based on dates previously selected.
      1. Use the calendar icon to modify either of these dates. Changes to the First Day of Absence will automatically update the Last Day of Work field.
   4. Request Amount auto-calculates based on the dates entered and is not editable.
   5. IMPORTANT: Utilize the Comment to Approver box to provide detailed information about the LOA request. The LOA administrator team will determine the appropriate Leave Type based on the information provided in this box.
   6. Use the Hamburger Menu to select the most appropriate Reason for the LOA request.
   7. Documentation is required. Under Attachments, choose Select files and use the file explorer to add any supporting documents. Select the Category of Leave of Absence.
      1. To add more documents, choose the Upload button to be brought back into the file explorer.
10. Select Submit.
11. If another window with a Review button populates, select the button to be brought into the Review Leave of Absence Request screen.  Review the LOA details and supporting document(s) and select Approve to route the process to the Leave Administrator (or Academic HR Administrator for Academic workers). 
12. If the worker going on leave holds any Workday roles, after the Leave Administrator approves the leave request, an Assign Roles for Leave Request task will route to the HRP’s My Tasks to re-assign or remove roles.  Once applicable changes are made, select Submit to complete the process.
13. For academic workers, if Leave Type is Partial Pay Academic Leave or Paid Academic Leave then a Request Compensation Change for Leave of Absence task will route to the HRP’s Workday inbox.
    1. If Leave Type is Paid Academic Leave, select Skip within this task.
    2. If Leave Type is Partial Pay Academic Leave:
       1. Within the Request Compensation Change for Leave of Absence task, under Effective Date & Reason, select the pencil icon to edit and add the Reason of Request Compensation Change > Adjustment > Adjustment for Leave of Absence.
       2. This will change the compensation amount for the time of the leave.
          1. IMPORTANT: Changing compensation will change the employee’s benefit premiums, Life Insurance, & Long-Term Disability calculations.  The compensation change should trigger a task for the LOA admin team to update the Benefits Annual Rate.  Double check this task has routed to the LOA Admin team by viewing the Process tab located under the Details and Process section of the confirmation window that appears after submitting the Request Compensation Change step.
14. Once an LOA is approved, the Leave Administrator notifies Payroll (for accrual tracking and payments during LOA), updates the LOA in Workday, and sends confirmation to the employee, their HRP, and payroll.