University of Washington Human Resources

Part-time employees

Regularly scheduled part-time employees with an FTE earn vacation time off on a prorated basis based on their full-time equivalent (FTE).

For example, a part-time employee with a 0.5 FTE whose expectation of work is 20 weekly scheduled hours in a 40-hour full-time workweek earns 50 percent of the vacation time off that a full-time employee earns with the same employment program and years of service.

For part-time employees who don’t hold an FTE, the amount of vacation time off earned is based on actual hours paid in a month.

For example, a nonpermanent-hourly or intermittent employee in their first year of service who worked 64 hours in a month in which there are 168 pay period hours accrues 3.05 hours of vacation time off for the month.

Cyclical positions

If you hold a cyclic-year or instructional-year position, you earn time off for the overall number of months you work, even if your appointment begins or ends mid-month.

For example, if you work September 16 to June 15, you earn nine months of vacation time off. You will not earn time off in September, but you will receive your monthly accrual for June, as long as you are in pay status through the end of your appointment on June 15.

Prior Washington state service credit

If you have previously worked for a Washington state agency or Washington public institution of higher education, you may be eligible to transfer your balances from your previous employer or receive an adjustment to your vacation accrual rate.

Visit UWHR’s Prior Washington State Service Credit webpage for more information.

Impact of unpaid time off

Employees with an FTE do not accrue vacation time off during a calendar month in which they have taken more than 10 equivalent days as unpaid time off. For 1.0 FTE, that would be 80 hours; for 0.5 FTE, that would be 40 hours. The 10 days includes any holidays taken without pay.

Employees earn a month of service for each month in which they are active in Workday. Unpaid time off does not impact whether a month of service towards a higher vacation accrual rate is earned.

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Maximum vacation time off accrual

(Classified employees only)

Classified employees may accrue up to a maximum of 240 hours of vacation time. If balances exceed 240 hours, any excess not used by a classified employee’s anniversary date is forfeit except as described below.

Voluntarily exceed 240-hour limit

If you voluntarily exceed the 240-hour limit you can use any hours over 240 before your next anniversary date, at which time any excess above 240 will be forfeit.

If you voluntarily exceeded the 240-hour limit between April 10, 2020 and October 31, 2022, you have until July 31, 2023 to use any hours over the 240-hour limit regardless of your anniversary date. Any hours in excess of 240 not used by July 31, 2023 will forfeit. Workday will resume automatic forfeiture of excess time off on a classified employee’s anniversary date on August 1, 2023.

Involuntarily exceed 240-hour limit

Your manager may deny your vacation request due to departmental business needs prior to your exceeding 240 hours. At that time, your manager must file an extension request with Human Resources, explaining the circumstances for denial and including a plan for using the excess hours. Human Resources will review the request and make a determination.

If your balance is currently below 240 hours, you are encouraged to use your vacation time off to ensure the balance does not exceed 240 hours.

Monitoring vacation balances

It is your responsibility to monitor your vacation balance. You and your manager should plan your vacation use so that your balance does not go over the maximum. If you exceed the maximum, work with your manager to schedule time off in order to bring your balance to 240 hours or less.

After August 1, 2023 classified employees will lose any vacation hours over 240 on their anniversary date, unless their manager has submitted an extension request to Human Resources and it has been approved prior to the employee’s anniversary date.

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Using vacation time off

You will accrue vacation hours once a month on the last day of the month and can use them on the first of the following month. Professional staff must use holiday credit and discretionary time off (in that order) prior to using vacation.

Determining your vacation time off balance

The Integrated Service Center (ISC) provides instructions on how to view and request time off. Contact the ISC if you have questions.

Requesting vacation time off

Vacation time off should be requested and approved in advance.

• For campus staff: Follow your department’s usual request procedure and enter the vacation time off request in Workday.
• For medical centers staff: Follow your department’s usual request procedure and enter the vacation time off request in Kronos.

As you make plans for time off, consider your department’s and your position’s needs and obligations. Vacation planning should balance your desire for time away from work with the University’s operational needs.

Your manager will attempt to accommodate your vacation request, but there may be times when you will be asked to reschedule your time off. In such cases, your manager will work with you to find an alternate time for using your vacation time that works for both you and the department.

Donating to shared leave programs

You may donate vacation time off hours to another employee in need of leave under the following programs:

• Shared Leave Program
• Organ Donor Shared Leave Program
• Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool Program
• Veterans’ In-State Service Shared Leave Pool Program
• Foster Parent Shared Leave Pool Program

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Job changes

Moving from a staff position to another position

If you move from a classified, contract covered staff, or professional staff position to another position, your time off balance is handled according to the chart below:

Moving from faculty to professional staff

When moving from a faculty to a professional staff position, vacation balances will be calculated for you based on your length of service as a faculty member and the type of appointment.

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Mid-month changes

Change in FTE

If your FTE status changes during a calendar month, the number of leave hours you earn for that month will be prorated based on the amount of time worked at each FTE during that month.

Change in employment program

If you move during a calendar month from one employment program to another with a different rate of accrual, the system will look at the accrual rate at the beginning of the month and the last day of the month and use the higher of the two.

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Leaving UW employment

The University pays out unused vacation time only when you separate from University employment or move within the University to a position that does not accrue time off. When you leave UW employment, you will be paid for your unused vacation hours, as long as you have completed six months of continuous employment.

Number of hours paid

Payment is based on your regular salary at the time of separation and is paid as one lump-sum payment.

Transfers to another state agency

Your entire vacation balance may transfer with you if you move from University employment to a covered staff position at another Washington state agency or institution of higher education without a break in service (one business day or more, weekends and holidays not included). With this type of separation from the University, you do not receive a lump-sum payout. In order for your balance to transfer, your UW department must ensure Workday reflects that you are moving to another state agency without a break in service.

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Manager responsibilities

As a manager, you are responsible for:

• Assisting employees in scheduling time off in accordance with departmental vacation time off approval process
• Monitoring employee vacation time off balances to prevent excess accrual

Denials

If you cannot approve a vacation request due to departmental needs, work with the employee to schedule the time off for the earliest date convenient to the employee and consistent with operational needs.

Additionally, if your denial will cause a classified employee to exceed the 240-hour maximum accrual, you should submit a request for extension to Human Resources immediately.

Extensions for exceeding 240 hours

Extensions are necessary for classified employees but not for professional staff. Extensions are not needed for classified staff who voluntarily exceeded 240 hours between April 10, 2020 and October 31, 2022.

You should request an extension approval from Human Resources if your time off denial will cause the employee’s vacation balance to go over 240 hours. An approved extension allows the employee to carry excess vacation hours beyond their anniversary date. Without an approved extension, the excess hours will be deleted permanently from the employee’s balance on their anniversary date.

The extension request should:

• Be in writing
• Identify the circumstances and departmental staffing needs that prevent approval of the employee’s request
• Outline a plan for the employee to use the excess vacation time off in the near future
• Be submitted to HR Operations at the time you deny the vacation request and before the employee’s balance exceeds 240 hours

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Additional resources

APS 43.15 Leave Policy for Classified Non-Union Staff

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Policy changes

Prior to January 1, 2023, classified non-union vacation accrual rates matched section 1 of WAC 357-31-166.