Eligible staff can choose to use their annual vacation leave (up to 44 days) before retiring from the university. Once annual vacation leave has been exhausted, staff will officially retire and be paid out up to 30 days of sick leave on their final paycheck. During this time, they will remain benefit eligible.
- If the employee elects to receive a lump sum payout of vacation time off, please refer to the “Retire an Employee – Lump Sum Payout” Quick Reference Guide (QRG).
- If the employee is faculty (or any employee whose time off is not accrued/tracked in Workday), vacation time does not need to be entered in Workday. Pending Retiree Leave should still be entered for reporting and security purposes.
1. From the employee’s Profile, select the Actions button.
2. Hover over the Time and Absence section and select Request Absence for a Worker.
3. On the Absence Calendar screen, review the employees’ vacation balance to calculate their last day. The employee may use up to 44 days of vacation. Use the employee’s pending retiree start date as the “balance as of date” to populate the correct vacation balance. Ensure you capture if the employee works 7.5 or 8 hours per day.
4. Navigate back to the Request Absence calendar and select the date range:
- Start Date: Enter the first day of Pending Retiree leave.
- End Date: Enter the final date of leave. This will be the same as the termination date and last day of work. The last day worked will be considered the final day for which any eligible unused vacation is paid out.
- Note: Employees pending retiree leave of absence status are not eligible to receive holiday pay.
5. Select continue and type “Pending Retiree” in the “Type of Absence” search bar. Select Continue.
Example: Steven’s last official workday is Thursday, April 28th, and he has 10 vacation days. Steven will exhaust his 10 days of annual vacation leave on May 12th, and his retirement effective date will be May 13th.
6. On the next Request Absence screen, confirm the populated dates and type of request are correct, verify the last day of work date is correct, enter any applicable comment and select Submit.
Note: Vacation days must be entered for the full duration of the leave (first day of absence through last day of absence) to ensure the employee is paid while on leave.
7. Next, from the employee’s Profile, select the Actions button.
8. Hover over the Job Change section and select Terminate Employee.
9. On the Terminate Employee page, complete the following and select Submit:
- Primary Reason: Enter Voluntary > Retirement (Regular)
- Termination Date: Enter the last day of the Pending Retiree leave (select the tab key and the remaining date fields will auto populate)
- Eligible for Rehire: Select the appropriate Yes or No field.
Note: For academics, whose time off is tracked outside of Workday, attach a document to the termination with the time off balances that will be used during the Pending Retiree period and any balances that will be paid out upon termination.
Attachment: Attach a document with the correct balance of vacation hours as of the beginning of Pending Retirement. Include a comment showing what is happening with vacation and sick leave upon retirement.
Example: Steven used his maximum vacation balance (up to 44 days) to remain in a paid status. He should be paid out 30 days of sick leave on his final paycheck.
10. Benefits will complete the Retiree Status step to add a Retirement Date (day after termination date). Payroll will pay out any remaining sick time balances (up to 30 days) in a lump sum.
For Workday HR Questions, please contact us via email at WorkdayHR@louisville.edu or submit your inquiry on our website: Workday Inquiry Form — Workday