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October 5, 2026

Audience: HR Partners, HR Reps, HR Analysts, UHR
 

Greetings,

We are fast approaching the end of the calendar year. As a reminder, the Annual Leave carryover limit for full-time regular Faculty and Staff is 480 hours (prorated by full-time equivalency, FTE). In addition, Personal Leave balances must be used by the deadlines outlined in this communication. 

Annual Leave 

As you may recall, as of January 11, 2026, there are two separate Annual Leave time-off banks in Workday for Regular Staff, 12-month Faculty, and Contingent II (C2) Employees: 

Annual Time Off: Annual Time Off that is accrued each pay period

Annual Time Off Carryover (Not Eligible for Payout): Carry-over Annual Time Off is defined as the portion of annual leave that exceeds 400 hours at the beginning of the calendar year, up to a maximum allowable carryover of 480 hours. This leave is not eligible to be paid out at the time an employee separates from the university. 

Please note these important reminders as your employees plan their leave before the carryover deadline of January 9, 2027.

Reports & Key Deadlines

HR Analysts and HR Partners can access the RPT042 Absence Management Time Off Report Use or Lose on the HCM Dashboard in Workday. This report shows each employee’s current time-off balance and projected year-end balance.

  • Annual leave Carryover Deadline (also referred to as the “Use or Lose” Deadline) for 2027 will occur after the timesheet/absence deadline for pay period 14 (January 9, 2027).
  • Carry-over limit: A maximum of 480 hours (prorated by FTE) can be carried over after January 9, 2027.
  • Excess leave: Any hours above 480 (or prorated by FTE for part-time employees) will be forfeited after January 9, 2027.

Tips for the Employee Using Carry-Over Time-Off Balances

Please see the following page for information on how the Annual Time Off Carryover (Not Eligible for Payout) time-off balance works and review the following tips: 

  • If the employee is projected to have more than 400 hours of Carryover Leave (in excess of 400 hours), they should hold off on submitting 2027 time-off requests in Workday until after the January 9, 2027 cutoff and the annual leave balances are updated for 2027. This will ensure that you will use any annual carryover balance first.
  • After January 9, 2027, employees with a carryover leave balance should avoid submitting time-off requests too far in advance. If annual leave is used before the scheduled time off occurs, additional corrections will be required.    
  • Please refer to the communication that was previously sent for specific examples and guidance: Annual Time Off Carryover Leave Guidance.

Personal Leave Guidelines

  • Deadline: Unused Personal Leave from 2026 must be used by January 9, 2027.
  • Unused Personal Leave: Any unused 2026 Personal Leave after this date will be forfeited.
  • 2027 Personal Leave Hours: 24 hours of Personal Leave (prorated by FTE) for the 2027 calendar year will be added to the absence calendar as of January 1, 2027.

Tips for the Manager on Approving Absence Requests

  • Managers and supervisors must approve all employee time-off requests promptly. If managers do not approve time-off requests, the leave hours will not be deducted from the employee’s leave balance. This could negatively impact reported Annual Leave Balances and Leave Payouts if the employee separates from service. 
  • Managers should check their Workday inbox tasks regularly and review and approve absence requests. Use the Review & Approve Time Off Job Aid for guidance.
  • Managers can run the “Time Off Approvers with Events Awaiting Action” report in Workday to review outstanding absence requests.
  • Delegation Instructions: Use the Manage Delegations task (located in My Tasks) to create a delegation for Time Off Approvals during your own absence. Refer to the Delegations in Workday job aid for instructions. 

If you have questions about the guidance above, please visit AskHR.umd.edu. 

Best regards, 

University Human Resources
 

Action: For your information and planning purposes. Please communicate tips and deadlines with your departmental employees and supervisors.