Vacation Leave
The University of Kansas provides vacation leave to all eligible employees for the purpose of rest, relaxation, and to attend to personal affairs. The amount of vacation leave is based on the amount of time in paid status during a pay period, and whether you are exempt (salaried) or non-exempt (hourly).
An eligible employee may earn up to 176 hours each fiscal year and may have a maximum balance of 304 hours at the end of each pay period. Once the maximum of 176 hours has been reached the employee will not start accruing again until the next fiscal year. Most full-time employees will earn the 8 hours maximum per payroll period and will reach the 176 hours after the 22nd payroll period of the fiscal year. There are generally 26 payroll periods in a fiscal year. Payroll Office Fiscal Year pay period calendars.
Eligibility
- Only employees in regular positions are eligible to begin earning vacation leave at the end of their first pay period of employment.
- Only employee classes of university support staff, unclassified professional staff and fiscal year faculty/unclassified academic staff are eligible to earn vacation leave.
- Employees in paid status accrue vacation leave. Paid status is based on hours worked hours, holiday credit and paid leaves.
- Academic year faculty/unclassified academic staff are not eligible to earn vacation leave.
- Employees in temporary positions are not eligible to earn vacation leave (includes all student employees).
Requesting Vacation Leave
Vacation leave requests must be made through and approved by your immediate supervisor. You are encouraged to work with your supervisor to schedule vacation leave. Supervisors have the authority to determine if the timing or length of requested vacation leave will have an adverse effect on departmental operations. Supervisors also have the right to ask the reason for the vacation leave in order to make that determination.
Vacation request are also to be reported in the HR/Pay system. HR/Pay Absence Management (pdf)
- Click on Self Service
- Click on Time Reporting
- Click on Report Time
- Click on Absence Request
Vacation Leave Accrual Rates
Hourly employees, accruals are based on paid hours whether working or taking a paid absence or holiday. For salaried employees, accruals are based on the Appointment FTE in effect at the end of the payroll period. The amount of vacation leave accrued is based on:
- whether you are exempt (salaried), or non-exempt (hourly) and
- the amount of time in paid status during a pay period.
Vacation leave cannot be granted until after it has been accrued. Any leave you accrue during a pay period is unavailable for use until the beginning of the next payroll period.
Accrual rate details are provided below.
Non-Exempt (Hourly)
The number of vacation hours you earn during a pay period is based on the number of hours you were in paid status during that pay period as outlined in the chart below. Paid status is a sum of the hours worked, paid leaves and holiday credit. Leave without pay and unpaid absences do not count in paid status nor toward leave accruals.
| Number of Paid Hours Worked During a Pay Period | Number of Vacation Leave Hours Earned per Pay Period |
|---|---|
| 0 to 9 | 0.0 |
| 10 to 19 | 1.0 |
| 20 to 29 | 2.0 |
| 30 to 39 | 3.0 |
| 40 to 49 | 4.0 |
| 50 to 59 | 5.0 |
| 60 to 69 | 6.0 |
| 70 to 79 | 7.0 |
| 80 or more | 8.0 |
Exempt (Salaried)
The number of vacation hours you earn each pay period is based on the percentage of your appointment (FTE) as outlined in the chart below.
| Appointment FTE | Number of Vacation Leave Hours Earned per Pay Period |
|---|---|
| Less than 0.25 | 2.0 |
| 0.25 to 0.49 | 4.0 |
| 0.50 to 0.74 | 6.0 |
| 0.75 to 1.00 | 8.0 |
Maximum Accrual and Payout
- Eligible employees may accrue up to 176 hours per fiscal year.
- If you have reached the 176 hours accrual limit in a fiscal year you will not earn additional vacation until the completion of the first fiscal year payroll period of the new fiscal year.
- The maximum vacation hours balance you are allowed to maintain per pay period is 304 hours; you will not accrue until your balance is under 304 hours.
- Upon your departure from the University, you will receive a payout of your unused vacation leave balance (subject to the maximum limits). You will be paid for these hours in addition to your regular pay in a lump sum on either your final pay check or in a separate pay check after your final paycheck for hours worked
- Eligible employees will be paid up to 176 hours at termination of employment or up to 240 hours at retirement or, if you are retirement eligible, upon termination of employment.
- If you accept another position at a State of Kansas agency, including a Board of Regents state university, and that position is eligible for vacation, your vacation balance will not be paid out but hours will be transferred, up to the maximum allowed by the new agency.
Reviewing Your Vacation Leave Balance
To view your vacation balance, simply log in to HR/Pay and follow the steps below:
- Click on Self Service
- Click on Time Reporting
- Click on View Time
- Click on Absence Request History or Absence Balances
HR/Pay Self Service will display your active leave balances as of the last pay period. Most leave balances are displayed on your pay advice, which you can electronically download and view it as a PDF in HR/Pay Employee Self Service. (Self Service>Payroll and Compensation>View Paycheck)
Additional Information
You can learn more about vacation payouts by reviewing the Vacation Leave Payout Policy. For more information on vacation leave accruals and other conditions, please refer to the Vacation Leave Policy.
*An accessible version of the documents on this site will be made available upon request. Please contact our office at hrdept@ku.edu to request the document be made available in an accessible format.