Leave of absence requests are submitted through the Request Extended Absence page and updates to existing leaves are made by finding the existing leave in the Administer Extended Absence page to update. When a Location submits an absence request in UCPath, it automatically routes to the appropriate Approvers using Approval Workflow Engine (AWE). AWE is triggered any time a new absence request or a change to an existing absence request is submitted by a Leave Initiator. A separate absence request is required any time the leave type changes during the employee’s leave, for example:
Exception: You can update Workers’ Compensation absence requests to Medical, and vice versa, using the same absence request.
Note: Short work breaks (SWB) are not a type of leave; it is a break in active status. Refer to the KBA: How to Manage Short Work Breaks in UCPath
UCPath transactor
Ensure all appropriate documents and approvals that are required outside of the UCPath system have been completed prior to submitting the absence request in UCPath. You cannot process off-cycle pay for an employee record that is on a Leave Without Pay (LWOP). Submit a detailed ticket to UCPC to request the missing pay.
Review employee’s current leave balances on the Admin - Review Absence Balance page. Navigation: PeopleSoft Homepage > Absence Administration > Manage Accruals/Balances > Admin - Review Absence Balance. View Employee Absence Balance Data - Use this task to review employee leave balances in UCPath.
Review employee’s current benefits information and provide required forms, if applicable, on the Benefits Summary page. Navigation: PeopleSoft Menu > Benefits > Review Employee Benefits > Benefits Summary. View Benefits Summary - Use this task to view historic, current and future-dated benefits for an employee, and to view the last paycheck benefit deductions for an employee.
Print/download the Benefit Summary and Benefit Election Form for employee’s taking an unpaid leave of absence. Note: You will need to turn off your popup blocker for the Benefit Summary excel to download.
Check the Election Form Provided to EE box when forms have been provided.
Review the Expected Job End Date (on the Job Data or Workforce Job Summary pages) before submitting a leave to ensure the Expected Return Date is not beyond the Expected Job End Date. All leaves with an Expected Return Date that extends past the Expected Job End Date will be pushed back by UCPC.
Additional Resources you may want to review:
Expected Return Date CANNOT beyond the Expected Job End Date. All leaves with an Expected Return Date that extends past the Expected Job End Date will be pushed back by UCPC.
UCPath automatically selects the Eligible for FMLA? and Eligible for CFRA? checkboxes if the employee is eligible for FMLA and CFRA. Eligibility hours and balances displayed may not be accurate. It is recommended to verify eligibility using the timekeeping systems and if necessary, select the applicable Override checkbox prior to beginning the transaction (CFRA and/or FMLA).
Actual Return Date: should not be entered until employee actually returns to work; Sabbatical leaves are an exception to this rule, for step by step instructions refer to KB0035504: How to Request Sabbatical Leaves.
Use the Intermittent/Reduced Schedule option for a paid leave that is intermittent across a date range. A leave request in the system is required for an employee to record FMLA hours in timekeeping.
Last Date Worked: The last date the employee was physically at work; this date must be prior to the Start Date of the leave and remain constant throughout a leave that spans multiple leave types.
Enter FMLA/CFRA/PDLL Adjustment Hours for the leave period, if an employee is going on an unpaid, intermittent leave; if not, leave this field blank. Use manage accruals Other action to adjust FMLA/CFRA used as needed.
Job Earnings is used for some Academic Medical leaves, as well as Sabbatical, Workers Comp and Military Leaves. Do not include Job Earnings Distribution for FML/ CFRA/ PDLL type leaves for non-academic appointees.
If entering a Military leave, click into the JED Additional Earnings Code tab and enter the appropriate information. Note: Review the How to Request a Military Leave of Absence job aid for more information.
If this leave does not apply to all of the employee’s jobs, click the Job Overrides tab and enter Exclude Jobs to exclude a particular job record from the leave, and Job Override for Approval to identify a different department approver, if you are excluding the primary job
UCPC can “pushback” leave transaction for corrections. The more detail you provide in Notes, the more likely your transaction will process correctly in a timely manner.
If the employee will be out for consecutive leaves without returning to office, the Start Date of the second request must be the same as the Expected Return Date of the first request. This ensures no break in the leave of absence. New requests are required when changing leave type (e.g., paid to unpaid, FMLA to non-FMLA, etc.), with one exception: worker’s compensation leave to medical leave. Actual Return to Work Date should be entered on an UNPAID leave if the unpaid leave is followed by an intermittent leave; this alerts UCPath to return the employee to ACTIVE status.
A situation could arise that a department leave administrator has an employee with multiple leaves but there are gaps in between. Since we cannot enter an Actual Return Date until the employee actually returns to work (unless Sabbatical), please note that best practice is to only enter the current leave and wait until the employee has returned to work and you are closer to the next leave date to enter and submit that leave.
When entering an Intermittent/Reduced Schedule or ESL (Extended Sick Leave) Workers Compensation, enter JED information under the Workers Compensation tab (the sum of the % of fields must equal 100%). UCPath will push back the leave if JED is not entered. The employee should complete the Workers Compensation Election form, if available attach to leave.
Note: Entering JED information for the Workers Compensation may require involvement from Payroll, as this is typically related to the usage of accruals and the appropriate time to make changes for paid and unpaid portions of Workers Compensation. Review UPK: Submit Workers’ Compensation Leave of Absence Request.
Refer to KBA: How to Request Sabbatical Leaves
Before starting a transaction, review the UPKs below for step-by-step guidance, the system steps may have changed since the last time you have done this type of transaction:
Leave of absence requests must be approved locally no later than the Employee Data Change deadline in order to be processed with the current payroll.
The Approved box will appear indicating that the transaction has been locally approved. To see what the Approved box looks like and for step-by-step instructions on how to approve a leave transaction refer to UPK: Approve Extended Leave of Absence Request.
UCPC uses the absence request to manually update job data for the employee. Transactors should review job data once leave is processed to ensure it looks correct, especially if changes to JED were required.
If an employee retroactively cancels a leave without pay or partial pay sabbatical, you must submit a ticket to UCPC to ensure that the Job Earnings Distribution (JED) leave components are removed.
Use the Administer Extended Absence page to view saved and submitted leave requests based on status, leave type, approver, or initiator. Navigation: Menu > Global Payroll and Absence Management > Payee Data > Maintain Absences > UC Customizations > Administer Extended Absence or Workforce Administration (Homepage) > Absence Administration (Tile) > Extended Absence > Administer Extended Absence
| Workflow Status | Description |
|
Saved |
Saved for later processing by Leave Initiator but not submitted for approval. |
|
Submitted |
Submitted by Leave Initiator and awaiting first Location Approver processing. First Approver can edit and approve in this status. |
|
Apprvl Prc |
•If Location has one Approver: Approved by Location Approver and awaiting WFA Production Approver processing. •If Location has two Approvers: Approved by first Location Approver and awaiting second Location Approver processing. |
|
Approved |
Processed and approved by UCPC WFA Production. The Leave Initiator can edit or cancel leaves in this status. |
|
Sub Cancel |
Cancel submitted by Leave Initiator and awaiting first Approver processing. |
|
App Cancel |
•If Location has one Approver: Cancel approved by Location Approver and awaiting WFA Production Approver processing. •If Location has two Approvers: Cancel approved by first Location Approver and awaiting second Location Approver processing. |
|
Cancelled |
Cancel processed and approved by UCPC WFA Production. |
|
PushBack |
Pushed back from Approver 2 or 3 to previous Approver. |
|
Denied |
Denied by any Approver. |
To return an employee from a Leave of Absence, refer to the UPK: Return from Leave of Absence. Please Note: When returning an employee from a Leave of Absence, UC San Diego’s best practice is to ensure Expected Return Date exactly matches the Actual Return Date. If the Actual Return Date does not match Expected Return Date, best practice is to change the Expected Return Date to match the Actual Return Date.
Cancelling a leave is only possible once a leave is approved by UCPC.
Leave type cannot be edited except in the case of changing from Workers Comp leave to Medical Leave.
If leave type is incorrect – cancel the leave and reenter new leave.