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Table of Contents
Leave Balance FAQs
What are the leave codes based on PEALEAV?
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Leave Description
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Code
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Vacation
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VACA
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Vacation Transfer Compensable
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VACC
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Vacation Non-compensable
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VACN
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Sick
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SICK
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Sick Non-Cumulative
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SICN
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Sick Compensable
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SICC
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Paid Leave for All Workers
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PLFA
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Paid Leave for All Transfer
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PLFC
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Floating Holiday
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FLHL
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For detailed information on each leave type and eligibility, see Leave Balance Information
What are corresponding Gotime Leave Type request options for University leaves?
What are the definitions of terms in Leave Balance?
Leave balances are shown in days for Graduate Assistants and in hours for all other employee classifications.
- Leave Code: Refers to the earn code for this leave type.
- Beginning Balance: The initial balance for each leave type as retrieved from the Banner system (PEALEAV).
- Accrued: The total accrued hours as recorded in the Banner system (PEALEAV).
- Taken: The total leave hours recorded in GoTime for the specific leave type.
- Balance: The current leave balance an employee has. It is calculated as:
Balance = = Beginning Balance (PEALEAV) + Accrued (PEALEAV) - Taken (GoTime)
- Projected Balance: Predicts the leave balance at the end of the benefit year, considering all possible accruals, the beginning balance, and hours already taken (including hours submitted but not yet taken). Calculated in GoTime as:
Projected Balance = Beginning Balance(From PEALEAV) + Projected Accrued(Calculated in GoTime) - Taken(Hours put in GoTime)
Note: For vacation leave, if this exceeds the cap, the value will show the maximum allowable hours.
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Projected Accruals: Predicts the total accruals for a specific leave type throughout the benefit year, factoring in both the accrued amount up to the current week and any further accrual expected by year-end. Projected Accrued represents the Accrued (accruals till the current week) + any further accrual will take place by the end of benefit year
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Projected Loss: Applicable only for vacation leave projections (VACA & VACN). If the projected balance exceeds the cap, this value indicates the potential hours lost when carried over to the next benefit year.
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Projected Balance No limit: Applies to vacation leave projections (VACA & VACN) and represents the total projected balance without considering the cap.
What Are the Typical Benefit Year Periods and Reset Days in GoTime?
GoTime manages various types of benefit year periods and resets dates to ensure accurate leave calculations. These periods may vary slightly each year, but the general structure is as follows:
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Benefit Type
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Start Date
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End Date
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Fiscal (Used for Floating Holidays)
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July 01
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June 30
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Civil Service*
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~August 20
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~August 17
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Academics - Twelve Month
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August 16
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August 15
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Academics - Nine Month
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August 16
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May 15
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*Please reference communication from UICHR regarding annual vacation and sick leave reporting for exact dates.
Reset and Update Details:
- Fiscal Benefit Period: Updated annually on July 1st, this period is primarily used for calculating floating holidays.
- Civil Service and Academic Benefit Resets: The final upload of GoTime Leave data to Banner/PEALEAV occurs at the end of August each year. To accommodate this upload period, the reset of the benefit year for both Academic and Civil Service employees is scheduled after Labor Day weekend. This ensures that all leave balances are accurately reset and updated for the new benefit year.
Important Note: During the final weeks of August and into early September, GoTime may display balance calculations from the previous benefit year or calculations that may appear slightly off. These balances will automatically correct themselves once the benefit year reset is completed. Employees should be aware of this temporary discrepancy and rest assured that their leave balances will be accurately reflected after the reset.
How is the current balance calculated?
The standard current leave balance calculations for most leave types except SICK & SICN are as follows.
Balance = BeginBal( PEALEAV ) + Accrued( PEALEAV ) − Taken(GoTime)
When Are Hours Deducted from Your Leave Balance?
When you submit a leave request in GoTime, the requested hours are immediately deducted from your Leave Balance. This deduction occurs regardless of whether your request is still awaiting approval or has already been approved.
Statuses That Affects Leave Balance:
- Pending Approval: Even if your leave request is awaiting approval from your supervisor, the hours are already deducted from your balance.
- Approved: Once your leave request is approved, the hours remain deducted from your balance.
Statuses That Do Not Affect Leave Balance:
- Declined: If your leave request is declined, the hours are added back to your balance.
- Pending Withdrawal: If your leave request is moved to a "Pending Withdrawal" status, the hours will also be added back to your balance.
Note for Supervisors:
When you, as a supervisor, are reviewing and approving leave requests, the Leave Balance you see for an employee already includes the hours requested in the leave submission. This means that the balance shown reflects the deduction of the requested leave hours.
How is the Sick & Sick Non-Cumulative balance calculated?
The Sick & Sick Non-Cumulative current leave balance uses a specific deduction rule. Note: The sick hours will be deducted from both Sick and Sick Non-Cumulative banks.
The deduction rule is outlined as follows:
- Initially, Sick leave hours are subtracted from the current year SICK Accrued balance.
- Once the current year SICK Accrued balance is taken, remaining usage is deducted from the SICN Accrued balance.
- If additional hours are to be deducted, they are taken from the SICK Beginning balance.
How does GoTime determine the hours taken for each leave type?
GoTime calculates the hours entered into the system for each leave type within the benefit year. For employees hired within the benefit year, calculations start from the current hire date to year-end.
How is the leave balance calculated for Civil Service Non Exempt employees?
GoTime does not perform any calculations for CS non-exempt employees. It will directly display the available balance from PEALEAV.
How are the projections calculated in GoTime?
- GoTime calculates vacation and sick leave projections for eligible employee classifications from the start of the benefit year or the employee's job start date using standardized accrual rates based on job classification.
- The projected accrual value predicts how the Accrued value from the PEALEAV will look by the end of the benefit year. Based on the projected accrual value, the projected balance is calculated.
- The accrual rates for a Civil Service Exempt employee are based on the years of service and working hours (37.5 / 40 hrs). Adjusted Service date is used to calculate the years of service. See Civil Service Vacation Accrual table
How is an employee's job classification determined?
In GoTime, an employee's classification is based on their primary job class. If an employee has more than one job classification, only the primary one is taken into account. This means that all balance calculations and the leave options available in the dropdown menus are determined solely by the primary job classification.
When will the PLFA / Vacation leave balance be visible?
The Vacation or PLFA leave balance is visible when employee has these respective leave bank in their PEALEAV and their Beginning Balance/Accrual is greater than zero.
How is the floating holidays prorated for the employee hired in the current benefit year?
Floating holidays are prorated based on the current hire date. Standard accrual schedules are:
- Group A:
- July 1 - December 31: Earn 1 floating holiday.
- January 1 - June 30: Earn 1 floating holiday.
- Total for Academic Year: 2.
- Group B:
- July 1 - September 30: Earn 1 floating holiday.
- October 1 - December 31: Earn 1 floating holiday.
- January 1 - March 31: Earn 1 floating holiday.
- April 1 - June 30: Earn 1 floating holiday.
- Total for Academic Year: 4.
What are the restrictions on Floating Holidays?
In GoTime, the eligibility and calculation of floating holidays are subject to specific restrictions based on the employee’s Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) status and job classification.
- FTE Requirement: Academic employees with an FTE less than 50% are not eligible for floating holidays and their balance will not be calculated.
- Academic employees includes Faculty (12 Month, 9 Month & 10 Month), Academic Professionals (12 Month, 9 Month & 10 Month), and Postdoctoral Researchers (12 Month & 9 Month).
What are the Vacation Accrual Caps and how are they determined?
Please refer to this HR Documentation for details on vacation accrual caps. In GoTime, caps are based on the employee's two-year accruals, prorated by appointment type for faculty and academic employees. Projected Loss displays the hours potentially lost due to these caps.
How Are GoTime Balance Calculations Affected When an Employee's Job Classification Changes?
When an employee undergoes a job classification change, the leave balance calculations in GoTime are automatically updated to reflect these changes. These updates are sourced from PEALEAV, which records leave data for employees. If the change involves multiple areas, the units may need to coordinate the update of usage prior to job change.
Current Leave Balance Calculations:
- Beginning Balance and Accrued Value: GoTime retrieves the updated Beginning Balance and Accrued values directly from PEALEAV. These values are crucial for calculating the employee's current leave balance.
- Hours Taken: GoTime also considers the total hours taken by the employee throughout the benefit year (or from the Current Hire Date) to compute the current balance of Vacation and Sick leaves.
Projected Leave Balance Calculations:
- Impact of Job Classification Change: A job change directly impacts the projected leave balance calculations. The system calculates the Projected Accrued value starting from the new Job Begin Date.
- Accrued Value Handling: When a job classification changes, the accrued leave value from the previous job is added to the Beginning Balance in PEALEAV. This ensures that all leave entitlements are accurately carried over, resulting in an accurate Projected Balance in GoTime.
- Final Projected Balance Calculation: GoTime then calculates the Projected Balance by combining the updated Beginning Balance, the hours taken as recorded in GoTime, and the Projected Accrued value (calculated within GoTime). This ensures that the projected leave balance reflects any job classification changes accurately.
If leave usage was not reported for a previous year in GoTime, how should a unit reconcile the previous year leave usage?
If time was not reported in GoTime for the previous year, colleges/units will need to manually make the updates on the PEALEAV form in Banner. A reconciliation will need to occur to make sure all time entered represents the cumulative usage for the year.
Can I request leave time that I have not accrued yet?
Yes but approval is determined at the unit level if you will be allowed to use time off before it has been accrued.
Login FAQs
I cannot log in, my NetID and password is not recognized.
- If a supervisor or employee cannot log in they should report this to their unit HR, who should first check the import template to make sure the employee’s UIN is listed correctly.
- Unit HR should also confirm the employee is logging in with the Net ID (not UIC Email).
- If they have been imported correctly and are using their Net ID to log in their unit HR can open a ticket with Technology Solutions.
- If they haven’t been imported, unit HR should send a new import template to Cheri Canfield to have them imported.
When logging into GoTime, it says “NetID or password is invalid”, why do I receive this error?
There are various reasons you might get this error message
- Incorrect username. GoTime requires your UIC Netid and your UIC password to login. Your UIC netid is the first part of your UIC email without “uic.edu”. Example, if my UIC email is janed@uic.edu then my netid is just janed.
- Incorrect password. GoTime requires the same password that is needed to login to access your UIC Email. Try logging into http://outlook.uic.edu to verify if you are using the correct password.
- Your UIC password many have expired, use this link to reset your password https://password.uic.edu
- You are a UIH employee and some times passwords are not synced properly between the UIH and UIC systems, you may need to reset your password https://password.uic.edu
- Reach out to GoTime technical support if you have tried everything and still receive that error message. Support Website Link
Job/Position Change or Separation FAQs
I am separating from the University how is my vacation time updated?
Your unit HR should ensure approved usage is updated/reconciled directly in PEALEAV prior to processing the vacation payout.
What steps need to occur in GoTime by the supervisor when an employee is moving into another vacation eligible position?
- Supervisors need to ensure that approved usage is updated/reconciled directly on the Banner form PEALEAV prior to the start of the new role.
- Examples would include movement into another vacation eligible role, such as Promotions, Reassignments, etc.
- Once the balances have been reconciled by the unit, the HR Service Center will move the balances to the new position.
What steps need to occur in GoTime by the supervisor when an employee moves into a position that is not benefit eligible and does not accrue Vacation/Sick time (i.e. Civil Service moving to Extra Help)?
- Supervisors need to ensure that approved usage is updated/reconciled directly on the Banner form PEALEAV prior to the individual moving into the new role.
- On the HR Front End transaction, the Employee Data component will need to be selected to trigger the employee group change, which will prompt the benefit payout question. An adjustment will need to be processed in the PARIS for the vacation payout.
Schedules in GoTime
In GoTime, schedules define the number of hours an employee is expected to work each week. This is crucial for accurately tracking leave and ensuring that leave requests align with the employee's work hours. Notably, Graduate Assistants do not have a schedule associated with them in GoTime.
Adding a New Schedule
To add a new schedule for an employee, follow these steps:
1. Navigate to the Employee's Profile:
- Go to HR Admin > View/Edit User.
- Search for the employee you want to update.
- Move to the Schedule tab.
2. Add a New Schedule:
- Click on the dropdown menu and select Add New Schedule.
- This action will prompt a new field to enter the start date for the schedule.
Note: When adding a new schedule, GoTime will automatically end the previous schedule one day before the entered start date.
3. Review the Schedule Summary:
- A summary screen will appear, displaying any leave requests that may conflict with the new schedule.
4. Complete the Process:
- Follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the new schedule.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not update the previous schedule directly. Doing so will put all leaves since the beginning date of the previous schedule in a conflict state.
Understanding Leave Conflict States and Resolution
A leave request enters a conflict state when the requested hours do not match the scheduled working hours for that day. This often occurs when a schedule is updated. To resolve/prevent conflicts, the following steps should be taken:
- Identify the Conflict:
- The summary screen during schedule addition/update will highlight any conflicts.
- Resolve the Conflict:
- Delete the conflicting leave requests.
- Enter new leave requests for the deleted that align with the updated schedule.
By following these guidelines, you can ensure that employee schedules and leave requests remain accurate and up to date in GoTime.
Miscellaneous FAQs
My supervisor isn’t correct, what should I do?
Employees should notify their unit HR. Unit HR will be able to submit a ticket to Technology Solutions to update the supervisor.
https://help.uillinois.edu/TDClient/37/uic/Requests/ServiceDet?ID=613
My supervisor is listed incorrectly as Cheri Canfield, why is this?
Your unit has not set you up as an Employee using GoTime to request time off so as a default Cheri Canfield is listed as your supervisor. You are set up as an approver. You should not request time off in GoTime but instead send your requests directly to your supervisor outside of GoTime.
Can an employee request FMLA or VESSA in GoTime?
The leave types are available in Go Time, however the employee should go through the normal approval process first before submitting leave coded as FML or VESSA. Reference information for reporting leave time can be found in the Earn Codes for Exempt (not overtime eligible) Civil Service Employees on Partial Paid or Unpaid Leave HR Information Alert that was sent out on September 3, 2021.
When should an employee submit a request for leave GoTime?
Employees should submit leave time requests with as much advanced notice as possible, employees should follow department’s established time off process for requesting leave. Unplanned leave should be submitted as soon as the employee returns from leave. Supervisors should approve/deny leave timely as well. As a general rule, leave should be approved/denied within a week of the receiving the request.
Does GoTime connect with Payroll?
No, there is not a connection with Payroll. If an employee requests unpaid time the unit HR will need to process an adjustment via PARIS to avoid an overpayment, otherwise the employee will receive their normal pay. See Current Pay Adjustment Resource Guide for Civil Service Exempt Employees. https://www.obfs.uillinois.edu/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=253254
HR Administrators FAQs
When will GoTime feed balances to Banner form PEALEAV?
Twice a year during May and August/September
When will unit HR be able to see the employees in their units?
Technology Solutions is working on this role. They are targeting the end of November-beginning of December to have this role active.
When will reports be ready?
This is also a priority of Technology Solutions. They are working to make reports available at the end of November-beginning of December as well.