- Los Angeles Unified School District
- Vacation FAQs
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Effective July 1, 2022 Vacation Accrual
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Below are frequently asked questions about vacation. Additional questions may be added periodically, so please check back often. If you have questions regarding vacation balance caps, please email PayrollVacation@lausd.net.
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1. I will have excess vacation on June 30. What will happen to my excess vacation hours?
Any excess vacation hours shall be removed from an employee’s vacation balance. Effective July 1, 2022, an employee shall not accrue any vacation hours greater than the employee’s vacation cap. An employee can log in to the Employee Self Service https://ess.lausd.net to check their vacation balances in My Vacation Balance.
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2. I am close to my vacation cap. Will I accrue my full vacation earnings this pay period?
Effective July 1, 2022, an employee may only accrue vacation hours up to but not greater than the employee’s vacation cap. An employee shall not accrue vacation hours until the employee’s balance of vacation hours falls below their cap.
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3. What should time reporters and time approvers do to assist their staff from going over their vacation cap?
Monthly, Timekeepers are to provide their administrator(s) with each employee’s vacation balances. Timekeepers should generate the Vacation Balance Report available in SAP upon request. Timekeepers should use the transaction code ZTMRVACBAL.
Timekeepers should ensure that all time entries are correct by matching signed time cards and approved Absence Certification forms to CAT2 (SAP) entries every pay period.
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4. What can I do to avoid going over my vacation cap?
An employee may use their earned vacation time throughout the year in order to stay below their vacation cap.
Employees can verify that all time entries are correct by reviewing their Time Statement in the Employee Self Service (“ESS”) by each payroll cut-off.
An employee can monitor their vacation usage and accrual by reviewing their Vacation Balance Statement on the ESS at https://ess.lausd.net each month.
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5. What happens if I reach my vacation cap?
Effective July 1, 2022, once an employee is at their vacation cap, an employee cannot continue to accrue vacation hours. In order to prevent this from happening, an employee needs to use their previously accrued vacation prior to reaching their vacation cap.
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6. Is there a waiver process to allow me to continue to accrue vacation when I am at my vacation cap? I was asked not to take my previously approved vacation because of work. I am now at my vacation cap and no longer accruing vacation time.
In such circumstances, an employee is to submit a request for a vacation waiver. An employee’s submission must include proof of previously approved vacation and evidence the supervisor rescinded previously approved vacation time. In verified instances, the employee shall be granted a one-time exemption to continue to accrue vacation and get below the cap in less than twelve months from your vacation waiver approval.
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7. How do I verify my vacation balance?
An employee can log in to the Employee Self Service https://ess.lausd.net to check their vacation balances in My Vacation Balance.
My Vacation Balance will have:
- Section B with your 18 Month Vacation Cap
- Section C with your Maximum Allowed
- Section D with your Current Balance
- Section E with your Projected Vacation Earnings
- Section F with your projected excess hours over the Cap on June 30, assuming no vacation usage.
The job aid, Vacation Balance Statement, posted here on the Payroll Administration Branch’s webpage provides additional instructions on how to access and use the report.
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8. How many vacation hours do I accrue per pay period?
Accrued vacation hours for each pay period are calculated by multiplying the Vacation Accrual Factor (which may be found in My Vacation Balance on ESS) by the total paid hours in the pay period.
Example:
Vacation Accrual Factor (from My Vacation Balance on ESS): 0.06155
Total Paid Hours (in the pay period): 168
Vacation Hours Accrued: 0.06155 x 168 = 10.34
Note that vacation hours accrued within the same pay period are not available for use until the following pay period.
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9. What is the Maximum Allowed column on the Vacation Balance Report?
Maximum Allowed is the maximum vacation hours that an employee can retain at any given time. This total includes your eighteen-month cap and any 1994 banked vacation hours. For employees hired after 1994, the Maximum Allowed will be equal to the eighteen-month cap.
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10. What is the 1994 banked vacation hours?
In fiscal year 1994 -1995, the District implemented the policy of maintaining an eighteen-month vacation cap. As a result, any employee with an accrued vacation balance on June 30, 1994 would “bank” those hours for future usage. Upon separation, these banked hours shall be paid at the pay rate of the last vacation earning assignment in the fiscal year 1994-1995.
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11. I have questions about my vacation balance. Who can I contact?
Please email vacation cap questions to PayrollVacation@lausd.net.
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12. Formula to calculate when you might reach your Vacation Cap
Using a current vacation balance statement from https://ess.lausd.net, find out the following:
- Vacation Accrual Factor (V)
- Vacation Cap (B) [rounded to the second decimal position]
- Current Balance (D) [rounded to the second decimal position]
- Work hours per pay period (W)
1. Determine the number of vacation hours earned per month by multiplying the vacation accrual factor (V) by the number of hours you work in a pay period (W) which will be (V*W). The value of W depends on the employee’s work hours in a pay period (pay period depends on the Pay Area).
2. Subtract your current balance from your vacation cap (B-D). This is the number of hours you can accrue before reaching the vacation cap.
3. Divide the answer in #2 by the answer in #1. [(B-D)/(V*W)] to determine the number of pay periods before reaching the vacation cap and ceasing to accrue vacation if no additional hours are taken.
May 30, 2022
Vacation Accrual Factor
0.07693
18 Months’ Vacation Cap
240.94
Current Balance
114.36
For example, in the following case:
V = 0.07693
B = 240.94
D = 114.36
W = 176 (for the month of May)
Question: When the employee might reach his/her cap?
Answer: Number of pay periods before reaching the vacation cap
= [(B-D)/(V*W)]
= [(240.94 – 114.36)/ (0.07693 * 176)]
= [126.58/13.54]
= 9.35
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13. What is a vacation waiver?
A vacation waiver allows for an employee to keep and/or accrue vacation hours above their vacation cap for a designated length of time.
Currently, there are two different variations:
- Vacation Waiver
- Vacation Waiver Due to Formal Leave of Absence
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14. What are the eligibility requirements for a vacation waiver?
Employees eligible to request a vacation waiver must meet the following conditions:
- Employee must have filed a vacation schedule/calendar.
- Employee must have requested the specified vacation time off within the vacation calendar.
- Supervisor must have approved the vacation time off per the employee vacation schedule/calendar (or failed to respond to the vacation request).
- Supervisor later prevents or prohibits the employee from taking vacation previously approved.
- Employee must be at their cap to request a waiver.
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15. How does the vacation waiver work?
If approved, the vacation cap will be temporarily increased to the value of vacation hours that were pre-approved and later prevented/prohibited from using. The temporary vacation cap increase will allow for the employee to accrue and use vacation hours up to that value for the duration of the waiver.
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16. How long does the vacation waiver last?
The approved vacation waiver will be effective from the last day of the pay period in which the denied vacation would have been used until twelve months thereafter.
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17. Is there a deadline for submission of a vacation waiver request?
Employees must submit their request for vacation waiver form no later than three months after the preapproved hours were denied.
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18. What is the process for requesting a vacation waiver?
- Download the Excess Vacation Hours Waiver Form.
- Complete all the fields and obtain required signatures (Administrator and Regional Superintendent or Division Head).
- Gather all the required documents that will need to be submitted:
- Completed and signed Excess Vacation Hours Waiver Form
- Copy of the approved Certificated/Classified Employee Vacation Schedule/Calendar that includes the specified vacation time off
- Documented proof of denied previously approved vacation
- Copy of the revised and approved Certificated/Classified Employee Vacation Schedule/Calendar indicating when those denied vacation hours will be used within a twelve-month period
- Go to the link provided in the form for the online submission and follow the prompts to upload the Excess Vacation Hours Waiver Request Form and supporting documents.
- All required documents must be submitted online. Incomplete or missing document(s) will not be accepted.
- Upon submission, your vacation waiver request will be reviewed.
- An email notification will be sent to your LAUSD email account with a status of your request.
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19. Where can I find the Certificated/Classified Employee Vacation Schedule?
Please contact the site administrator for a copy of this form.
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20. When will approved vacation waivers be processed?
Approved vacation waivers will be processed accordingly, within 1 – 2 month pay cycles.
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21. What should I do after the approved vacation waiver has been processed?
Employees should use the approved waived vacation hours as scheduled on the Certificated/Classified Employee Vacation Schedule/Calendar submitted with their request. Employees should also ensure that their current vacation balance is below or at their vacation cap by the end of the twelfth month of the approved waiver.
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22. Where can I find the Vacation Waiver Request Form?
Please click here or you will find the Vacation Waiver Request form at https://ca01000043.schoolwires.net/vacationwaiverrequest.
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23. Can an employee on a leave of absence request a vacation waiver?
Yes, vacation waiver requests can be submitted due to inability to use accrued vacation hours while on a formal leave of absence.
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24. What is a formal leave of absence?
The term formal leave refers to any leave of more than twenty days in duration.
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25. What are the eligibility requirements for a vacation waiver due to a formal leave?
Employees eligible to request a vacation waiver must meet the following conditions:
- Employee must be at their cap to request a waiver
- Employee must have filed a formal leave of absence with Human Resources or Personnel Commission (Examples: Worker’s Compensation Leave, Illness Leave and other types of leaves)
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26. How does the formal leave vacation waiver work?
If approved, the vacation cap will be temporarily increased to the value of vacation hours the employee did not accrue due to the leave of absence. The temporary vacation cap increase will allow for an employee to accrue and use vacation hours up to that value for the duration of the waiver.
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27. How long does the formal leave vacation waiver last?
The approved vacation waiver will be effective from the first day of the return from the leave of absence until twelve months thereafter.
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28. Is there a deadline for submission of a vacation waiver due to formal leave request?
Employees must submit their request for vacation waiver form no later than three months after the vacation cap has been reached.
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29. What is the process for requesting a vacation waiver due to a formal leave?
- Download the Vacation Waiver Request Due to Formal Leave of Absence Form.
- Complete all the fields on the waiver form.
- Gather all the required documents that will need to be submitted:
- Completed and signed Vacation Waiver Request Due to Leave of Absence Form
- Go to the link provided and follow the prompts to upload the Vacation Waiver Request Due to Leave of Absence Form.
- All required documents must be submitted online. Incomplete or missing document(s) will not be accepted.
- An email notification will be sent to your LAUSD email account with the status of your request.
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30. What happens when I return from my leave of absence?
Upon return from the leave of absence, an approved Certificated/Classified Employee Vacation Schedule must be submitted. The calendar should indicate when the approved waived hours will be used.
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31. When will approved formal leave vacation waivers be processed?
Approved vacation waivers will be processed accordingly, within 1 – 2 pay cycles.
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32. What should I do after the approved formal leave vacation waiver has been processed?
Employees should use the approved waived vacation hours as scheduled on the Certificated/Classified Employee Vacation Schedule/Calendar submitted after their return from leave. Employees should also ensure that their current vacation balance is below or at their vacation cap by the end of the twelfth month of the approved waiver.
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33. Where can I find the Vacation Waiver Request Due to Formal Leave of Absence Form?
Please click here or you will find the Vacation Waiver Request form at https://ca01000043.schoolwires.net/vacationwaiverrequest.