Note: This is a printed version of https://employeehelp.workday.uw.edu/your-time-absence/summer-hiatus-for-academic-personnel. Please visit this page on the ISC website to ensure you're referencing the most current information.

Employee Workday Help

Summer Hiatus for Academic Personnel

Last updated Monday, June 30, 2025

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Overview

Summer Hiatus is a leave of absence in Workday used for faculty and AFT extension lecturers with a 9-month service period who aren’t teaching over summer quarter and are scheduled to return in the fall. During this leave, pay is paused and resumes when the employee returns to their position. 

Please note: Allowances will continue to be paid during Summer Hiatus unless ended. If a faculty member should not receive allowances over the summer, be sure to end the allowance(s) before the leave begins.

How Summer Hiatus Works in Workday

Departments place employees on Summer Hiatus following the guidance and key deadlines found in the “Placing Faculty/Extension Lecturers on Summer Hiatus” section, below. Once placed on Summer Hiatus, the employee will receive an auto-generated notification in Workday confirming the leave; no additional action is needed from the employee. 

Because Summer Hiatus is one of the few payroll-impacting leaves of absence (automatically placing the employee in unpaid status), no Time Offs need to be entered during Summer Hiatus. 

Any employee on Summer Hiatus with an Estimated End Date of September 15 will be automatically returned from Summer Hiatus in Workday. Departments can always return employees manually if the employee comes back earlier, following the guidance found in the “Returning Faculty/Extension Lecturer from Summer Hiatus” section, below. 

  • IMPORTANT: Departments MUST verify FTE, Position(s) and Compensation for each employee returning from Summer Hiatus to ensure the first paycheck back from Summer Hiatus is accurate. 

For PEBB benefits (medical/vision/dental insurance + any tobacco/spousal surcharges), including MetLife optional life insurance, to continue over the summer, the employee: 

  1. Must have worked an average of 50% FTE or greater throughout the entire academic year AND 
  2. Must have worked each quarter of the academic year (fall, winter, spring) AND 
  3. Must be returning for fall quarter. 

In general, the following deductions are covered during the employee’s 9-month service period (i.e., the months the employee works) and are therefore not owed during summer: 

  • Health Savings Account (HSA) 
  • Flexible Spending Arrangement/Limited Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) 
  • Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) 
  • Employee-paid Long Term Disability (LTD) 

UW Benefits reviews and determines who meets off-quarter benefits eligibility.

What to Know About Benefits Deductions:

  • Full Summer Hiatus (June 15 – September 16): Employees going on Summer Hiatus for the full summer, and who have met off-quarter benefits eligibility, pay their premiums in advance and have septuple deductions (1 for the current pay period + 6 deductions for the upcoming summer pay periods) taken on their June 25 paycheck. 
    • Employees must be placed on Summer Hiatus by the deadline to be reviewed for off-quarter benefits eligibility (see Step 2, below). 
    • All deductions resume as normal once returned from Summer Hiatus, beginning with their October 10 paycheck. 
  • If the Deadline is Missed: 
    • If a department places an employee on full Summer Hiatus late who meets off-quarter benefits eligibility, the missed premiums (except MetLife optional life insurance) will be deducted from the October 10 paycheck. 
    • IMPORTANT: After three missed MetLife payroll deductions, MetLife will end payroll deductions and will bill the employee directly at their mailing address in Workday. 
      • If an employee receives a direct MetLife bill in the mail, they MUST pay MetLife during the summer, or MetLife will cancel their optional life insurance. 
  • Partial Summer Hiatus: Employees placed on Summer Hiatus for part of the summer, and who have met off-quarter benefits eligibility, continue to pay their PEBB deductions as normal until their last day of work. 
    • Deductions resume when they return to work. 
    • Any missed deductions will be collected whenever their pay resumes. 

Eligibility

Summer Hiatus is for: 

  • Faculty and AFT extension lecturers with 9-month service periods. 
  • Only those who are confirmed to return for fall quarter. 

Who is NOT Eligible? 

  • Faculty with service periods greater than 9 months. 
  • Librarians, Residents and Fellows, Postdocs or academic staff, even if they have a 9-month service period. 
  • Faculty not returning in fall. 
    • Instead, end their Academic Appointment(s) at the end of Spring Quarter and process a Termination in Workday. 
  • Faculty with Emeritus, Affiliate and Clinical – Non Salaried appointments. 
    • Instead, if they are currently in paid status and have been reappointed but will not be in paid status during Summer Quarter, they should be moved into the Unpaid Academic job profile using the Change Job business process and selecting the “Convert from Paid Status to Unpaid Academic” reason for making the change following the guidance found in the Hire and Change Job for Unpaid Academics User Guide. 
    • For review/planning purposes, please note that Spring Reappointments will be loaded into Workday by the end of April. 
  • Faculty and other academic personnel who are reducing their effort during summer quarter. 
    • Instead, change their FTE using the Data Changes > 02 – Summer Faculty FTE Change reason code for the period of time their effort will be reduced. 

Placing Faculty/Extension Lecturers on Summer Hiatus

Step 1: Confirm Eligibility 

Step 2: Place Employees on Summer Hiatus 

  • May 30 (12:00 pm): Complete and return the R0047 Summer Hiatus Audit Report, indicating which employee will go on Summer Hiatus for the entire summer quarter (June 16, 2025 – September 15, 2025: 
    • Run R0047 and save it as an Excel file to your computer – please include your unit name as part of the file name to expedite processing. 
    • Complete the report: For each position going on Summer Hiatus for the full summer:  
      • In the Leave Type column, enter “Academic Summer Hiatus.” 
      • In the First Day of Leave column, enter June 16 of the current year. 
      • In the Last Day of Leave – Estimated column, enter September 15 of the current year. 
      • Note: For any eligible employee NOT going on Summer Hiatus for the full summer, simply leave the columns blank. 
    • Submit the report by the deadline: Once the spreadsheet has been completed, the Unit Change Lead will upload a single, consolidated spreadsheet for the entire unit to UW-IT’s Application Management team using the online form:

Submission Form: Academic Personnel Leave of Absence (LOA) Submission. 

  • May 30 (5:00 pm): UW-IT’s Workday Application Management team will automatically place employees on Summer Hiatus based on R0047 submissions. 

Want to process Summer Hiatus yourself? 

Departments are welcome to manually place employees on Summer Hiatus themselves rather than submitting the R0047 report; this is common for units with only a few employees who go on Summer Hiatus. 

  • KEY DEADLINE: June 6 (12:00 pm): To ensure benefits premiums are properly deducted from the June 25 paycheck, all Summer Hiatus transactions for employees going on leave for the entire summer MUST be completed and approved in Workday by June 6. 

Partial Summer Hiatus: Units also process Summer Hiatus manually for employees who won’t be on Summer Hiatus for the entire summer (e.g., teaching a summer course) following the guidance below. 

Initiate Leave Request (Academic Partner)

1. From the employee’s Profile page in Workday, select Actions > Time and Absence > Enter Absence. 

2. Navigate to the month the employee’s Summer Hiatus will begin by using the left and right arrow icons. 

3. Use Select Date Range to enter the dates of the Summer Hiatus and complete the required fields as follows:  

  • From: The start date of Summer Hiatus; this must a be the first day of a pay period. 
  • To: The end date of Summer Hiatus; this must be the last day of a pay period. 
  • Type: Select “LOA – Academic Summer Hiatus Leave.” 
  • Position: Auto-populate with the position(s) the employee holds in Workday – if the employee holds more than one position, select the position for which Summer Hiatus applies; if taking a leave of absence from more than one position, a request must be submitted for each position. 

Once all fields have been completed, select Next to proceed to the Enter Absence screen. 

4. Review the absence request and select Submit. 

5. Select Submit to submit the request. The employee, Manager and Academic Partner will receive notification when the transaction is complete.

Request Delegation Change (Academic Partner)

6. Open the Request Delegation Change To Do in your Workday “My Tasks” inbox. If the employee has any security roles current assigned (“delegated”) to them, request delegation changes for the duration of the employee’s Summer Hiatus. 

  • To review which employees have current delegations assigned to them within your Sup Org(s), run the Current Delegations report in Workday. 

7. Select Submit. 

Request Security Role Change (Academic Partner)

8. Open the Review Security Roles To Do in your Workday “My Tasks” inbox. If the employee has a security role in Workday, review their roles and request delegation changes for the duration of the employee’s Summer Hiatus. 

  • To review an employee’s security role(s), from the employee’s Profile page, select Related Actions > Security Profile > View Role Assignments for Worker Position. 

9. Select Submit. 

Step 3: Verify Summer Hiatus Leave and Monitor Payroll 

  • June 2 – June 6 (12:00 pm): Rerun R0047 Summer Hiatus Audit Report to confirm that, for every employee going on Summer Hiatus: 
    • The Leave Type column shows “LOA – Academic Summer Hiatus Leave” 
    • The First Day of Leave and Last Day of Leave – Estimated columns are accurate 
    • If a correction is needed: Email hrhelp@uw.edu to make any updates or changes 
  • June 25: Benefits-eligible employees on Summer Hiatus for the entire summer will have septuple benefits deductions (1 for the current pay period + 6 advance deductions for the upcoming summer pay periods) on their June 25 paycheck. 

Returning Faculty/Extension Lecturers From Summer Hiatus

Step 1: Return From Summer Hiatus  

  • September 15: All employees on Summer Hiatus with an Estimated Date of Return of September 15 will be automatically returned from leave in Workday. 

Want to process Summer Hiatus returns yourself? 

Departments are welcome to manually return employees from Summer Hiatus themselves; this is common for units with employees who go on Summer Hiatus for only part of the summer (e.g., return to teach a summer course). Follow the guidance below: 

Initiate Return Worker From Leave (Academic Partner)

1. In Workday’s search field, enter Return Worker from Leave. 

2. In the Return Worker from Leave pop-up window:  

  • In the Workers on Leave field, enter the worker’s name or EID.  
  • If the Position field doesn’t auto-populate, select the Position for which the employee is being returned. 
  • Note Regarding Multiple-Position Employees: When returning a worker with more than one position from leave who is on Summer Hiatus for both positions, return them from leave from the secondary position first. It may not appropriately route for approval when the Estimated Last Day of Leave for each leave does not match the Actual Date of Return. Careful coordination for approvals should be in place for leaves for multiple-position workers. 

3. Select OK. 

4. On the Return Worker from Leave screen: 

  • In the Absences Returned From table, select the checkbox for the leave (Event column) from which the worker is returning. 
  • In the Actual Last Day of Absence field, enter the employee’s last day of Summer Hiatus – this day should be the last day of a pay period. 
  • Please note: though you can fill in the First Day Back at Work field with the date the employee will return to work, it is not required. 

5. Select Submit. 

Request Delegation Change (Academic Partner)

6. Open the Request Delegation Change To Do in your Workday “My Tasks” inbox. If the employee has any security roles current assigned (“delegated”) to another, confirm the delegation period ends on the date the employee returns. If the delegation is still in effect after the employee’s return, contact hrhelp@uw.edu to request delegation changes. 

  • To review which employees have current delegations assigned to them within your Sup Org(s), run the Current Delegations report in Workday. 

7. Select Submit. 

Request Security Role Change (Academic Partner)

8. Open the Review Security Roles To Do in your Workday “My Tasks” inbox. Review their roles and, if necessary, submit a Security Role Change Request. 

  • To review an employee’s security role(s), from the employee’s Profile page, select Related Actions > Security Profile > View Role Assignments for Worker Position. 

9. Select Submit. 

Step 2: Final Verification 

  • September 16 – September 30:  
    • Units MUST verify individual FTE, position and compensation information for all employees returned from Summer Hiatus.  
    • To avoid payroll errors, all changes must be completed in Workday prior to the close of payroll for the September 16-30 pay period. 

Need to make changes? 

  • FTE: Process a Change Job with the appropriate reason code; for example:
    • If the worker had previously been put on a reduced FTE for summer quarter: “02 – Summer Faculty FTE Change”
    • If the worker had been on leave of absence prior to the start of their Summer Hiatus: “01 – Leave of Absence FTE Change”
    • If the worker had previously had a temporary FTE change: “02 – Return to Regular FTE (Academic Only)”
    • If the worker is temporarily increasing their FTE when they return from Summer Hiatus: “02 – Temporary FTE Increase (Academic Only)”
  • Position/Titles: Process an Edit Position Restrictions.
  • Compensation: Process a Request Compensation Change.

Summer Hiatus for Faculty/Extension Lecturers Teaching Summer Session A or B

Though many faculty members and extension lecturers take the entire summer off, quite a few remain on campus to teach one or both summer sessions. If you have faculty who are teaching over the summer, you will need to manually adjust their Summer Hiatus start and end dates in Workday to appropriately reflect when they are, or are not, working.

Note: Summer Hiatus start/end dates should always align with the pay period (not the start/end dates of summer sessions).

Teaching Summer Session A:

For faculty and extension lecturers who teach Summer Session A but NOT Summer Session B:

Teaching Summer Session B:

For faculty and extension lecturers who were placed on Summer Hiatus during Summer Session A, but will return to teach Summer Session B:

  • Return them from Summer Hiatus (“Last Day of Leave”: July 15) following the steps in the Returning Faculty/Extension Lecturers from Summer Hiatus
    • Important: Don’t forget to verify each returned employee’s FTE, Position and Compensation to ensure they are paid accurately.

Once Summer Session B ends:

Summer Session Examples:

  • 100% Assistant Professor in a 9-month school works A session only – 1 course at 25%:
    • Summer FTE change from 100% to 25% on June 16
    • Summer FTE change from 25% to 100% on July 15
    • Place on Summer Hiatus until start of fall quarter (July 16-Sept 15)
  • 100% Assistant Professor in a 9-month school works B session only – 1 course at 25%:
    • Place on Summer Hiatus from June 16-July 15
    • Return from Summer Hiatus (“Last Day of Leave”: July 15)
    • Summer FTE change to 25% on July 16
    • Summer FTE change to 100% on Aug 15
    • Place on Summer Hiatus until the start of fall quarter (Aug 16-Sept 15)