Non-exempt hourly employees report hours worked and/or absences each pay period. Exempt staff request absences as they are planned, ensuring all absences are requested by the pay period in which they occur. This page outlines time and absence reporting requirements by employee type, describes reporting methods, and provides links to guidance and Administrative Guide policies for common absence types, including vacation, sick time, holidays and miscellaneous authorized absences. It also explains expectations for time card and absence review and approval, approval delegation, and retroactive adjustments to support timely and accurate pay.
Time and absence reporting requirements differ by employment category as outlined below. Time and absences must be entered and approved before the deadline for the applicable pay period. For employees who complete a time card, it is recommended that absences are requested first so the employee can review their absences on the time card when completing time entry.
- Exempt employees record absences for vacation, floating holiday, personal time off (PTO), sick time and other miscellaneous absences. Most exempt employees do not enter or submit time cards.
- Exception: Remote employees who normally work outside of California use the time card to record an alternate tax location when they travel to work in California to allow for correct state taxation of their pay.
- Non-exempt employees must keep an accurate record of their daily work hours, including actual start and stop times and meal periods. Because rest breaks are paid, start and stop times for rest breaks do not need to be recorded in their time card. Employees should save their time entries throughout the pay period and then submit their time card at the end of each pay period to route it to their manager for approval. Absence hours taken must also be recorded; entries will appear as view-only on the time card, with the exception of paid holidays which can be edited on the time card.
- Note: Some non-exempt employees use a Kaba time clock and do not submit time cards in Sequoia. See the Time Reporting Methods section.
- All SLAC employees report effort each pay period using the time card.
Time and absence reporting requirements do not apply to:
- Faculty, postdoctoral scholars or graduate students receiving assistantships (see Sick Time on Cardinal at Work)
- Students receiving financial aid or stipends (unless they are employed in a separately paid position)
Find instructions on reporting time and absences on the Sequoia System page.
Absence eligibility and use are governed by the Administrative Guide; record absences each pay period.
| Absence type | Who it applies to | Policy/guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Vacation | Regular staff employees (per definitions) |
|
| Sick Time | Eligibility and accrual vary by employee type | |
| Miscellaneous Authorized Absences | As defined by policy (with and without pay) | AGM 2.1.8: Miscellaneous Authorized Absences |
| Paid Holidays | Eligible employees per policy | AGM 2.1.13: Paid Holidays (eligibility, working on a holiday, holidays during leave) |
Reporting absences
Absences are managed separately from time entry in Sequoia. Requests for time off are entered as time off is planned, and managers will be prompted to approve the absence.
Exempt salaried employees should enter absences in full or half-day increments, with the exception of sick, which can be entered in any increment.
For unplanned time off, such as sick time, employees should record the absence as soon as possible after the absence occurs, as needed, or their manager should enter the absence on their behalf.
Any approved absences will be reflected automatically as a view-only entry on the employee’s time card. Absences, with the exception of holiday pay, must be modified in the Absence module. They cannot be modified on the time card.
Learn more on time and absence entry on the Sequoia System page.
Viewing absence balances
Absence balances in Sequoia provide employees with an up-to-date view of their available accrued leave, such as vacation, sick time, and personal time off. These balances reflect the amount of leave earned, used, and remaining, helping employees plan time away from work.
Employees will see current leave balances when adding new absences and will receive a warning message if the request exceeds available balances.
The review and approval of employee time and absences are required by university policy to ensure accurate and complete employee pay. Time reporting is facilitated via:
Sequoia
Using Sequoia, Stanford’s online HR and payroll system:
- Employees enter time for each pay period.
- Employees complete an attestation process as they submit their completed time card.
- Managers review and approve employee time cards for accuracy and completeness.
- Payroll is run based on the approved employee time cards in Sequoia.
Learn more on the Sequoia System page.
Time Clocks
Some departments use a time clock for employees to enter “In” and “Out” times. Employees must have an active University ID card to use a time clock. The ID card is scanned at the time clock when employees report to work, start and end an unpaid meal period, and when they leave work. Time clock information is automatically transferred to the time card in Sequoia. For assistance, find instructions for using the Kaba Time Clock.
When managers are away from the office, they can use delegation to allow another authorized employee to act upon their behalf to approve other employee time cards and absences using Sequoia. When responsibility is delegated, that person receives Workflow approval requests that the original manager would normally receive and has the same access to approve and reject.
Note: Approval Workflows in progress at time of delegation will remain with the manager who originally received the request.
See How To Manage Time Card and Absence Approval Delegations for instructions.