All Stanford staff and contingent hourly employees (full- and part-time) are required to report time (hours worked) and/or leave (time off) each pay period. This page covers time and leave guidance by leave type for vacation, sick time, paid disability leave, and miscellaneous authorized absences with and without pay. The requirements and processes vary based on the employee type, reporting methods, and role.
Time and leave reporting requirements apply to the following employees:
- Exempt staff must keep an accurate record of leave hours taken.
- Vacation, floating holiday, and personal time off (PTO) are reported in four-hour increments
- Sick may be reported in hourly increments
- Non-exempt staff must keep an accurate record of their daily work hours, including actual start and stop times and meal periods. Leave hours taken must also be recorded. Because rest breaks are paid, start and stop times for rest breaks do not need to be recorded in their timecard.
- Any overtime must be pre-approved.
- Note: Some non-exempt employees do not approve their timecards in Axess because they are reporting time on a Kaba time clock. See Time Reporting Methods section.
- Hourly-paid contingent and student workers must keep an accurate record of their daily work hours, including actual start and stop times and meal periods. Leave hours taken must also be recorded. Because rest breaks are paid, start and stop times for rest breaks do not need to be recorded in their timecard.
See How-To Enter or Edit Time and/or Leave and How-To Review, Adjust, and Approve Employee Timecards in Axess.
Time and leave reporting requirements do not apply to:
- Faculty, postdoctoral scholars or graduate students receiving assistantships (refer to Sick Time)
- Students on financial aid or stipends (unless they are working in a separately paid position.
For more information about using Axess Timecard, see the Learning and How-to sections on the Axess Timecard System page.
Leave Types
Vacation
All regular staff employees are eligible as defined in Administrative Guide Memo 2.2.1: Definitions. See AGM 2.1.6: Vacations for the policy on accrual and use of leave.
Refer to Axess Timecard Leave Accrual Rates for a summary of how leave accrual policies are administered in Axess Timecard.
Sick Time (and Other Paid Disability Leave)
Stanford provides eligible employees with paid sick time to care for one’s own (or a family member’s) illness, medical treatment, or medical care with accrual rates depending on employee type.
- AGM 2.1.7: Sick Time for Regular Staff Employees, Regular Academic Staff-Research and Regular Academic Staff-Professional Librarians
- AGM 2.1.21: Sick Time for Temporary and Casual Staff Employees
- AGM 10.3.1: Sick Time for Student Hourly Employees
Miscellaneous Authorized Absences
View AGM 2.1.8: Miscellaneous Authorized Absences for other authorized absences (with and without pay).
Paid Holidays
View AGM 2.1.13: Paid Holidays for information on paid holidays, such as details on eligibility, working on a holiday, and when a holiday occurs when the employee is on leave.
For more information on how time and leave appear on the timecard, see the Learning and How-to sections on the Axess Timecard System page.
Viewing Leave Accruals
There are two ways to view Stanford employee accrued leave balances for vacation, PTO, floating holiday, and sick time:
- From the Axess Employee Center and Axess Timecard
- Reviewing the advice notice/pay statement online
The review and approval of employee time and leave is required by university policy and helps ensure employees are paid correctly. The following systems are used to facilitate time and leave reporting:
Axess Timecard
Most departments use Axess Timecard, the online timecard application on the Stanford Axess website.
- Employees enter time and/or leave for each pay period.
- Employees approve their completed online timecard.
- Supervisors and/or time and leave administrators review and approve employee timecards.
- Payroll is run based on the approved employee timecards in Axess.
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 online timecard application in Axess. For assistance, refer to instructions for using the Kaba Time Clock.
Manual Process
Only a few departments use a paper form or rely on email for employees to report time and/or leave. Typically, paper forms or emails are submitted for approval and then entered into the online timecard application in Axess by each department’s time and leave administrator. Payroll is run based on the approved timecards in Axess Timecard.
For more information about using Axess Timecard as a time and leave administrator, see the Learning and How-to sections on the Axess Timecard System page.
When time and leave administrators and supervisors are absent, they can use delegation to allow additional users to act upon their behalf to approve other employee timecards using Axess Timecard. When responsibility is delegated, that person receives the same approval alerts that the original supervisor would normally receive and has the same access to approve and reject.
