The best way to ensure you maximize your vacation benefit is to make a plan early in the calendar year on when you will take time away from work. Managers are encouraged to ask their employees early in the year about vacation plans to get a general idea of workforce availability.Requesting and approving vacation hours is now easier with BlueSky. In the past, each area at DePaul had its own process for requesting and tracking vacation time since the PeopleSoft system did not have a function to do so. But now with BlueSky, there is a streamlined way to request and approve vacation hours for the whole year.
To plan and request time off, go to mybluesky.depaul.edu. On your BlueSky homepage, click on the Time and Absences tile, and choose one of the following options:
- Add Absence – Request an absence and submit for approval
- Absence Balance – Review current plan balances and absences taken or requested
- Existing Absences – View, change or withdraw existing absence requests
Once an employee submits a request for an absence, their manager will receive a notice to approve the request.
Although vacation time at DePaul is accrued throughout the year, longer vacations can be taken starting in the first quarter of the year when coupled with a week of carryover from the previous year, a week or more of accrued vacation earned, two floating holidays, or an additional “advanced or borrowed" week. The university's vacation policy allows staff employees to borrow up to five days against their future vacation earnings.
By planning ahead and requesting time off for throughout the year, you can ensure that you do not lose any of your vacation hours, since any vacation time in excess of five days not used by Dec. 31 is forfeited. If your plans change, you can easily change or withdraw absence requests within BlueSky.
Visit the Office of Human Resources online to learn more about DePaul's vacation and holiday benefits.