Processing Leave Transactions

Before the individual goes on leave, the leave must be approved by the appropriate office (except medical emergencies) AND a PAF must be submitted for the leave. For faculty, consult the Faculty Handbook and for administrative employees, consult the University Policies Site.

How to Process a Leave

  1. Generate an Active PAF for the employee from the employee Personal Information page in the Manager Self-Service section of the People @ Columbia system. For information on how to print PAFs, access the Manager Self Service training guide
     
  2. Enter the Action / Reason codes and effective date at the top of the PAF (see the chart below)
     
  3. In the appropriate sections of the PAF, draw/type a single line through information that needs to be changed and print/type the new information in the updated fields. Verify that the form is complete, sign it, and submit it through the Paper Transactions module in PAC for approval, along with the required supporting documentation for the transaction

Additional information is available on this website regarding specific leave types.  You can also contact the Provost Office, Office of Faculty Affairs or your Human Resources Client Manager for additional information.

Reference the "Completing a Personnel Action Form (PAF)" job aid for information on field entry.

If a person has more than one position, submit separate PAFs for each position on which the leave has an impact, even if the position is zero salary.

In the case where the DA is informed prior to or near the date of leave and the leave return date is not absolute, we encourage the use of multiple PAFs and request that you not be especially predictive. Use one when you are notified of the leave and then submit another one when you are sure of the return date or the begin date of the next leave. For an FMLA Leave, be sure to use separate PAFs to indicate which portion of the leave falls under FMLA and which portion does not.

Leaves should be processed on multiple PAFs to ensure the integrity of the employee’s record. Timeliness is also important to ensure that employees entitled to NY State Disability get paid on time and, where appropriate, that department accounts get reimbursed on time.

In the case where the DA is informed after the employee has taken and returned from leave, use one PAF for both leaves by entering the Action/Reason codes and dates at the top of the PAF.

If an employee goes out on an unpaid leave of absence and the department cannot complete the leave request process in advance, departments should use the Suspension Hotline. The Suspension Hotline will stop the employee’s paycheck from being generated and therefore prevent the employee from being paid while out on an unpaid leave of absence. The employee’s benefits are not impacted when an administrator uses the Suspension Hotline

To use the Suspension Hotline, contact the HR Service Center to suspend future payroll payments to the employee. When calling the HR Service Center, departments should know the effective date of the unpaid leave of absence or termination date. Once the department receives the required paperwork and approvals, a PAF should be submitted with the correct leave of absence or termination action/reason code

The Suspension Hotline should only be used in instances when departments are not able to submit the required paperwork in a timely manner due to unforeseeable circumstances and need to prevent the employee from receiving a paycheck and thus being overpaid. When advanced notice is provided, complete paperwork should be submitted in advance of the termination or leave.

Learn how to Recover an Overpayment on the Finance website for information on how to process an overpayment.

Entering Action/Reason Codes

Below are the applicable action/reason codes for academic/administrative leave transactions. Enter these on the top of the PAF form to indicate the purpose for the submission.

See a complete listing of all Action/Reason codes.

Codes