2101 - Leave Accounting

Category

Leave

Audience List

• Employee Relations Officers
• Personnel Officers
• Personnel Transactions Supervisors

Synopsis

This policy

• Provides direction regarding departments’ responsibility to maintain accurate and timely leave accounting records.
• Directs departments to create a monthly internal audit process to verify all leave input is keyed accurately and timely.
• Provides timeframes in which audits for errors and corrections are to be completed each month.
• Identifies elements departments should use in their audit process.
• Reminds departments that supervisors/managers have a responsibility to review employee attendance records.

Introduction

In accordance with California Code of Regulations, title 2, section 599.665, departments are responsible for maintaining accurate and timely leave accounting records for their employees. Departments shall create an audit process to review and correct leave input errors on a monthly basis. This includes all leave types accrued/earned or used by all employees on a monthly basis, regardless of whether leave records are system generated or manually keyed. Departments who utilize an electronic timekeeping system are required to audit for leave input errors if there is no built-in mechanism in place. The California Department of Human Resources, Personnel Services Branch, maintains responsibility for the program and provides direction to personnel offices.

Statement

In order for leave accounting reports to reflect accurate data, the review of the leave accounting records and corrections, if necessary, are to be completed by the pay period following the pay period in which the leave was keyed into the leave accounting system. This means corrections are to be made prior to the next monthly leave activity report being produced.

For example: the February timesheet is keyed into the leave accounting system in the beginning of March. The review and correction of leave errors must be completed by the following month prior to the leave activity report being produced which would be in the middle of April.

Departments audit processes shall include the following elements:

• Compare what has been recorded in the leave accounting system as accrued/earned or used by each employee to their attendance record for the pay period.
  • Departments using the California Leave Accounting System (CLAS) shall utilize the following reports:
    1. Leave Activity Balance (LAB) report.
    2. Other reports available on View Direct including, but not limited to: Annual Leave and Sick Leave, High CTO, Holiday Credit, or Excess Hours, and State Service Begin Balance.
    3. Departments using the Management Information Retrieval System (MIRS) in conjunction with CLAS may develop customized reports.
  • Departments using a leave accounting system other than CLAS may utilize the following reports:
    1. An equivalent report to the LAB report which at a minimum identifies, by employee and leave type, the hours earned and used.
    2. Other equivalent reports to those available on View Direct, for example Annual Leave and Sick Leave, High CTO, Holiday Credit, or Excess Hours, and State Service Begin Balance.
  • For report details, departments may contact the State Controller's Office CLAS unit at (916) 327-0756.
• Identify and record all errors found during the comparison pay period using a Leave Activity and Correction Certification form (Certification). A link to the Certification is in the Forms section below.
• Certify that all leave records for the unit/pay period identified on the certification form have been reviewed.
• If necessary, obtain corrected atendance records and correct errors in the leave accounting system.
• Certify that all leave errors identified on the certification form have been corrected.
• Certify all errors identified in the Annual Leave and Sick Leave Report (or similar) are corrected.
• File and maintain the certification form with the STD. 672 form for each unit and retain based on the STD. 672 form retention schedule.

Important Reminders to Departments

All employees must submit attendance records each pay period, regardless if leave was used.

Supervisors and managers are responsible for reviewing each employee’s attendance record/time sheet for completeness and accuracy of any leave accrued/earned or used, prior to signing. Errors or missing information must be corrected prior to submitting to the department’s personnel office.

If an employee’s attendance record is determined to have errors or it is determined that the employee has insufficient balances for a leave type used, the attendance record must be amended. Attendance records shall be corrected by the pay period following the pay period in which the error occurred.

Additionally, for each scenario below, departments shall verify the accuracy of the employee’s leave records:

• New employee waiting period dates for leaves such as vacation or personal holiday.
• Upon separation, confirm all applicable leave balances have been cleared from the accounting leave system for each employee.
• When an employee is transferring to another department, confirm attendance records are accurate in the leave accounting system prior to completing a STD. 612 form.
• For all transferring employees, confirm the correct CLAS codes (if using CLAS) and accurate balances are input into the leave accounting system using information on the STD. 612 form received from the former department.

As a reminder, accurate and timely attendance reporting is required of all departments and is subject to audit.

Application

The State Controller’s Office (SCO), CLAS Workbook provides information on CLAS reports and instructions on correcting leave benefit errors.

Authorities

• California Code of Regulations, title 2, section 599.665

Resources

Forms

• CalHR 139: Leave Activity and Correction Certification

PML

• PML 2015-007: PML 2015-007 - 2/26/2015 - Accurate and Timely Leave Accounting

Web Pages

• SCO CLAS References: SCO CLAS References
• SCO CLAS Workbook: SCO CLAS Workbook

Authorized By

Melissa Russell
Chief, Personnel Management Division

Contact Person

Personnel Services Branch
Personnel Program Consultant , Personnel Services Branch
Phone: 916-909-3702
Fax: 916-327-1886
Email: psb@calhr.ca.gov

Superseded Policies

History

View History