Set Up an Officer Time-off Form System

When setting up sheets for officers, you have several options:

Print-outs — In this system, the officer would print out the sheet at the end of each month, and you would initial and date your approval by hand. You could check each successive month's printout against the one from the month before. You would sign the final (June) sheet. Advantages: Minimal set-up. Disadvantages: The need to keep a paper file of the sheets.
Folder on a shared drive — In this system, you place all officers' sheets in one shared folder on the Central Server, restricting access to each to the appropriate officer and authorized supervisors. Advantages: There is only one file for each officer. You only need to print out the sheet once a year to sign it. Disadvantages: Set-up can be complicated. You may want to discuss this option with your department´s IT specialists; you also can contact Bob Reiter in Human Resources, (212) 851-7059.

Using the Officer Time-Off Form

Step 1 — Fill in the following information:

The Officer Name.
Your Department.
The officer's Hire/Seniority Date: usually, the hire and seniority date are the same; if not, contact HR for guidance about which to use.
The officer's Vacation Days carry-over from the previous fiscal year: this shouldn't be more than 23 days (or, if the officer has been at Columbia 20 years or more, 28 days).
The officer's Personal Days carry-over from the previous fiscal year: this shouldn't be more than 3 days (or, 2 for the Medical Center).

Step 2 — Check the Summary area for accuracy. The sheet automatically fills in the following:

Carry-over vacation and personal days, which appear in the Jul square of the Starting Balance rows.
Vacation and personal days earned each month, which appear in the Plus Days Earned rows. It allots 2 vacation days per month (1 in June for officers with more than one year of employment) for officers with less than 20 years of employment; 2.33 vacation days per month for officers with 20 years or more of employment (the higher accrual begins with the new fiscal year following the anniversary date); and 3 personal days throughout the year (2 at the Medical Center). Make sure the personal days appear in the correct months.

Completing the Log

Step 1 — For dates that the officer is absent, have them enter the appropriate code as indicated on the sheet: e.g., ".5V" for half a vacation day, "SL" for a whole sick day. For each absence, the appropriate code can be entered or selected from a drop-down menu (click on the cell and the menu will appear). The sheet automatically totals the number of vacation, personal, and sick days at the bottom of each month's column.

Step 2 — When each month's log is complete, the officer should put their initials in that month's "Officer Initials" square.

Step 3 — You should put your initials in the Supervisor Initials square once you have reviewed and approved that month's log. Place the approval date (day and month) in the Date square.

Step 4 — Check the Summary area for accuracy. The sheet automatically places the days of absence in the Minus Days Used rows and calculates the result in the New Balance rows. The result in each month's New Balance square is carried over to the following month's Starting Balance square, with the following exceptions:

Officers do not accrue vacation or personal days during a leave of absence, paid or unpaid, if the leave extends over one or more whole months. If an officer is on leave, indicate it in the On Leave? rows provided:

Vacation Days: If a cell in the On Leave? line is filled in with a "Y" (Yes), the Plus Days Earned cell for that month changes to "0." If a leave overlaps two calendar months (e.g., from mid-January to mid-February), place the “Y" in the cell for the second month (for this example, February).
Personal Days: A loss of the accrual of one day occurs only if the officer is on leave for four or more whole months (or six months, if they work at the Medical Center). If you place "Y's" in the cells of four (or six) consecutive months in the On Leave? row, the accrual that appears in one of those month's Plus Days Earned cell changes to "0."

If an officer doesn't use a personal day within a year, they lose it. This means that at the end of each month, the personal day balance will never exceed 3 days (or, 2 days for the Medical Center).
If the officer has more than 23 (or 28) vacation days in the June New Balance square, only 23 (or 28) days will appear in the Carry square, which indicates the number of vacation days carried over into the next fiscal year.