Kronos Exempt Staff Monthly Leave Accruals - Northwestern University

Kronos Exempt Staff Monthly Leave Accruals 

Entering & Approving Your Leave Time 

All Exempt Staff must record their leave time on the “My Timecard” view within the Kronos Time System. Exempt staff must 

enter and approve leave on a monthly basis, by the 6 th of the following month. (For example, all September 2012 vacation, sick, 

and floating holiday time must be entered and approved by the employee by October 6, 2012.) 

Accessing Kronos 

Kronos can be accessed directly from a computer connected to the University wired or wireless network. To enter time from 

off-campus or University residential housing, users must install and log in via the VPN. 

Kronos requires Java version 1.6 update 13 or higher; if using the Firefox browser, 1.6 update 31 is required. If the correct 

version is not installed, you will be prompted to download the latest Java plugin. If you cannot install the plugin yourself, 

contact your department’s I.T. staff for assistance. 

PC Access: http://www.northwestern.edu/kronos/ 

MAC Access: https://www-kronos.itcs.northwestern.edu/wfc/applications/wtk/html/ess/logon.jsp 

Tips and Reminders 

� Exempt Staff need only enter approved leave time (Sick, Sick Family, Bereavement, Vacation, Jury Duty, and Personal 

Floating Holiday). Regular time and official University holidays should not be recorded. 

� Entering leave time does not constitute approval by a manager; employees must follow departmental guidelines for 

requesting time off. 

� It is recommended that leave time be entered on a rolling basis as it is taken. By the 6 th of each month, employees must 

have entered and approved their leave time for the entire previous month. 

Procedures PC Mac 

Navigating the “My Timecard” Page .......................................................................................... 2 ......................................... 6 

Recording Leave Time ................................................................................................................ 3 ......................................... 7 

Changing/Removing Previously Recorded Time ........................................................................ 3 ......................................... 7 

Reviewing Your Available Leave Balance ................................................................................... 4 ......................................... 8 

Approving Your Leave Time ....................................................................................................... 4 ......................................... 9 

Using the “My Calendar” Page to View Leave Taken ................................................................. 5 ....................................... 10 

Assistance 

For assistance, contact the Kronos Help Desk at mytime@northwestern.edu or 847-467-7606. 

Assistance is also available at weekly open labs on both the Chicago and Evanston campuses. For locations of the open labs, 

visit: http://www.northwestern.edu/hr/managers-administrators/fasis-administrator-tools/fasis-open-labs.html.

KRONOS EXEMPT STAFF LEAVE ACCRUALS 2 

Navigating the “My Timecard” Page (PC) 

PC PROCEDURES 

1. Log in to Kronos at: http://www.northwestern.edu/kronos/ 

2. If you are not immediately presented with your “Timecard” view upon login, click the “MY INFORMATION” tab 

at the top of the screen and choose “MY TIMECARD.” 

� The top of the page displays each week in the current month: 

� Use the scroll bar on the right side to view all weeks for the month. 

� Days outlined in RED are days on which no leave time has been entered; days outlined in BLUE indicate days on 

which you have recorded leave time. 

� You will notice that entered leave time is displayed in hours; this is simply the way Kronos records leave. Even 

though hours are shown, exempt leave is considered either a “whole day” or “half day”. 

� The bottom left of the screen shows how much leave time you have already entered in hours: 

� Note that the “Amount” displays in hours; this is a function of Kronos. To determine the number of days you have 

taken, divide the number by 7.5, 8.0, or the hours equivalent of a “day” for your schedule. 

� The bottom right displays the available leave time you have accrued but not yet used in days: 

� You can check your balance for any day of the year by simply clicking that day at the top of the screen. After clicking 

a specific date, this box will update with your available time as of the chosen date. 

� Even though the accruals may display in fractions of a day (as above), exempt employees are allowed to record only 

whole or half days of time off.


Recording Leave Time (PC) 

1. On the “MY TIMECARD” page, scroll to the week for which you are recording time. 

Important! If it is after the last day of the month, and you are entering leave for the previous month, be 

sure to choose “Previous Pay Period” from the Time Period drop-down menu at the top of the screen. 

2. At the far left column for that week, click the arrow 

under PAY CODE and choose the type of time you are 

recording. 

Note: If you are recording more than one type of 

leave time for this week, such as Vacation and PFH 

time, click the button to add a new line. You can 

then choose an additional Pay Code. 

3. Locate the day for which you are recording time, and click in the box below that day that corresponds to 

the Pay Code: 

4. A drop-down box will appear; choose either “FULL SCHED DAY” or “HALF SCHED DAY” as appropriate: 

Note: Exempt employees may record only whole or half days off. 

5. Repeat Steps 1-4 as necessary to record additional leave time. 

6. After recording all time, click the button in the top left corner of the timecard. Your entries are 

now saved, and your available leave has been updated at the bottom of the screen. 

Note: After saving, the calendar will update to display the “hours” equivalent of a full or half day of your 

schedule. This is due to the way Kronos records time off. 

Changing/Removing Previously Recorded Time (PC) 

You may change or remove previously recorded time and/or Pay Codes using the procedure above. To remove 

time for a specific day, simply click in the appropriate box (Step 4) and choose the blank option from the dropdown 

menu. 

You are allowed to change, delete, and add Pay Codes and leave time for a particular month only until that month 

is approved by your manager.


Reviewing Your Available Leave Balance (PC) 

1. Click below any date on the timecard to see your available Vacation and PFH balance as of that day: 

Note: If you wish to see your available balance as of today, skip this step. 

2. Your balance will update in the bottom right corner to display available leave as of the date you selected: 

Approving Your Leave (PC) 

Your leave time for each month must be entered and approved by the 6 th day of the following month. 

1. Review your recorded time for the entire fiscal year and ensure everything is correct. 

Important! If you are reviewing your leave and it is 

currently after the last day of the month, you must 

choose the “Previous Pay Period” option from the Time 

Period drop-down menu: 

2. From the top of the timesheet, choose “APPROVALS” and then click “APPROVE”: 

3. There is no need to click Save; you can confirm that your approval was processed by noting that the “SIGN- 

OFFS, REQUESTS & APPROVALS” tab appeared at the bottom of the timecard: 

Note: Once you have approved your leave time, you will not be able to make changes. If your manager has 

not yet signed-off on your leave, you may remove your approval by choosing “REMOVE APPROVAL” in Step 2; 

this will allow you to edit the time, after which you can re-approve. Once your manager has signed-off, you 

will not be able to remove your approval or make any changes.


Using the “My Calendar” Page to View Leave Taken (PC) 

In addition to the Timecard view, a “My Calendar” page is also available to graphically display the time you have 

recorded. 

1. At the top of your screen, click the “MY CALENDARS” tab, and choose “MY WORK & ABSENCE SUMMARY”: 

2. Notice the dates at the top. If necessary, change the “Time Period” drop down to show the previous or 

next Fiscal Year calendar. 

� The Month view displays the full year’s calendar. Dates for which you have recorded time off will be colored and will 

indicate the type of leave taken: 

3. To view more detail, choose “WEEK” for the View Width, and click : 

� The Week view provides a larger display which indicates whether a whole or half day was recorded: 

� Like on the Timecard page, time off is displayed in “hours” – which can be equated to a whole or half day, based on 

the employee’s typical work schedule. 

� This page is provided as an easy means to view recorded time off; entries cannot be made here. 

Questions or Problems? Contact the Kronos Help Desk at 847-467-7606 or mytime@northwestern.edu.


Navigating the “My Timecard” Page (Mac) 

MAC PROCEDURES 

1. Log in to Kronos using the Mac link: 

https://www-kronos.itcs.northwestern.edu/wfc/applications/wtk/html/ess/logon.jsp 

2. After logging in, you are presented with the Kronos main menu. Choose “My Timecard” in the My 

Information box: 

� The view displays each week in the current month: 

� Use the scroll bar on the right side to view all weeks for the month. 

� Days outlined in RED indicate that no leave time has been entered or removed on that day. This does not indicate an 

error and can be ignored. 

� You will notice that entered leave time is displayed in hours; this is simply the way Kronos records leave. Even 

though hours are shown, exempt leave is considered either a “whole day” (usually displayed as 7.5 or 8.0 hours) or 

“half day” (displayed as 3.7 or 4.0 hours).


Recording Leave Time (Mac) 

1. On the “MY TIMECARD” page, scroll to the week for which you are recording time. 

Important! If it is after the last day of the month, and you are entering leave for the previous month, be 

sure to choose “Previous Pay Period” from the Time Period drop-down menu at the top of the screen. 

2. At the far left column for that week, click the PAY CODE 

drop-down box and choose the type of time you are 

recording. 

Note: If you are recording more than one type of 

leave time for this week, such as Vacation and PFH 

time, click the button to add a new line. You can 

then choose an additional Pay Code. 

3. Locate the day for which you are recording time, and click in the box below that day that corresponds to 

the Pay Code: 

4. Using your keyboard, enter either “7.5” to indicate a whole day of leave or “3.75” to indicate a half day: 

Note: Even though Kronos allows you to enter any number in this box, exempt employees may record only 

whole or half days off. “7.5” and “3.75” indicate whole and half days for most employees; however, 

employees with different schedules or a regular 8 hour work day will enter their equivalent of a whole or 

half day in hours. 

5. Repeat Steps 1-4 as necessary to record additional leave time. 

6. After recording all time, click the button in the top left corner of the timecard; your entries are 

now saved. 

7. (Optional) Click the link in the top right corner to return to the Kronos main menu screen. 

Changing/Removing Previously Recorded Time (Mac) 

You may change or remove previously recorded time and/or Pay Codes using the procedure above. To remove 

time for a specific day, simply click in the appropriate box (Step 3), delete the entry and Save. 

You are allowed to change, delete, and add Pay Codes and leave time for the month until that month is signed off 

by your manager.


Reviewing Your Available Leave Balance (Mac) 

1. From the Kronos main screen, choose “MY REPORTS”: 

2. In the bottom half of the Reports screen, click and highlight “Accrual Balances and Projections”: 

3. A date box will appear; click the calendar icon and select the date you want to see your accrual balances as 

of: 

4. After selecting a date, click the button. 

5. Your available Vacation, Sick, and Personal Floating Holidays as of the selected date will be displayed as the 

“Period Ending Balance”; any time you already recorded prior to this date is automatically deducted from 

your balance: 

6. To view your balance as of a different date, click the button and repeat steps 2-5. To return to 

the main Kronos menu, click .


Approving Your Leave (Mac) 

Your leave time for each month must be entered and approved by the 6 th day of the following month. 

1. Review your recorded time for the entire fiscal year on the “MY TIMECARD” page and ensure everything is 

correct. 

Important! If you are reviewing your leave and it is 

currently after the last day of the month, you must 

choose the “Previous Pay Period” option from the Time 

Period drop-down menu: 

2. Click at the top left of the page: 

3. There is no need to click Save; the top of the page will confirm that your approval has been accepted: 

Note: Once you have approved your leave time, you will not be able to make changes. If your manager has 

not yet signed-off on your leave, you may remove your approval by choosing the “REMOVE APPROVAL” button 

in Step 2; this will allow you to edit the entries, after which you can re-approve. Once your manager has 

signed-off, you will not be able to remove your approval or make any changes.


Using the “My Calendar” Page to View Leave Taken (Mac) 

In addition to the Timecard view, a “My Calendar” page is also available to graphically display the time you have 

recorded. 

1. From the Kronos main screen, choose “MY WORK & ABSENCE SUMMARY”: 

2. Notice the dates at the top. If necessary, change the “Time Period” drop down to show the previous or 

next month’s calendar. 

� The Month view displays the full year’s calendar. Dates for which you have recorded time off will be colored and will 

indicate the type of leave taken: 

3. To view more detail, choose “WEEK” for the View Width, and click : 

� The Week view provides a larger display which indicates whether a whole or half day was recorded: 

� Like on the Timecard page, time off is displayed in “hours” – which can be equated to a whole or half day, based on 

the employee’s typical work schedule. 

� This page is provided as an easy means to view recorded time off; entries cannot be made here. 

Questions or Problems? Contact the Kronos Help Desk at 847-467-7606 or mytime@northwestern.edu.

Kronos Exempt Staff Monthly Leave Accruals - Northwestern University

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