Quarterly Workday Insights – February 2026

2026 Summer Temp and Student Worker Dates and Reminders

As we prepare for summer, here are the key dates and reminders for hiring and managing student workers and summer temps.

If a student worker stays on to work over the summer, they should be moved into a summer temp job profile. During the school year, students are exempt from paying FICA taxes while taking classes, but since most are not enrolled in classes over the summer, we must move them into summer temp job profiles to remove their FICA exemption.

Key Dates

• March 1: Earliest effective posting date for summer temp job requisitions
• May 1:  Earliest effective hire/start date for Summer Temps*
• June 1-5: All student workers should be transferred to summer temp job profiles or terminated**
• August 17: Earliest effective hire/start date for Fall 2026 student workers
• August 24: Deadline to terminate or transition summer temp employees before fall classes begin.

*International Students

• According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations, international students may work 40 hours per week during any school-sponsored vacation (according to the academic calendar).
• When moved to a summer temp job profile, they may work 40 hours per week on or after May 18, 2026, but must not exceed 18 hours before that date.
• For more information, please visit our International Student Employment webpage.

**No Action Required

• Students enrolled in and regularly attending summer classes and working fewer than 29 hours on a regular weekly basis.
• Students who are not working over the summer but will return to their student worker job in the fall.

Reminders

• Administrative graduate assistants (AGAs) are classified as student workers and will also need to be moved to summer temp job profiles. Please note that graduate student assistants (GSAs) are contracted and therefore do not need to be moved into summer temp jobs unless their contract has ended and the department is keeping them on over the summer.
• Although summer temporary employees have an employment end date, you will still need to terminate or transfer the worker from the temporary position by Aug. 24, 2026 (first day of fall classes).
• All non-exempt (hourly) employees working more than 40 hours in a single workweek (all jobs combined) will receive overtime pay at a time-and-a-half rate for all hours over 40. Please contact your budget analyst for any potential budgetary implications or concerns.

Important Summer Temp Details in Workday:

• Time Type: “Part-time”
• Scheduled and Default Weekly Hours: up to 40
• Employee Type: “Summer Temporary (Fixed Term) (Seasonal)”
• Compensation grade: “Summer Temp”
• End Employment Date: on or before Aug. 24, 2026
• You are not required to change the student’s position number if they are staying in the same supervisory organization. Using the Change Job > Lateral Move > Change in Responsibility reason in Workday, you may change the student’s job profile to summer temp without changing the position number.

For more information on processing this change in Workday, please see the Summer Temp Job Change knowledge article and the Summer Temp Job Changes instructional video.

If you have additional questions or need HR support, please create a Workday Help Case, and we will follow up with you to assist.

Prepare for Anticipated July 1^st Staffing Changes

As we approach the end of Fiscal Year 2026 and prepare for Fiscal Year 2027, now is the time to plan ahead for workforce needs — especially for any changes you anticipate taking effect on July 1, 2026.

As part of workforce planning, conduct a targeted review of job descriptions for roles with anticipated changes to ensure they accurately reflect responsibilities. Proactive planning helps avoid delays during the months of June and July when ticket volume will be highest.

Key Actions to Take Now

• Utilize the HR Job Profile ServiceNow ticket to submit all new or updated job descriptions in the official format for review and approval.
• If your upcoming budget includes new positions or modifications to current roles, attach the job description in the official format to your ServiceNow ticket.

Helpful Resources

To assist with these processes, we recommend reviewing the following Workday Knowledge articles:

• Writing Effective Job Descriptions
• Job Profiles

The official job description template is available in these articles or here on the HR website.

Why Act Now?

Historically, June and July are our busiest months, which means processing times may be longer. Submitting requests early ensures timely review and approval for your staffing needs.

If you have questions or need HR support, please create a Workday Help Case, and a member of the HR Classification & Compensation team will follow up directly.

Thank you for planning ahead and helping us maintain accurate job descriptions as we prepare for the upcoming fiscal year.

Student Worker Background Check Updates

Beginning in mid-March, all new student hires will move through the full background check stage in the job application process. Currently, student hires only complete a sex offender check during the hire process. With the implementation of our new background check vendor, HireRight, students will now receive a full background check through the application workflow to ensure consistency across all Liberty employees.

After an offer is completed, HR Analysts will advance student candidates to the background check stage, where they must complete the process before being moved to ready for hire.

Training guides in Workday and Canvas will be updated to reflect these changes, and an announcement will be posted on the Workday home page once the update is live.

If you have any questions, please contact recruiting@liberty.edu.

User Interface Change for Compensation Managers

Beginning March 2, 2026, users will see an updated layout for the “Request Compensation Change” business process. The refreshed experience improves how users edit compensation packages, grades, and plans/amounts, making updates more intuitive and efficient.

Please note: This update is visual and functional only — the business process itself, including the approval workflow and routing, will remain unchanged.

To learn more about what’s changing and how to navigate the new layout, review the tutorial video and knowledge article available in Workday.

Hire Date Policy*

The intent of this policy is to provide guidance and structure around hire dates for external candidates in each part of the application and hiring process.

Offer (via job application)

When submitting the offer process, hire dates should be a minimum of 2 weeks before the current date. This is to allow time for the candidate to complete the background check process (BGC). There will be an opportunity to adjust this date at the hire initiation if the BGC is completed quickly or takes longer than expected. This date is also what’s included on the offer letter to the candidate.

Hire (completed after job application)

For all hiring processes, the start date should be a minimum of 3 calendar days from the current date to allow for remaining hiring approvals and initial I-9 completion. Hires cannot be submitted less than 3 days out, and the employee should not begin working until this process and the first part of the I-9 are completed.

For student hires, HR analysts have the opportunity to adjust the hire date at initiation.

For non-student hires, departments can work with their recruiter at this step if they would like the hire date adjusted. If the process was completed sooner than anticipated and the department would like the date to be moved up, this will be the last opportunity to do so. After this stage, the hire date is “locked in” and cannot be moved up. If the date needs to be extended due to a change in employee circumstances or for I-9 compliance, this will be updated internally.

Consider extending this timeline for all planned university closures, such as holidays.

*This policy does excludes contracted workers, as their situations offer less flexibility with hire dates.

This information is available any time in the Hire Date Policy knowledge article.

Understanding Lateral Moves

A lateral move occurs when an employee transitions to a different role within their current supervisory organization without an increase in compensation. Typically, their pay may remain the same, or it may occasionally decrease, depending on the situation.

There are two types of lateral moves:

1. Move to Another Position

• • The employee switches to a different position number within the same supervisory organization or changes their job profile.
    • Examples:
      • A full-time admissions counselor is moving to a part-time admissions counselor position within the same supervisory organization.
      • A videographer transitions to a photographer role within the same supervisory organization, without an increase in compensation.

2. Change in Responsibility

• • The employee’s responsibilities shift within their current role, but they stay in the same supervisory organization and do not receive a pay increase.
    • Examples:
      • A full-time admissions counselor continues in the same position but shifts from supporting undergraduate students to graduate students.
      • A videographer who previously captured basketball game footage now focuses on baseball games.

Time-off Insights

Time Off Balance

We understand that Workday time-off balances can sometimes be confusing, so here’s a breakdown of how vacation time accrues and appears in the system.

• Monthly Accrual
  Employees accrue 11 hours of vacation time each month, and this accrual happens on the last day of the month.*
• When Accrual Becomes Available
  Vacation accrual becomes available to use until the first day of the following month (e.g., your 11 hours accrued as of March 31, 2026, will be available starting April 1, 2026).
• Planning Time Off at the End of the Month
  If you plan to take time off on the last day of the month, check your balance as of the day before (e.g., March 30, April 29, etc.) to confirm how many hours you’re eligible to use, as the 11 accrued hours will show on your balance as of the last day of the month, but they are not available for use until the first of the following month.

*Accrual schedule: 11 hours per month January–October, 10 hours in November, and 0 hours in December, totaling 120 hours annually. No vacation time accrues in December, so you can use your remaining balance before year-end if you choose.

Years of Service

Employees reaching their 5th anniversary in 2026 received 40 hours of vacation on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, bringing their total vacation time to 160 hours. Employees reaching their 10th anniversary in 2026 received 80 hours of vacation on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, bringing their total vacation time to 200 hours.

Comments in Workday

Be sure not to enter any sensitive information (such as compensation details) when approving, sending back, or denying a business process for your employee. Comments can be seen by anyone who has access to the business process in Workday. If you need to communicate sensitive information with your team or HR, we recommend emailing this information to the necessary parties. Compensation details can be directed to HRClassification@liberty.edu.

2025 Year in Review

You all play a role in keeping Workday running smoothly — and 2025 was a busy year across many business processes. The numbers below offer a snapshot of the collective effort and impact behind the scenes.

By the Numbers

Applications received: 146,237

Hires processed: 3,272

• Adjunct: 466
• Fixed-Term: 53
• Graduate Student Assistant: 103
• Staff: 1,072
• Student: 1,354
• Summer Temp: 224

Job changes processed: 3,715

Number of holidays: 14

• New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving (2), and Christmas (6)

2025 Highlights

• Launched Workday Help, improving access to support and guidance
• Introduced Workday knowledge articles
• Student hiring workshop to support departments and hiring managers
• Rolled out the “Work-Study Student Eligibility report
• Updated vacation and holiday time rounding to improve accuracy and consistency