UNC-CH and Genetics Department Info Desk

How to enter Leave in TIM: 

1. Log into Connect Carolina

2. Select the TIM tile on the Self Service page

3. Select Open My Timecard on the My Timecard tile

4. Select the time period you want to enter leave using the Select timeframe drop down in the top right indicated by the calendar icon. 

5. Enter your leave

   • Find the day you want to enter time. 

     • You can only enter leave ~1 month ahead of time in TIM. 

   • Under Paycode use the dropdown to select the type of leave you are taking. 

     • While others are listed, the options EHRA & SHRA employees will use are: Vacation, Sick, Personal Observance Leave, Community Service Leave Opt A

     • SHRA employees may also use: Comp Time Taken

   • Under Amount enter the time taken in hours

   • Note when using more than one code in a single day:

     • If you need to, for an example, use both sick and vacation leave in a single day, use the + icon to duplicate the row with the date you used both types of leave. Then enter the vacation leave in one row and the sick leave in the second row, both showing the same date. 

6. Press Save in the top right corner and close your timecard

Additional Information:

• TIM Manual can be found here.

• More information can be found here: https://research.unc.edu/vcr-ubc-hr/tim/ 

• You are only required to clock in and clock out each day on the timesheet if you are hourly staff.  

• Approving the timecard is not required. An employee may approve their timecard at the end of the month if they want, but it is not necessary. When a timecard is approved, it is locked and the only way to make a correction is to contact Cara. The admin team reviews and approves (i.e. locks timecards) on their end. Ultimately, don't worry about approving anything, just make sure your time is entered in a timely manner. 

• Supervisors do not approve leave through TIMS. 

  • There is no need to use the Time-off request feature in TIM. If you want to take time off, please contact your supervisor in TISLab to get approval. See TISLab Onboarding --> Communication: Out of Office for more information. Once approved, you can enter your time off in your timecard. 

• Checking your accruals: to check how much time you have accrued, the best place to look is by opening your timecard and selecting Accruals at the bottom of the page. You can change the timeframe  to a later date so you can see what accruals you have in the future. This location lists accruals for all leave types. 

• Personal Observance Day and Community Service Option A:

  • 8 hrs / year (personal observance day)

  • 24 hrs / year (community service option A)

  • Both are flexible for their usage (these are not vacation, but can be used for other event's or needs) and do not require documentation. 

  • This time will automatically be added to your TIM system on January 1st of each year. In your first year at UNC, these time off accruals will need to be entered manually by the Genetics TIM liaison (currently Cara, Sam, or Lisa).  

    • If you don't see these leave options in your TIM system after 2 months of working at UNC, please contact Cara to request they be added. Alternatively, if you want to use this time and it hasn't been documented in the system you can simply email Cara that you'd like to use the time and she can help you get it entered in TIM.

  • Learn more about Alternate Holiday Policy, Personal Observance leave, and Community Service leave here.

• In December you will likely see "University Closed Day" on the campus holiday schedule. These are days the University is closed and you can either (1) submit leave to take the day off or (2) work that day. Oftentimes, people will use their Personal Observance Day or other leave type to take this day off. 

• As long as your leave balances are not negative at the end of the calendar year, it is fine to go into deficit. This must be approved by your supervisor and entered into TIM with Cara Marlow's support.

Generally, direct any TIM questions or support needs to Cara Marlow. 

• Your supervisor and the proper UNC channels (see below) must approve all Business related travel (conferences, meetings, etc) BEFORE you purchase anything for the travel. 

• ALL travel must be pre-approved through Concur, which can be found in your ConnectCarolina portal https://connectcarolina.unc.edu/ 

• Once approved, travel is booked through Concur.

• Refer to the https://finance.unc.edu/services/travel/ site for helpful documents and checklists for travel preparation. 

• Find step-by-step guides on how to use Concur here: https://finance.unc.edu/services/travel/concur/ 

Important things to keep in mind:

• • Airfare should be booked online via Concur Travel, or directly through the University’s Authorized Travel Agency, World Travel, Inc. to take advantage of University discounts with preferred travel partners. Airfare MUST be booked through Concur or World Travel. 

    • For travel reimbursement, the airline ticket purchased via Concur/World Travel must be included in the Expense report after the trip even if one did not buy it with their own money. This is needed for the university to reconcile all expenses related to the trip.

    • If the least costly option to fly is >$100 than the chosen flight, then you must provide justification for why the more expensive flight is chosen. Oftentimes you may pick a more expensive flight if the more expensive flight has less number of legs to get to the destination or the arrival/departure time is at a silly hour of the day. If the cost to have a more convenient flight is over $300 the least costly option, the traveler should consider finding something less convenient to get closer to the least costly option. 

    • If personal days are taken before or after a business trip, then a comparison flight (Google Flights is fine, or Concur) with the closest approximation of departure/arrival and airline for the flight the traveler would have taken without the personal days, must be included in the pre-approval attachments. If the comparison flight is cheaper, the traveler will be subject to the overage personally.

  • University travelers are encouraged to use the state contract with EHI Direct (Enterprise) for their rental vehicle needs. Reservations may be made online via Concur Travel or directly with the University’s Authorized Travel Agency, World Travel, Inc. 

    • T&E Card Accountholders should provide their card for payment. 

    • Non-T&E Card Accountholders will book on their personal credit cards and submit for reimbursement. 

  • Other expenses for a trip (hotel, food, transportation, etc) are commonly pre-paid out of pocket by the employee and then submitted for reimbursement through Concur when the trip is complete, or paid for by using a UNC-issued T&E Card. 

    • To understand what can be charged to a T&E card vs pcard, see this document. 

    • UNC prefers we book hotels through Concur/World Travel. If you don't book your hotel through Concur/World Travel, which is common, you must justify why you booked outside of the system. 

      • Common reasons you may not pay for a hotel with Concur/World Travel is that you have a promo code from a meeting organizer or the room is paid for by meeting organizers.

  • If you need assistance with anything related to travel, including personal financial limitations related to pre-paying for travel, please contact your TISLab supervisor for options. 

  • We highly recommend going into your Concur profile settings and adding Mike Harriss as an "expense delegate" (search "Thomas Harriss" and check all the boxes). 

Travel Credit Card: 

• • If you travel more than once per year, you may apply for a Travel Credit Card. Confirm with your supervisor before submitting the application. 

  • Directions to apply for a Travel Credit Card:

    • Visit here: https://finance.unc.edu/services/card-services/travel-expense-card/ 

    • Complete Training: Training must be completed before a T&E card can be issued. The Training link is under Handbook and Training at the above link.  

    • Download a copy of the application. Complete the top portion of the application and sign the agreement. Email the completed agreement, along with a statement that you completed the T&E Card Training (linked above) to Pam Rosenberg Pamela_Rosenberg@med.unc.edu. Cc your supervisor.   

      • Make sure to use the campus zip code for your application - 27599. Do not use the Chapel Hill zip code as you will run into issues. 

NOTE: Travel to UNC campus is, unfortunately, not an allowable refundable expense under any circumstances.

Need more help? 

• • Department contact for travel questions: Mike Harriss at tharriss@email.unc.edu 

  • TISLab contact for travel questions: Brandon White at branwhit@email.unc.edu or ping him on Slack.