Absence and Vacation |
Frequently asked questions
Can I make an attachment mandatory?
You can add a custom checkbox field for the team member to confirm they have attached a file to the absence record, and make that field required, but you cannot validate for the presence of an attachment when the absence record is first saved. If you use this approach, it is possible for the team member to select the checkbox and save the absence record without attaching a file.
What is the maximum size file limit for an absence attachment?
The maximum size file limit for an absence attachment is 4 MB.
Vacation carry over for team members is not displayed correctly in the HR Portal or WX at the start of a year, why is this?
In WX, Carry Over Balance displays the carry over available today, not what the carry over stands at the start of a year. You can create an HR Noticeboard to explain the balances so it is clear to WX users.
You can use the accrual log in WX to view the balances at different points during the year, so you can use it to view the carry over balance at the start of the year.
How can I change a team member's absence accrual pattern?
See the Sage People community article Creating an absence accrual.
How to handle absence accrual pattern change to match a change in Level?
In this scenario, you have absence accrual patterns with different entitlements, which correspond to Levels assigned to employees, such as Level 1 – 23 days, Level 2 – 25 days. You handle changes to Levels in employment change requests, but you also need to change the team member's absence accrual pattern assignment. You need to make the change manually for each team member, and you need to get the current accrual from the accrual log before you change the assignment. For more information, see community article Creating an absence accrual.
For level changing accruals, what is the best way to get current accruals from an accrual log?
See the Sage People community article Creating an absence accrual.
Why does Hide Absence Detail hide the absence reason for everyone except the manager?
Review the object and field level security for the profiles or permission sets for people who you want to have access to Reason field.
How to configure vacation accrual so it stops during unpaid Parental Leave and restarts in the month when the team member returns to work?
Use the Accrue During Paid Absence and Accrue During Unpaid Absence options in the absence accrual rule to control accrual during leave periods. If you select Pro Rata for Accrue During Unpaid Absence, the team member does not accrue vacation during unpaid leave, and accrues vacation at the usual rate when not on parental leave or other unpaid leave.
How to credit unused vacation time as carry over to a team member if it expires when the team member is on leave?
If the carry over for the unused vacation time is intended to expire, use the team member's own absence accrual rule. You may need an absence accrual record. For more information, see the community article Creating an absence accrual.
If the carry over is not intended to expire, add it to the team member's accrual with an absence adjustment, for more information
How do I do an absence adjustment to deduct from the accrual?
For more information and an example, see Applying adjustments to absence settings.
Can you set up automatic approval for absences?
Yes, you can create a Flow to automatically approve absences. Use the conditions in the Flow if you want to restrict it to specific people or specific absence reasons. For more information about Flows,
Is a time off request raised by a cross reporting manager for a team member automatically approved?
Yes.
Can you hide someone’s balance from the absence tile for specific users?
No, there is not a field set for the tile in WX, so it is not possible to hide fields from the tile for specific users. Tiles are no longer part of the redesigned WX services and processes.
Can carryover be changed from 3 to 2.5 months?
Carryover in the system is designed to be in whole months. As a workaround, you can set the carryover expiry to 3 months and then manually remove it at 2.5 months.
Are there any issues with having Hold Absence and Generate Accrual Balance both switched on during a transition period?
No, but consider how the batches are scheduled to run to avoid having too many jobs running at the same time.
How do I make an absence reason available to HR but not to team members in WX?
An absence reason in the WX requires an absence accrual rule as well as the picklist value in the Reason field of the Absence object.
To make a reason only available for HR:
- Do not create an absence accrual rule for the absence reason.
- Make sure the reason available only to HR appears in the Reason picklist and is assigned to the appropriate record type (Vacation or Absence).
Can absence day records be created for HR only absence reasons?
Typically, to make an absence reason only available for HR in the HR Manager portal, the reason does not have an absence accrual rule or seniorities. This does not prevent the creation of absence day records, but not having seniorities means the durations look incorrect.
Is the End Date still enforced if you select End Date Provisional?
Yes, if End Date Provisional is set to Yes, you have to enter an End Date but you can continue to edit it.
Does the Year End Balance field account for absences taken, or absences booked and taken?
The value in the Year End Balance field in the Accrual Balance object considers both booked and taken absences. Year End Balance is a projection which takes into account:
- Booked time off
- Taken time off, both Approved and Pending
- Past and future
The value of Year End TOIL is calculated in the same way.
Are duplicate absence day record created if the job to create them for existing absences is run multiple times?
No, the job looks for any existing absence record which do not already have related absence day records.
If an absence record with absence day records is amended, are the day records automatically changed accordingly?
Yes. You can edit the parent absence record, and the absence day records related to the absence record are automatically changed to match the parent record.
If you make a change to an absence day record, the change is not reflected in the parent absence record.
What is the list of reasons in the accrual log based on?
The list of absence reasons in the accrual log includes those absence accrual rules where the Show Accrual Log checkbox is selected.
How can I turn off accrual log completely?
In all absence accrual rules, ensure the Show Accrual Log checkbox is not checked.
How is the default rule determined?
The default absence accrual rules are determined in the following order:
-
A rule for vacation type absence marked as Default in the rule settings.
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A rule for vacation type absence not marked as Default in the rule settings.
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A rule for absence type absence marked as Default in the rule settings.
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A rule for absence type absence marked as Default in the rule settings.
Can I use the accrual log for absences as well as vacation?
Yes, but bear in mind the accrual log will be blank if the absence accrual rule has no accrual rate set up.
I have set up an accrual rule with a rate but the accrual log is blank?
Review the absence accrual rule to check the rule has a Reset Date and Month and a Base Date.
How can I report on absence balances?
See Vacation balance reporting with Payflow.
Can I automate the buying and selling of holiday in Sage People?
There is no easy way to automate this but the following are options you have available:
- You can set up an HCM Form for team members to request holiday buying and selling. You need HR to process the forms and take action on the requests manually, you cannot automate it.
- Use absence adjustments to add the bought holiday or remove the sold holiday from the team member's accruals. For more information, see
- For sold holiday, create a bonus record and give it a code "Holiday buyback".
How can I show rounded vacation balances in a WX report?
Create a formula field on the Absence Balances object to round the number appropriately. The Formula library contains examples of formulas for rounding.
When a team member is transferred to a new manager, do existing approval requests move too?
Yes, approval requests for time off, timesheets, and objectives move to the new manager.
Can I embed a link in an email template to take managers directly to the WX Actions page?
Yes, for more information see Email Templates | Create a link to the manager's Actions page in WX.
How can I create recurring absence requests in the HR Portal?
Your options are:
- Create the first record and then use the Clone button, adjusting the date each time.
- Use Sage People Data Loader to bulk create absence records.
How do I record short term appointments such as dentist or medical appointments?
Absence and Vacation is not intended to be used for short term appointments.
How do I capture working time periods such as shifts or working from home days?
Absence and Vacation is not intended to be for shifts or working from home days.
How can stop vacation from accruing when a carryover limit is reached?
Use the Maximum Accrual field in the absence accrual seniority. When the accrued amount reaches the value in the Maximum Accrual field, it is capped and cannot increase again until some of the accrued time off is used. Carry over is included in the maximum accrual calculation.
What should I be aware of about the accrual balance batch job?
Good to know about the Generate Accrual Balances batch job on the Time package configure page:
- If you accidentally select the Run Now button twice on the Time package configure page, 2 records for the day are generated. When the batch next runs, it deletes the duplicated records.
- The batch is running balances for all rules, not just accrued rules.
- If the batch fails with CPU timeout error, the "Your batch has completed successfully" email is still sent.
How to alert about the number of instances for a specific type of absence?
You can create an alert for Alert Maximum Occurrence in the absence accrual seniority, and an action event to trigger off alert emails to managers or the HR team (for more information see Action Events). The alert does not block a team member submitting the request, but it does display a message to them.
How to create a validation rule so employees can only book time off in full days?
Use the Calculated Length field in the validation rule. See an example in the validation rule library: Absence must be a full day.
How can I set up a typical US requirement of floating holiday?
Create a separate absence accrual rule for the floating holiday. If the entitlement is the same every year, add that as the amount accrued, if entitlements vary or the accrual cannot be accommodated with the standard pro rata functionality, use a data loader to add the entitlement annually.
How can I report on attachments such as self certifications and sick notes?
It is not currently possible to report on attachments. A potential workaround is to include a mandatory field that users complete to indicate they have added an attachment and then report on that field.
How to find out what the balances were at the end of the last absence year when already in a new year?
If the recommended end of year processes for absence (Sage People community article) have not been followed and you need to find out what the entitlement balances were at the end of the last absence year, see Vacation balance reporting with Payflow.