Concept: Entering Time Off in Absence and Time Tracking
You can configure time offs so that workers can enter them through Absence, Time Tracking, or both. On the
Create Time Off
task, the entry options are represented as:
- Enter through Time Off Only
- Enter through Time Tracking Only
- Enter through Time Tracking or Time Off
Absence and Time Tracking handle time off entry in different ways. Time offs entered in Absence follow the
Request Time Off
business process and time offs entered in Time Tracking follow the Enter Time
business process. Time offs that can be entered in both Absence and Time Tracking follow whichever business process was used to enter the time off.These are some considerations to take when deciding which entry option to apply to a time off:
Consideration | Entered through Time Off | Entered through Time Tracking |
|---|---|---|
Time off approvals | Reviewers approve time offs separately from time entries.
When you approve time entries, time offs aren't included in task totals for submitted time in My Tasks . | Reviewers approve time offs and time entries in the same event.
All hours are included in the task totals for submitted time in My Tasks . |
Viewing balances when approving | Approvers can see time off balances as of the current date. | Approvers can't see time off balances. |
Submitting time off across weeks | You can request a time off that spans multiple weeks in one request. | If a time off request spans multiple weeks or time periods, you must submit each week or time period separately. |
Submitting different time off types | You must submit a separate request for each time off type. | You can enter and submit multiple time off types within a single week or time period. |
Time Tracking calculations | If your tenant is configured for it, approving a time off request causes Time Tracking to recalculate time for any overlapping weeks.
If this recalculation causes any approved time blocks to update, you must re-submit them for approval. If your tenant doesn't automatically run time calculations upon time off approval, you must recalculate each worker's time in Time Tracking. | Calculations automatically trigger when you enter the time off on the time entry calendar. |
Entering In/Out times | You can't record In/Out times for time offs. | You can record In/Out times for time offs. |
Mass Entry | You can load time offs into Absence using the Enter Time Off web service. | You can't load time offs into Time Tracking using a web service. |
Attachments | You can configure the Request Time Off business process to allow or require workers to attach supporting documents to time off requests. You can control who has access to the documents using segment-based security groups. See:
| You can attach documents to individual time blocks. The Enter Time business process doesn't support attachments. |
Future-dated time off | Absence Management period schedules are typically built out at least a few years into the future to allow for balance forecasting. As long as a period schedule exists for a date in the future, you can request time off for that date.
You can use business process validations to restrict the submission (but not entry) of future-dated time off requests. | Time Tracking period schedules can be configured to open a week or period for time entry as of a specific date. This is typically not very far into the future so as to promote accurate time entry. You can enter time offs when a Time Tracking period is open.
If you enter and approve a future-dated time off and then you add or change time for that week or time period when it becomes current, you must resubmit and reapprove that week or time period. |
Retroactive time off | As long as a period schedule exists for a date in the past, you can request time off for that date.
You can also use business process validations to restrict the submission (but not entry) of past-dated time off requests. | Time Tracking period schedules can be configured to lock for payroll processing and also permanently close a week or period for time entry as of a specific date. You can't enter a time off when a Time Tracking period is locked or closed for time entry. |