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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-04-17
Steps: Set Up Attendance Management

Steps: Set Up Attendance Management

Security: These domains in the Time Tracking functional area:
  • Reports: Time Tracking
  • Set Up: Time Attendance
You can define attendance alerts for your organization and use a points system to encourage attendance policy compliance. You can associate attendance events with points and give managers the ability to justify attendance infractions or override points when needed. Workday also displays attendance alerts on the
Edit and Approve Time
 report.
  1. Access the
    Create Time Attendance Status
     task.
  2. Create 1 or more attendance statuses.
    Example: You want Workday to alert you when a worker checks in or checks out more than 10 minutes before or after their scheduled time. You create these attendance statuses:
    • Early Check-In (>10 min.)
    • Late Check-In (>10 min.)
    • Early Check-Out (>10 min.)
    • Late Check-Out (>10 min.)
  3. Access the
    Create Time Attendance Point Configuration
     task.
    Enter a point value for each time attendance status. You can also enter a date in the
    Expires After (Days)
     field so that after a particular number of days, Workday removes the attendance points from the worker. Enter a value between 1 and 366.
  4. Access the
    Create Time Attendance Justification Reason
     task.
  5. Create reasons that managers can select to justify an attendance event. Example: Medical Appointment.
  6. Access the
    Create Time Attendance Rule Set
     task.
  7. As you complete the task, consider:
    Option Description
    Effective Date
    Enter an effective date. When testing, ensure that the attendance rule set is active on or after the date that you're testing.
    Order
    Workday runs the rules in order of priority. Workday only applies 1 attendance status per check-in or check-out event.
    Attendance Status
    Select an attendance status that you've created, or create a new one.
    Time Punch Type
    Workday automatically populates this field based on your selection in the
    Shift Event
     column.
    Minutes
    Enter the number of minutes before or after a shift event when Workday should apply this status to the time block.
    Relational Operator
    Select either
    Less Than
     or
    Greater Than
    .
    Shift Event
    The shift event from the worker's work schedule calendar or Workday Scheduling. When you don't want to track attendance for meals and breaks, select:
    • First In of the Schedule Shift
       to evaluate the first scheduled shift block of the day. Example: The morning work block before a meal.
    • Last Out of the Schedule Shift
       to evaluate the last scheduled shift block of the day. Example: The afternoon work block after a meal.
    Example: To create a rule that applies the status Late from Meal Break to workers who are more than 10 minutes late returning their 30-minute meals, enter these values:
    Attendance Status
    Late from Meal Break
    Minutes
    40
    Relational Operator
    greater than
    Shift Event
    After Meal Start
  8. (Optional) Set Up No-Shows.
  9. Access the
    Create Time Attendance Rule Eligibility
     task.
  10. Select a
    Rule Set
     and eligibility rules to apply the rule set to groups of workers.
    You can select groups of workers based on Time Tracking eligibility rules and increase performance by adding a country or job profile.
    Workday recommends that workers only be eligible for 1 time attendance rule set at a time. When workers are eligible for multiple time attendance rule sets at once, Workday only applies 1 rule set. Workday applies the oldest rule set first.
  11. To give managers the ability to modify time attendance data, configure these security domains in the Time Tracking functional area:
    Domain
    Task
    Description
    Worker Data: Justify Time Attendance Status
    Justify Time Attendance Status for Worker
    Explain a worker's attendance status and waive points.
    Worker Data: Mass Justify Time Attendance Status
    Mass Justify Time Attendance Status
    Justify attendance statuses and waive points for multiple workers over a date range. Example: Justify statuses when a worker is sick for a week.
    Maintain: Adjust Attendance Points for Workers
    Adjust Attendance Points for Workers
    Adjust time attendance points for workers.
This example illustrates how Workday evaluates time attendance when shifts contain meal breaks.
A worker is scheduled to work the 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM shift with a 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM meal break. To check time attendance, Workday splits the shift into these shifts:
Shift
Hours
Shift 1
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Shift 2
12:30 PM - 4:30 PM
The worker works these hours:
In
Out
8:00 AM
12:45 PM
1:15 PM
4:30 PM
Late Attendance Status Rule
Result
10 minutes >
Scheduled Shift Start
Late.
Workday compares the 1:15 PM check-in with the start time of shift 2.
10 minutes >
First In of the Schedule Shift
No attendance status.
Workday only compares the 8:00 AM check-in with the start time of the full shift.
You can access these reports to view time attendance data:
  • Time Attendance Entry Records for Workers
  • Time Attendance Points for Workers