Title: Absence Management: EndtoEnd Business Process Review April 2008

1
Absence ManagementEnd-to-End Business Process

2
Introduction
Absence Management

 Review the business process surrounding Absence

Management
 System has been live for 9 months, maturing
product and process, things are evolving
 Part of ongoing exchange with campus constituents
to refine best practices
 Beginning of ongoing training and support
activities which will include
 Targeted function presentations
 Hands-on practice labs
 Online reference materials

3
Objectives

 To understand the big picture and impact to

users
 To review and become familiar with the entire
Absence Management process
 To understand the various roles and
functionalities within the process

4
Agenda
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
  Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

5
Background
Absence Management

 Absence Management is the SOLAR HR module that

tracks all absence-related activities and
maintains the corresponding balances.

6
Background
Absence Management

 Past
 All Time and Labor and Leave Accounting
activities
 were entered in one combined module
 Present
 Oracle/PeopleSoft created Absence Management
 Per Chancellors directive, all campuses
implementing Absence Management within next year
 Future
 Northridge campus focus group engaged to provide
feedback and guide future improvements
 Within the next year there will be a new reality
Time and Labor and Absence Management will be
merged to one reporting screen
 New training and materials are evolving with your
input

7
BackgroundAbsence Management vs. Time and Labor
Absence Management
  Time and Labor
 Regular payable time (hourly intermittent,
Student employees)
 Overtime
 Shift differential

 Absence Management
 EARNED and TAKEN
 Vacation, Sick, etc.
 Compensatory Time
 Other time away from the office (not accrued)
 Jury Duty
 Military leave
 Maternity/Paternity
 Docked time
 etc.

8
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

8
9
Absence Management
Roles
  Self Reporter
 Reports time on their own behalf through Absence
Management
 Approver
 Approves online requests/entries made by Self
Reporters
 Monitors department activity through use of
reports
 Timekeeper
 Reports time on behalf of authorized departments
from approved Absence Request forms
 Uses Absence Reports on a regular basis to
 Ensure accuracy of reported absences
 Perform audits
 Works with Payroll to resolve absence-related
issues

10
Absence Management
Roles

 Terminology
 Human Resources/Employee synonymous with Self
Service
 Human Resources/Manager synonymous with Manager
Self Service
 Self Service refers to the actions or views an
individual employee can access on their own
behalf
 Manager Self Service refers to the actions or
views a Timekeeper/Approver can take on behalf of
another employee

11
Absence Management
Timelines

 University Payroll Calendar found online at

 http//www-admn.csun.edu/ohrs/payroll/paycal/payr
oll_calendar.doc

12
Absence Management
Timelines

 The University Payroll Calendar includes Absence

Management timelines with use of symbols
 ? Monthly Time Entry Deadline falls on or about
the 3rd of the month following the pay period.
 Monthly Approval Deadline falls on or about
the 5th of the month following the pay period.
 ? Monthly Posting of Leave Accruals falls on or
about the 8th of the month following the pay
period.
 Balances for the various categories of paid time
off are updated and posted online for the
PREVIOUS pay period.
 Balances are accessed through Absence Balance and
Department Absence Balance pages.

13
Absence Management
Timelines

 Absences can be entered and/or approved for

future periods
 Balances will not be reduced until the
appropriate pay period
 Waiting until deadlines to enter or approve
creates higher demand on system resources, which
in turn sometimes slows down the application
 Last minute activities sometimes result in rushed
entries and increased errors
 Hint weekly activity minimizes system
performance issues around deadlines, helps to
increase accuracy efficiency

14
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
  Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

15
Process Flow
Absence Management
Process Overview does NOT include all
absence-related activities (e.g. leaves of
absence, terminations, etc.)
16
Absence Management
Process Flow Quick Flow Self Reporter
Pay Group assigned
17
Absence Management
Process Flow Quick Flow Timekeeper
Pay Group assigned
18
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
  Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

19
Absence Management
Pay Groups Function drives accruals, absence
types

 Eligible employees are assigned to a group during

the hire process
 Groups reflect the variety of employment
conditions
 Salaried, non-salaried
 Exempt, non-exempt
 Bargaining, non-bargaining
 Multiple jobs could mean multiple pay groups
 Employee accrues per job
 Total bucket can accrue no more than 100

20
Absence Management
Pay Groups

 A Pay Group is the key that filters the

appropriate absence types to be seen by
individuals in the Absence Request page

This individual is non-exempt

This individual is exempt
21
Absence Management
Pay Groups
Employment groups ineligible for absences (no
Pay Group assigned because no leave is accrued)

 1800-Casual Workers
 7171-Notetakers
 Rehired Annuitants (all)

 Student Assistants (all)

 Non-Employees (0051)
 Immediate Pays (excluding Summer Faculty)
22
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

23
Absence Management
Schedules

 Employees are automatically associated with the

default standard schedule, Monday through
Friday, 8 hours per day
 Schedules can be viewed by Timekeepers and
Approvers through the portal link Assign Work
Schedules

24
Absence Management
Schedules

 Assign Work Schedule displays schedule

information
 Effective date
 Description
Employee Name
000000000
25
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

26
Absence Management
Absence Requests

 In system terms, an Absence Request is

 An entry for a future planned absence, OR
 An entry after the absence is taken within the
current pay period
 Request Absence is the entry page used to request
or report time taken by both Self Reporters or
Timekeepers

27
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process flow
  Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

28
Absence Management
Absence Requests Portal links

 Portal links are available to add to your

myNorthridge homepage for direct access to a
variety of pages in the SOLAR HR application

29
Absence Management
Absence Requests Portal links

 To personalize your page, on the myNorthridge

homepage or Staff tab, click on Personalize

30
Absence Management
Absence Requests Portal links

 Click in the boxes next to Human

Resources/Manager and Human Resources/Employee
 Remember to click Save

31
Absence Management
Absence Requests Portal links
  Pagelets will now appear on your myNorthridge
homepage (default at the bottom unless you have
arranged the pagelets), reflecting links
appropriate to your access

32
Absence Management
Absence Requests Portal links

 myNorthridge Home link or Staff tab link allows a

return to the portal home page without having to
exit and sign back in for each change of activity

33
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

34
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting

 Choose the link for desired action

35
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting

 Required information indicated by asterisks

includes
 Start Date
 Absence Name

Optional
Employee Name
36
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting

 View Monthly Schedule displays a calendar view

reflecting work schedule, planned absences and
holidays for a particular month (not pay period).

Employee Name 000000000

37
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting

 Absence Name will open other fields and display

information as appropriate
 Example opening vacation or other types that
have a balance, the corresponding balance will
display (as of the last accrual processing)
 Full days of use require the Partial Days
indicator be left at None (exceptions to be
discussed later in presentation)

38
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting

 End Date or Duration

 Enter an End Date (same date for one day) OR
 Enter Duration
 Click Calculate End Date or Duration and the
field not entered will populate, based on
schedule
39
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting

 Entering durations of hours that are not whole

days based on the individuals schedule will
result in a warning message

Absences that include partial days (non-exempt

employees only) should be reported separately
from the full days.
40
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting

 The activity for partial versus full days would

look like this

41
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting
Absence Requests

 A Self-reporter can enter comments that the

Approver will see to specify additional detail
about the absence

20th high school reunion

42
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting
Absence Requests

 Save for Later or Submit

 Save for Later can not be seen by Approver in the
approval page
 Submit puts the absence in queue to be approved
it can still be changed by visiting the Request
History page and clicking on edit button

43
Absence Management
Absence Requests Self Reporting

 New cancellation feature, available as of

4/3/2008
 SUBMITTED, PUSH BACK or DENIED status
 Self Reporter can cancel the entry and submit a
new request for the same or another date
 A Timekeeper cannot take action on behalf of the
Self-Reporter for this entry
 APPROVED status
 An Approver can cancel the entry, and the Self
Reporter OR Timekeeper can re-enter same or
another date
 a Timekeeper CAN cancel the entry, but the date
can only be re-used for a different absence type


 For maximum flexibility with regard to

Self-Reporting
 Self Reporter can cancel BEFORE approved
 Best if Approver cancels for Self Reporter
AFTER approved (still within current pay period)

44
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus
45
Absence Management
Absence Requests Timekeeping

 Differences between Timekeeping and

Self-Reporting
 Selection of employee from group
 Automatic approval
 Access to Absence Reports (also known as
Multi-Reports)

46
Absence Management
Absence Requests Timekeeping

 Select Group ID
 Select employee

47
Absence Management
Absence Requests Timekeeping

 Timekeepers enter in the same Request Absence

page as Self-Reporters
 Clicking results in approved entry

Employee Name
48
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days
  Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

49
Absence Management
Absence Requests Partial Days

 In general
 The Partial Days field is used to report time
that is less than an employees normal workday
for non-exempt employees
 Exempt employees are not to report partial day
usage
 There are EXCEPTIONS to this rule, with regard to
special absence types

50
Absence Management
Absence Requests Partial Days

 Special absence types requiring use of the

Partial Days indicator are
 Alternate Day Off Earned (ADO), expiring and
non-expiring
 Compensatory Time Off (CTO) Earned, Premium and
Straight Rate
 Holiday Compensatory Time Off Earned
 Holiday Credit Earned
 Dock TAKE

51
Absence Management
Absence Requests Partial Days

 For these special absence types, use of the

Partial Days indicator as All Days is
required even when reporting full days

  ADO Expiring Earn
 ADO Non Expiry Earnings
 CTO Premium Earn
 CTO Straight Earn

 Holiday CTO Earn

 Holiday Credit Earn
 Dock Take

 All entries for HOURLY employees require the

use of the Partial Days indicator to be set at
All Days.
 (Definition and rules of usage for all absence
types included in the Absence Management User
Guide)

52
Absence Management
Absence Requests Partial Days

 Options to use are None and All Days

 None is defaulted and left as is when time
reported is for full days of regular absence type
categories
 All Days is chosen when time reported is for
partial days OR
 the special absence types

53
Absence Management
Absence Requests Partial Days

 All Days Hours

 Example entry sick leave being expended for a
part-time employee with no schedule

Range of dates
All Days literally counts ALL days what will
happen is the system will count that number of
hours times however many days reflected in the
reported range, including weekends
54
Absence Management
Absence Requests Partial Days

 Example CTO EARN entry (earned on a non-workday)

 The Duration field should be left blank. The
Duration field will remain blank even after
clicking the Calculate end Date or Duration
button.

Saturday
55
Absence Management
Absence Requests Partial Days

 Example CTO EARN entry (beginning and ending on

non-workdays)
 If the Duration field is entered, the system
will populate the End Date with the employees
next scheduled workday upon clicking the
Calculate End Date or Duration or upon
submitting the absence.

Saturday
Monday
56
Absence Management
Absence Requests Partial Days

 Example CTO EARN entry (on a workday)

 The Duration field automatically populates
after clicking the Calculate End Date or
Duration button.

Monday
57
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
  Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

57
58
Absence Management
Absence Status

 The status of an absence request can be reviewed

on the Absence Request History page
 Portal pagelet link View My Absence Request Hist

Note Vacation take 4/25 - 4/28, 16 hours

calculated reflecting charges for Friday and
Monday according to employees schedule
Employee Name
59
Absence Management
Absence Status

 Absence Status types include

 Saved
 Submitted
 Approved
 Push Back
 Denied
 Cancelled

60
Absence Management
Absence Status
  An absence in a changeable status is indicated by
a yellow Edit button

Employee Name
61
Absence Management
Absence Status

 New cancellation feature, available as of

4/3/2008
 Self Reporter entered absences
 Self Reporter can cancel BEFORE approved
 Approver should cancel AFTER approved
 Timekeeper entered absences
 Timekeeper can cancel the entry and submit a new
absence for the same or another date


 Cancellation Feature Summary Chart available in

the Absence Management User Guide

62
Absence Management
Absence Status

 Absences with a yellow Edit button are able to

be changed or cancelled depending on scenario

63
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days
  Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

63
64
Absence Management
Approvals

 Click on portal link in Human Resources/Manager

pagelet

Approver page displays, showing all requests

awaiting approval
Approver Name
65
Absence Management
Approvals

 Three ways to approve

 To approve ALL employees in list, review summary
data on page and use Select All button
 To approve only SPECIFIC employees, click on the
box to the left of the employees names and click
Approve Selected
 Drill down to detail display for each individual
employee by clicking on employee name and choose
action on the detail screen

Name, Employee
000000000
66
Absence Management
Approvals

 Clicking on an employees name will display the

Request Details page
 Approver action can
 be taken on this page
Employee Name
67
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

67
68
Absence Management
Balances

 Absence types that accrue have ongoing balances

 These balances can be viewed from the link in
the portal pagelet.
 View My Absence Balances reflects activity as of
July 2007
 View My Absence Balance Hist reflects activity
PRIOR to July 2007

69
Absence Management
Balances

 Balances are shown on three different tabs

 Absence Balances for Vacation, Sick, Personal
Holiday
  Compensatory Time
 State Service

000000000
Employee Name
Employee Name
70
Absence Management
Balances

 The i in the blue circle indicates a link to

additional usage information

71
Absence Management
Balances

 On the details page, current month activities can

be viewed in the section labeled Absence
Activity Since Last Processed Date (last daily
processing or payroll adjustment)

72
Absence Management
Balances

 Timekeepers and Approvers have access to employee

leave balances within their department groups
 The search screen allows access to whole
departments by department ID, or by individual
employee by Employee ID number

73
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
  Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

73
74
Absence Management
Absence Reports

 Absence Reports are available to all Timekeepers

and Approvers to review and audit absence data
for their departments.
 Access is available
 through the Manager
 portal pagelet

75
Absence Management
Absence Reports

 Reports are available by criteria selection

A specific report is chosen from the blue

underlined report options below the search screen
76
Absence Management
Absence Reports Reported Absences

 Two tabs include Employee information, and

Absence information. Clicking on this
symbol will expand
 the display to show contents of both tabs.

00000000
Last Name, First
Last Name, First
00000000
Last Name, First
00000000
77
Absence Management
Absence Reports Reported Absences

 Use of the partial days indicator should be

matched with partial hours

78
Absence Management
Absence Reports Negative Balance

 The Negative Balance report helps identify

employees who may have reported against
insufficient leave balances
 Absence Management allows negative balances, even
through campus policy is not to allow borrowing
against future accruals

Employee Name
00000000

 RECOMMENDED Run the Negative Balance report

WEEKLY during the course of the pay period to
help capture any reported absences for which
there is not enough leave balance to cover the
activity

79
Absence Management
Absence Reports

 Other reports are available to help monitor and

keep track of department activity

 Report outputs can be downloaded to Excel by

clicking on the grid/red arrow icon on the
top banner
  Remember to turn off pop-up blocker, or hold
down the control key to allow the new window to
open

80
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process Flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

80
81
Absence Management
Alternate Schedules

 Absence Management has a schedule maintenance

feature
 Updating capability is not yet available to the
campus, but the ability to view schedules is
available through the Assign Work Schedules link
in the portal
 Alternate schedules must be reported via the
Action Request form for HR update

82
Absence Management
Alternate Schedules
  Action Request Form (available on the web at
http//www-admn.csun.edu/ohrs/compemp/forms/Action
RequestForm-2007.dot)
 In the section marked Miscellaneous, check
Change in Work Schedule and enter the effective
date
 Be sure to include details of the schedule, such
as which days of the week and how many hours on
each day to include

83
Absence Management
Alternate Schedules

 The schedule can be viewed through the Assign

Schedules portal link

84
Absence Management
Absence Management Processing Components

 Background
 Roles Timelines
 Process flow
 Pay Groups
 Schedules
 Absence Requests/Entries
 Portal links
 Self Reporting
 Timekeeping
 Partial Days

 Absence Status
 Approval
 Balances
 Absence Reports
 Alternate Schedules
 Excess Plus/Minus

84
85
Absence Management
Excess Plus/Minus
  Alternate schedules sometimes produce a different
number of working hours per month than the
standard schedule (plus or minus) and must be
tracked for non-exempt employees
 Example February 2008
 Regular schedule 176 hrs

 4/10 M-Th 170 hrs
 Deficit of 6 hours for this
 pay period

86
Absence Management
Excess Plus/Minus

 Absence Management calculates number of hours

over and under the standard schedule and keeps
track
 Absence Reports available to all Timekeepers and
Approvers
 Excess Plus/Minus Positive
 Hours that will need to be paid out monthly
 Excess Plus/Minus Negative
 Hours that will carry forward until plus hours
earned or
 calendar year-end reconciliation

87
Absence Management
Questions?

 The Absence Management User Guide and a copy of

this presentation will be available online at
 http//www-csun.edu/ohrs/solar