Workforce Management: Time Tracking, Scheduling, and Absence
Time tracking and time entry
Workforce Management centers on time tracking - capturing hours worked via time entry, web clock, or badge. Time entry templates define which time entry codes (earnings codes) a worker can select and the validation rules applied. Time calculation applies rules for overtime, premiums, rounding, and meal/rest breaks. A frequent trap: time entry codes (what the worker selects) are not the same as earnings codes (what payroll pays); the mapping between them is configuration.
Scheduling
Schedules define planned shifts. Schedule templates and shift patterns generate schedules, and schedule calendars drive the scheduling period. Workers can request shift swaps and time off through requests, which route for approval. Schedule compliance rules flag issues such as insufficient rest between shifts or exceeding weekly limits.
Absence and time off
Absence is managed through absence plans and time off plans. Time off plans accrue balances based on accrual rules (e.g., monthly accrual, tenure-based tiers). Absence plans handle leave types (e.g., medical, FMLA-like) with eligibility and duration rules. Understand the accrual vs. balance distinction: accrual is the rate/amount earned per period; balance is the running total after usage. Questions often test why a worker's balance is short - usually an accrual rule, a waiting period, or a usage that exceeded the available balance.
Integration to payroll
Approved time and absence feed payroll as input. Payroll input can be generated from time tracking and absence, and cutoff dates determine what lands in a given run. Late-approved time may fall into the next period or an off-cycle run.
Worked example
A worker accrues 1.25 days per month with a 90-day waiting period. Hired January 1, the waiting period ends April 1; accruals begin then. Rule of thumb: eligibility date ≠ hire date - always check the waiting period before computing a balance. If asked why a March balance is zero, the answer is the waiting period, not a missing accrual rule.
Trap to watch: conflating time entry codes with earnings codes, and forgetting that approved time must pass a payroll cutoff to be paid in the current run.