Absence Codes

An Absence Code is assigned to an employee’s time card whenever they take a scheduled day off. Vacation time, sick leave, holiday time, personal time, all are specified as absence codes within the TimeForce software.

Absence codes can be set up to deduct from an accrual policy, and multiple codes can be deducted from the same available accrual hours total.

Creating Absence Codes

  1. From the main “Admin” navigation tab, click on the Absence Codes link, located under the Policies section of the screen.

  2. To create a new absence code, click on the [ADD ABSENCE] icon.

  3. Enter a name for this absence code such as “Vacation,” "Sick Leave," etc.

  4. From the "What type of Absence Code are you creating" drop-down menu, select what type of absence this code will be used for. The available options are as follows:

    • Paid: Absence hours are added to total hours, and pay is generated.

    • Unpaid: Absence hours are not added to total hours, and no pay is generated.

    • Unworked: Absence hours are not added to total hours, and no pay is generated.
      Note:       This option is only available if you have the "Display Unworked and Holiday Absence Codes" option enabled in the System Setup section of the program.

    • Holiday: Absence hours are not added to total hours, but must be attached to a Holiday List.
      Note:       This option is only available if you have the "Display Unworked and Holiday Absence Codes" option enabled in the System Setup section of the program.

  5. Put a check mark in the box next to each rule that applies:

    • Counts Toward Hours Based Accruals: With this option selected, any hours specified with this absence code will be taken into account as “hours worked” when hours based accruals are generated.

    • Counts Toward Overtime: With this option selected, any hours specified with this absence code will be counted as “hours worked,” and will be taken into account when overtime is generated.
      Example:       At the end of the day on Thursday, an employee has a total of 39 hours worked. The employee is scheduled for 4 hours of Vacation time the next day. With this option selected, at the end of Friday the employee would have 40 regular hours and 3 hours of overtime.

    • Deduct from Compensatory Time: When using comp time, any overtime hours worked by the employee are converted into available time off hours. Select this option if you would like hours specified with this absence code to use comp time.

  1. From the drop-down menu, select which accrual policy you would like hours specified with this absence code to deduct from. Multiple absence codes can be set up to deduct from the same accrual policy.

  2. If you would like hours assigned to this absence code to also be assigned to a Premium Pay Code, select the desired premium from the drop-down menu.

  3. Each absence code can be assigned to an error point amount which will be included in calculations for Disciplinary Warnings. The value can be any real number (either positive or negative). The specified value will be added to the error point total for an employee each time the absence is used. See Error Points for further information.

  4. Click on the icon to assign this absence code to a default department level.

  5. Click on the [FINISH/SAVE] icon to save the absence code.

Editing, Modifying, and Deleting Existing Absence Codes

Each existing absence code is listed on the main Absence Code screen. Absence codes are listed by the chosen code name. Review the absence code information as desired. Click on the setting in the Name column to modify the absence code settings.

Click on the Set as Default link to specify a default absence code. With a default absence code specified, when you click on the "Enter Absence" link, the Absence Type field will be populated with the specified code by default. A different code can then be selected, if desired.
Note: Only one code can be specified as the default absence code.

Click on the  icon to inactivate an absence code. Inactive codes are listed under the Inactive Absence Codes section of the screen. Click on the  icon to permanently remove a code from the system.

Using Absence Codes

Absence Codes are applied directly to your employees’ time cards to document time off.

  1. Click on the main “Time Card” navigation tab at the top of the screen.

  2. Select the desired employee from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen.

  3. From the row of links that runs across the top of the screen, click on Enter Absence.

The options on this screen are as follows:

    • Date(s): This section allows you to select the date or dates on which this absence occurred. Select the first field if you wish to insert an absence for one day only. Select the second field if you would like to insert absences for a range of dates. Type the dates into the appropriate fields, or click on the icon to select the dates from a calendar.

    • Hours: This section allows you to insert the number of hours that are to be assigned to the absence code. Select the first field to enter an hours total. Select the second field to enter a start and stop time for the day (as in 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Select the third field if you would like the absence to be created based on the shift that the employee is scheduled to work for that day.

    • Type: Select the desired absence code from the drop-down menu. The “Accrual Policy” that the code is assigned to is displayed below the selection, as is the employee’s “Available Balance” for that accrual (if applicable).

    • Department: Select the department that you would like this absence to be assigned to. By default, the employee’s assigned department level is displayed in this field.

    • Notes: Use this field to enter optional notes on this absence.

  1. Enter the desired absence information and click on the [ENTER] icon to add the absence code to the employee's time card.

"Holiday" absence codes are applied directly to a holiday list. See the Holiday List section for further information.