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Rate definitions for absence payments

Conceptadvanced

The object that prices a single unit of absence: a rate definition with a category (Derived Rate, Element, Value by Criteria, Grade Rate, Formula), rate contributors (balances or element values, added or subtracted, each with its own periodicity and optional factor), a return periodicity and currency reached by conversion formulas, and minimum/maximum validation rules with a limit violation action. Absence plans reference it from their rate rules (absence payment, final balance, disbursement, liability) on the Entries and Balances tab — but the rate is only calculated and resolved in payroll.

What people get wrong

The confusions are the difficulty. Each one is a belief that sounds right and is not.

  • That Absence Management computes the money. A rate definition only determines the rate of one unit of absence; rates are calculated and resolved only in Global Payroll or a third-party payroll.
  • That the rate fields on the absence plan are required. They are optional even with Transfer absence payment information selected — rates can be defined entirely on the payroll side.
  • That contributors can be summed raw. Each contributor is converted to its own periodicity first, the totals are added or subtracted, and only then is the result converted to the return periodicity and currency.
  • That a factor-based Element rate runs in the payroll run. Salary rates support Factor storage, but the payroll run does not calculate it — those rates need the Generate HCM Rates process.
  • That balances feed a derived rate without payroll having run. The contributing balances must be populated by payroll runs for the balance dimension periods, or the rate generates no meaningful value.

Recall it

What does a rate definition determine, where is the rate resolved, and how does a derived rate reach its returned value?

A rate definition determines the rate of a single unit of absence for payment during an absence period; the rate is calculated and resolved only in Global Payroll or a third-party payroll. Created with the Manage Rate Definitions task or the Rate Definitions quick action under My Client Groups, it is associated with the plan on the Entries and Balances tab via one of four rate rules — Absence Payment, Final Balance Payment, Partial Disbursement, Liability Booking — all optional. Categories: Derived Rate, Element (Amount or Factor storage; Factor needs Generate HCM Rates, not the payroll run), Value by Criteria, Grade Rate, Formula. Contributors are each converted to their own periodicity, factors apply before conversion, the total sums, and the result converts once to the mandatory return periodicity and currency; min/max rules with a limit violation action validate it.

Memory hook: Absence defines the rate, payroll resolves it. Contributors convert, sum, convert again. Balances need payroll runs first.

Rests on ABS-RATE-001, ABS-RATE-003, ABS-RATE-004, ABS-RATE-007, ABS-RATE-008, ABS-RATE-009, ABS-RATE-010.

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