Absence type
ConceptfoundationThe record a worker records time off against. It carries the rules for when and how an absence of that type may be recorded, the unit of measure the duration is expressed in, and the association to the plans, reasons and certifications that govern it.
What people get wrong
The confusions are the difficulty. Each one is a belief that sounds right and is not.
- That an absence type is optional. Every absence a worker records is recorded against a type, and a type must be associated with at least one plan.
- That the pattern on a type is decorative. The pattern selected determines whether special fields appear on the type pages and which recording options are available.
- That the unit of measure on the type is cosmetic. The schedule is used to determine the duration only when the type’s unit of measure is hours or days and no conversion formula is defined.
Recall it
What does an absence type hold, and what three things about it can change the answer to "how much leave is this"?
It is the record a worker records time off against, holding the rules for when and how an absence of that type may be recorded. Three things change the answer: the unit of measure, because the schedule is used to determine the duration only where the type measures in hours or days and no conversion formula is defined; the conversion formula attached to it, which applies only in those same cases; and the Schedule Hierarchy Start Point, which selects where the application starts searching for a schedule. A type is created against one of three predefined patterns — illness or injury, childbirth or placement, or generic absence — and the pattern decides which special fields appear and which recording options are available.
Memory hook: The type is where the worker is. The unit decides whether the schedule is consulted; the start point decides where the search begins.
Rests on ABS-COMP-003, ABS-COMP-004, ABS-SCHED-006, ABS-SCHED-007.
Taught in
- Absence Management: six components and a setup orderThe six objects an absence policy is built from, which of them actually decide entitlement, and the documented order to build them in — with the unit-of-measure rule that silently decides whether a plan and a type agree.
- How an absence becomes a number of hoursThe schedule search order that converts two calendar days of absence into a quantity of leave, the start point on the absence type that decides where the search begins, and the 8:30a to 5:00p default that fires when nothing is found.
- From a submitted absence to an entitlementThe six rules on an absence type that decide what happens between a worker submitting and an entitlement existing, and the six processes that calculate, confirm and withdraw the result.
- Fast formulas: the rules you write yourselfWhich absence rules accept a fast formula and which formula type each one requires — from absence type conversion and validation to accrual ceiling, carryover, entitlement and payment rates — plus how a formula is created and compiled, and how to tell a compilation error from an execution error.
- Certifications: the action items that gate continued payHow an absence certification requirement works: created with the Absence Certifications task and associated with an absence type on its Action Items tab, it triggers on demand or on the absence start date, runs through three phases that set a target status field and can reevaluate entitlements (override, recalculate, retract) — and it exists only for illness/injury and maternity absence types.
Related
- Terminology glossary — what a term means, and what people get wrong when they use it