Absence Management
Absence Management: six components and a setup order
The 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.
Learning objectives
- 1.Name the six absence components and state what each one decides
- 2.State the documented setup sequence and say why the order is not optional
- 3.Explain the unit-of-measure rule between an absence plan and an absence type
- 4.Diagnose a missing entitlement by naming which component was never associated
Why this matters
An absence policy looks like one object and is six. A worker records against a type; the type points at a plan; the plan decides what they are owed and what they are paid. The other three — category, reason, certification — sit alongside without belonging to that chain, and two of them are not even records a worker ever touches. Configured in the wrong order, the whole thing fails with a message that names a field rather than a missing dependency.
If you skip this: A type with no plan is the single most common Absence Management configuration error, and the rejection names the field rather than the object that was never created.
What it is, why it exists, what breaks
What it is
Absence types, absence categories, absence patterns, absence plans, absence reasons and absence certifications. Types are what a worker records against, patterns are the starting rules a type is created from, plans carry the accrual and payment rules, categories group types for reporting, reasons are what a worker selects, and certifications are documentation requirements.
Why it exists
Because entitlement and recording are different questions. The type answers "what kind of absence is this and may it be recorded"; the plan answers "what is owed and what is paid". The other four exist to support those two without inheriting their rules.
What breaks without it
The type-to-plan link is the load-bearing one, and it is easy to get half-wrong: a type may only be scheduled using a plan whose unit of measure matches the type’s. When they differ, a conversion formula can be attached to the type, and that formula applies only where the type’s unit of measure is hours or days.
Source: ABS-COMP-001, ABS-COMP-002, ABS-COMP-007
The four setup steps, in order
A build order, not a containment chain: each step creates objects the next step needs, and the fourth exists only for reporting. Listed in order: Lookups, value sets, flexfields, formulas, rate definitions, then Absence plans, certification requests, absence reasons, then Absence types, then Absence categories.
The documented setup sequence for Absence Management has four steps, and it is a build order rather than a containment chain. First, add new values to lookups, value sets and flexfields based on your requirement, write fast formulas to include rules in the absence objects in addition to the predefined ones, and create rate definitions to define payment rates for absence plans. Second, create absence plans to define rules for time accruals and entitlements, create certification requests that workers must complete to continue receiving entitlements during absence periods, and create absence reasons that workers select while recording absences. Third, create absence types such as sickness leave or vacation, and associate each type with the relevant plans, reasons and certifications. Fourth, create absence categories such as personal leave or medical leave, and associate them with the relevant absence types for reporting purposes. Each step creates objects the next step needs, and the step most implementations skip is the first - the lookups, value sets, flexfields, formulas and rate definitions - because nothing visibly depends on them yet. The step most implementations do out of order is the third, because an absence type is the object a worker can see, and saving one with no plan associated produces an absence that records cleanly and carries no entitlement at all. The fourth step is the only one that exists purely for reporting: an absence category groups absence types for reporting and analysis, and decides nothing about what a worker is owed.
What to take from this: Read the diagram as a build order, not a containment chain: each step creates objects the next step needs, and the fourth step is the only one that exists purely for reporting. The step most implementations skip is the first — lookups, value sets and flexfields — and the step most implementations do out of order is the third, because a type is the object a worker can see and types are therefore the most tempting to build first.
Source: ABS-SETUP-002
The type that existed and the entitlement that did not
A sickness absence type is created and made available to workers. Workers book against it and the absence appears on the absence calendar. The payroll run produces no payment for it, and the request is raised as a payroll defect.
- 1.The absence type is checked and found to be in use, with the correct pattern and the correct reasons associated.
- 2.The absence plans are checked, and the type is associated with none of them — the type was created before the plan existed, and the association was never made.
- 3.An absence type must have at least one absence plan associated with it, and it does not, so nothing determines an entitlement for an absence recorded against it.
- 4.The plan is created and associated with the type, and the absence is re-evaluated rather than re-keyed, so the history of the absence is not lost.
Takeaway: A type records the absence; a plan decides the entitlement. An absence that exists with no entitlement behind it is a missing association, not a payroll fault.
Source: ABS-COMP-002
Configuration model
Navigation paths
Setup and Maintenance work area > Workforce Deployment offering > Absence Management functional areaABS-SETUP-001Absences work area > Absence Types taskABS-COMP-001Absences work area > Absence Plans taskABS-COMP-001
Objects
Absence type
The record a worker records time off against, holding the rules for when and how an absence of that type may be recorded.
Risk if wrong: A type with no associated plan records absences that carry no entitlement, and the failure appears at payroll rather than at configuration.
Absence pattern
A predefined set of rules used as a starting point to create an absence type, selected from illness or injury, childbirth or placement, or generic absence.
Risk if wrong: The pattern decides which special fields appear on the type pages and which recording options are available, so the wrong one produces a page that is missing the fields the policy needs.
Absence plan
The rules for accruing leave time and for receiving payment during an absence period.
Risk if wrong: The plan carries the entitlement, so a misconfigured plan pays the wrong amount rather than failing visibly.
Absence category
Groups absence types for reporting and analysis, such as a family leave category covering maternity, paternity and child care.
Risk if wrong: It looks like a hierarchy level and is not. Treating a category as one makes the reporting wrong and the entitlement unaffected.
Absence reason
What a worker selects when scheduling an absence. Reasons are independent of absence types.
Risk if wrong: Assuming a reason is owned by a type. The same reason can be used for several types, and the association is made on the type.
Absence certification
A requirement for documentation to authorize an absence, associated as an action item with an absence type so every absence of that type is subject to it.
Risk if wrong: Not associating it with the type leaves the requirement configured and unenforced, which looks like an absence policy nobody applied.
Constraints
- You must associate at least one absence plan with an absence type.
- When you create an absence type you must associate it with one of three predefined patterns: illness or injury, childbirth or placement, or generic absence.
- The pattern you select determines whether special fields appear on the absence type pages and the options available to display and process absence recording.
- To schedule an absence using an absence plan, the unit of measure defined in the plan must match the unit of measure defined in the associated absence type.
- If the unit of measure differs, you can define a conversion formula and attach it to the absence type, and that formula is applicable only if the unit of measure is hours or days for the absence type.
- Absence reasons are independent of absence types, and you can use the same reason for multiple absence types.
- Absence categories group absence types for reporting and analysis.
- The Absence Management setup tasks are part of the Workforce Deployment offering in the Absence Management functional area, in the Setup and Maintenance work area.
Source: ABS-COMP-001, ABS-COMP-002, ABS-COMP-003, ABS-COMP-004, ABS-COMP-005, ABS-COMP-006, ABS-COMP-007, ABS-SETUP-001
Common mistakes
Wrong: Creating the absence type before the absence plan.
Symptom: The type saves and workers book against it, but no entitlement is ever produced and the absence reaches payroll unpaid.
Fix: A type must be associated with at least one plan, and a plan is what carries the accrual and payment rules. Build the plan first, then associate it with the type.
Wrong: Reading an absence category as a level of the hierarchy.
Symptom: A reporting request asks for "the category of this absence" and the answer is a type, or nothing at all, because the category groups types rather than containing them.
Fix: Categories exist to group absence types for reporting and analysis. They decide nothing about entitlement.
Wrong: Assuming an absence reason belongs to one absence type.
Symptom: A reason is added to a second type and either is rejected or silently overwrites the association, and the first type loses it.
Fix: Reasons are independent objects and one reason can be used for several types. The association is made on the type.
Wrong: Attaching a conversion formula to an absence type measured in weeks or months.
Symptom: The formula is saved and never applied, so the duration is still taken from the schedule for a unit of measure it should not apply to.
Fix: The conversion formula is applicable only if the unit of measure is hours or days for the absence type, and the schedule is used for the duration only under the same condition.
Diagnosing it
Symptom: An absence exists and is visible to the worker, but no entitlement, no accrual movement and no payment result follow it.
Category: configuration
- 1.
Is the absence type associated with at least one absence plan?
If no: Nothing decides the entitlement for an absence recorded against that type. This is the first check because it is the most common cause.
Evidence to capture: The plans associated with the absence type
- 2.
Do the plan and the type declare the same unit of measure?
If no: The absence can only be scheduled with a matching plan. A mismatch requires a conversion formula on the type, and the formula applies only where the type measures in hours or days.
Evidence to capture: The unit of measure on the type and on each associated plan
- 3.
Was the type created with a pattern associated?
If no: A type is created against one of three predefined patterns, and the pattern determines which fields and recording options the type has.
Evidence to capture: The pattern associated with the absence type
- 4.
Is the type associated with the reasons and certifications the policy requires?
If no: A certification that is configured but not associated as an action item with the type is enforced against nothing.
Evidence to capture: The reasons and certification action items on the type
Confirm: Confirm the type-to-plan association and the unit of measure on both sides before investigating anything downstream; every entitlement failure resolves to one of the two.
Recall
Name the six absence components, say which two decide entitlement, and state the rule about unit of measure between a plan and a type.
Answer shape: Absence types, absence categories, absence patterns, absence plans, absence reasons and absence certifications. The type decides what may be recorded and the plan decides what is owed and what is paid; the category groups types for reporting, the reason is what a worker selects, the certification is a documentation requirement and the pattern is the starting rule set a type is created from. A type must have at least one plan. To schedule an absence using a plan, the unit of measure on the plan must match the unit of measure on the type; where it differs you attach a conversion formula to the type, and that formula applies only where the type measures in hours or days.
Memory hook: Type records, plan pays. Category groups, reason explains, certification demands, pattern starts.
Source evidence
The six components, what each decides, the unit-of-measure rule, the pattern list and the setup sequence were read on 2026-10-20 from the How Absence Components Work Together and How You Set Up Absence Management pages of the Implementing Absence Management book.
Release scope: FA Latest
Recorded gaps
- The components page describes an absence pattern as a predefined set of rules used as a starting point, and lists the three patterns, but does not enumerate the rules inside them. This lesson names the three patterns and what selecting one changes, and does not claim what any of them contain.
- The components page states that a conversion formula can be attached to the absence type where the units differ, and that it applies only when the type measures in hours or days. It does not state how such a formula is written, and this lesson does not describe one.
- The setup sequence page names the order but not the task names within each step, and the absent tasks are not enumerated in the pages read.
Related concepts
- Absence planteaches
The plan is the object that carries entitlement, and the type-to-plan association is the rule most implementations get wrong.
- Absence typeteaches
The type is what a worker records against, and its pattern, unit of measure and associations are all decided here.
Self-check
An auto-graded assessment is attached to this lesson: assessment-absence-mental-model
Lesson progress
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