Absence Management
The six absence plan types, and when each one is the right one
Accrual, qualification, no entitlement, agreement, compensatory and donation are alternatives rather than a progression — and the mistakes that come from reading them as one.
Learning objectives
- 1.Name the six absence plan types and state what each one is for
- 2.Explain the difference between a plan that accrues a balance and a plan that decides entitlement
- 3.State the documented use of a no entitlement plan alongside a qualification plan
- 4.Choose the plan type for a given leave policy and say why the others do not apply
Why this matters
Most absence policy questions are really plan-type questions wearing a disguise. "Do they accrue it or do they qualify for it?" is the difference between an accrual plan and a qualification plan, and it changes who is affected, what happens at year end, and whether the balance survives a break in service. The six types are alternatives. Treating them as a progression is the mistake.
If you skip this: An accrual plan built where a qualification plan belonged pays a balance that the policy never promised, and the correction is a migration rather than a fix.
What it is, why it exists, what breaks
What it is
Six plan types, created with the Absence Plans task: Accrual, Qualification, No Entitlement, Agreement, Compensatory and Donation. Each carries a different job — accrue a balance, qualify for payment, track an unpaid absence, record a statutory agreement, hold earned time off in lieu of overtime, or receive donated time.
Why it exists
Because leave policies are structurally different, not different in amount. A vacation plan accrues, a maternity plan qualifies, and the fact that both are called "absence plans" is what makes them look interchangeable.
What breaks without it
The pair that has to be read together is no entitlement and qualification. A no entitlement plan tracks unpaid absences without an accrual balance or leave entitlements, and it can be used in combination with a qualification plan — for a worker who is not eligible for the standard maternity qualification. Read as alternatives, the combination looks impossible and the worker ends up with neither.
Source: ABS-PLAN-001, ABS-PLAN-004
Six plan types, one question
Six alternatives, not a progression. The question each one answers is what the entitlement is based on. Listed in order: Accrual, then Qualification, then No entitlement, then Agreement, then Compensatory, then Donation.
Six absence plan types are created with the Absence Plans task in the Absences work area, and they are alternatives rather than a progression. An accrual plan accrues time for paid leave, such as a vacation plan, and configures the length and type of the accrual term, the maximum time a worker can accrue in a term, and the maximum time that can be carried forward to the next term. A qualification plan is for workers who qualify for the plan and receive payments during the absence, and configures the payment percentages that apply for specific periods during the absence for specific workers. A no entitlement plan tracks unpaid absences without maintaining an accrual balance or providing leave entitlements, and can be used in combination with a qualification plan - for example where a worker is not eligible for a standard maternity absence qualification plan. An agreement plan is created in accordance with statutory rules for use under an agreement, such as a shared parental leave agreement allocating paid or unpaid time off among parenting partners. A compensatory plan tracks earned compensatory time offered as compensation for working outside of regular work schedules instead of paying overtime. A donation plan tracks donated time that a worker receives, where workers donate their accrual plan balance to a coworker who needs additional time off and is eligible to receive it. The pair most often confused is the qualification and no entitlement pair. One decides entitlement and payment percentages; the other deliberately decides neither a balance nor an entitlement, which is precisely why the two are used together rather than instead of one another. Reading the six as a sequence - accrual, then qualification, then no entitlement - is what makes a worker who does not qualify for the standard maternity plan look like a case with no plan at all, when the documented answer is the combination.
What to take from this: Read the six as six alternatives answering one question — what is the basis of the entitlement? — and not as six levels of a hierarchy. The two that get confused are at the bottom of the diagram rather than the top: a qualification plan decides payment, and a no entitlement plan deliberately decides neither a balance nor an entitlement, which is why the two are drawn as a pair rather than as neighbours in a sequence.
Source: ABS-PLAN-001, ABS-PLAN-004
The maternity request that the plan said no to
A policy gives twelve weeks of paid maternity leave to workers who meet a service condition. One worker requests it and the request is refused, because the eligibility profile on the qualification plan does not include them.
- 1.The qualification plan is checked and is correct: it defines the payment percentages that apply for specific periods during the absence, for specific workers.
- 2.The eligibility profile associated with the plan is checked, and it excludes this worker on a criterion the policy never intended to apply to this absence.
- 3.A no entitlement plan is already in the tenant, tracking unpaid absences without an accrual balance or providing leave entitlements.
- 4.The no entitlement plan is used in combination with the qualification plan, so the absence is tracked and the qualification decision stands on its own terms rather than being blocked by the profile.
Takeaway: A no entitlement plan is not a lesser qualification plan. It is the plan that lets an absence be recorded and tracked where the entitlement question is answered elsewhere — or not at all.
Source: ABS-PLAN-003, ABS-PLAN-004
Configuration model
Navigation paths
Absences work area > Absence Plans taskABS-PLAN-001
Objects
Accrual plan
Accrues time for taking paid leave, such as a vacation plan, and configures the length and type of the accrual term, the maximum time a worker can accrue in a term, and the maximum time that can be carried forward to the next term.
Risk if wrong: The carry-forward and accrual caps are where a policy is actually expressed, and a plan that carries the wrong cap silently changes the liability.
Qualification plan
Covers workers who qualify for the plan and receive payments during the absence, such as long term illness or maternity, and configures the payment percentages that apply for specific periods during the absence for specific workers.
Risk if wrong: A qualification plan is where a statutory payment percentage is set, and the percentages apply to periods, not to the absence as a whole.
No entitlement plan
Tracks unpaid absences without maintaining an accrual balance or providing leave entitlements, such as periodic accruals, and can be used in combination with a qualification plan.
Risk if wrong: Used instead of a qualification plan where one is meant, it produces a recorded absence with no payment, and the gap is invisible until payroll.
Agreement plan
Created in accordance with statutory rules for use under an agreement, such as a shared parental leave agreement that allocates paid or unpaid time off among parenting partners.
Risk if wrong: An agreement plan models a split entitlement between two people, and building it as an ordinary plan loses the sharing.
Compensatory plan
Tracks earned compensatory time that can be used for time off, offered as compensation for working outside of regular work schedules instead of paying overtime.
Risk if wrong: It is a substitute for overtime rather than a bonus, and the time it holds comes from a different source than a vacation balance.
Donation plan
Tracks donated time that a worker receives, where workers donate their accrual plan balance to a coworker who needs additional time off and is eligible to receive it.
Risk if wrong: It tracks the receiver, not the donor, and the donor is moved by a rule on their own accrual plan.
Constraints
- Create the following types of plans using the Absence Plans task in the Absences work area: accrual, qualification, no entitlement, agreement, compensatory and donation.
- An accrual plan configures the length and type of the accrual term, the maximum time a worker can accrue in a term, and the maximum time a worker can carry forward to the next term.
- A qualification plan configures the payment percentages that apply for specific periods during the absence, for specific workers.
- A no entitlement plan tracks unpaid absences without maintaining an accrual balance or providing leave entitlements, and you can also use plans of this type in combination with a qualification plan.
- An agreement plan is created in accordance with statutory rules for use under an agreement.
- A compensatory plan tracks earned compensatory time offered as compensation for working outside of regular work schedules.
- A donation plan tracks donated time that a worker receives, where workers donate their accrual plan balance to a coworker who is eligible to receive it.
Source: ABS-PLAN-001, ABS-PLAN-002, ABS-PLAN-003, ABS-PLAN-004, ABS-PLAN-005, ABS-PLAN-006, ABS-PLAN-007
Common mistakes
Wrong: Reading the six plan types as a progression from simple to complex.
Symptom: A qualification plan is built where a no entitlement plan belongs, or a compensatory plan is treated as a variant of vacation.
Fix: They are alternatives, each answering what the entitlement is based on. Choose the one that matches the policy, and use a second plan only where the documentation explicitly allows it.
Wrong: Using a no entitlement plan to replace a qualification plan.
Symptom: The absence is recorded and nothing is paid, and the worker is told the policy does not apply — when in fact the qualification plan was never associated.
Fix: A no entitlement plan is designed to be used in combination with a qualification plan, for a worker who is not eligible for it. It is not a substitute.
Wrong: Assuming a qualification plan carries a balance.
Symptom: A balance report is expected to show leave owed and it is empty, or the plan is credited manually to fix it.
Fix: A qualification plan decides entitlement and the payment percentages for periods during the absence. Accrual of a balance is what an accrual plan does.
Wrong: Reading a donation plan as a way for the donor to give leave.
Symptom: The donor’s balance is expected to move and does not, or the receiving worker’s report is empty.
Fix: A donation plan tracks the time the coworker receives. The donor is moved by the donation rules configured on their own accrual plan.
Diagnosing it
Symptom: A worker is owed leave, or is not owed leave, in a way the policy does not explain.
Category: configuration
- 1.
Which plan type carries the entitlement for this absence?
If no: Identify it before looking at values. An accrual plan and a qualification plan produce different balances for the same absence, and only one of them is the entitlement.
Evidence to capture: The plan type configured on the absence plan associated with the type
- 2.
Is a no entitlement plan doing the work a qualification plan should do?
If no: The absence is being tracked with no entitlement behind it. Check whether a qualification plan exists for the same policy.
Evidence to capture: The plans associated with the absence type and their types
- 3.
For a qualification plan, is the payment percentage being read as applying to the whole absence?
If no: The percentages apply to specific periods during the absence, for specific workers, so a single percentage on the whole absence is a different calculation.
Evidence to capture: The payment percentage bands on the qualification plan
- 4.
For a compensatory plan, is the time being treated as overtime?
If no: Compensatory time is offered as compensation for working outside regular work schedules instead of paying overtime, so the absence and the pay run are different objects.
Evidence to capture: The source of the time being drawn down and the pay rule attached to it
Confirm: Confirm the plan type against the policy in one sentence — accrue, qualify, track unpaid, agree, compensate, receive — before examining any value on the plan.
Recall
Name the six absence plan types, and say which one accrues a balance, which one decides payment, and how the no entitlement plan is meant to be used.
Answer shape: Accrual, qualification, no entitlement, agreement, compensatory and donation. The accrual plan accrues time for paid leave and configures the accrual term, the maximum accruable in a term and the maximum carried forward. The qualification plan covers workers who qualify for it and receive payments during the absence, with payment percentages for specific periods during the absence for specific workers. A no entitlement plan tracks unpaid absences without an accrual balance or leave entitlements, and is used in combination with a qualification plan for a worker not eligible for the standard one. An agreement plan is created under statutory rules for an agreement, such as shared parental leave. A compensatory plan tracks earned compensatory time for work outside regular schedules. A donation plan tracks the donated time a worker receives.
Memory hook: Accrue, Qualify, Track, Agree, Compensate, Receive. Six alternatives, one question: what is the basis of the entitlement?
Source evidence
The six plan types and what each one is for were read on 2026-10-20 from the Types of Absence Plans page of the Implementing Absence Management book.
Release scope: FA Latest
Recorded gaps
- The types page states what each plan type is for and gives one worked example of each, but it does not enumerate the configuration options inside a plan of each type. The separate pages on defining accrual, qualification, donation and compensatory plans have not been read, so this lesson states the purpose of each type and not its fields.
- The page states that a no entitlement plan can be used in combination with a qualification plan, and gives the maternity example. It does not state what the combination does to the qualification decision, and this lesson does not claim that either.
- The page does not state the eligibility rules for who may donate or be donated to. The example says the coworker must need additional time off and be eligible to receive it, and that is the whole of what is claimed.
Related concepts
- The six absence componentsdepends on
The plan is one of the six components, and the association rule between a plan and an absence type is what makes a plan usable.
- Absence typedepends on
A plan is reached through the absence type it is associated with, and a type must be associated with at least one.
Self-check
An auto-graded assessment is attached to this lesson: assessment-absence-plan-types
Lesson progress
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