Absence Management
From a submitted absence to an entitlement
The 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.
Learning objectives
- 1.Name the six approval and processing rules on an absence type and state what each enables
- 2.Explain what deferred processing changes and which process confirms it
- 3.Explain the three states a scheduled absence can be reprocessed in by the Evaluate Absences process
- 4.Diagnose an absence that is recorded but has no entitlement
Why this matters
A worker submits an absence and it appears on the calendar. That is not the same as the absence being paid. Between the two sits a set of rules on the absence type — some of them enabled, some not — and a set of processes that have to run. The gap between "recorded" and "entitled" is where most absence tickets are actually raised.
If you skip this: An absence that has been submitted and is awaiting a deferred evaluation looks complete on the calendar and produces no entitlement, and the delay is invisible until a payroll run.
What it is, why it exists, what breaks
What it is
Six rules on an absence type — approval processing, approvals reset on update, deferred processing, additional payload attribute, concurrency and payable after termination — and six processes run from the Schedule and Monitor Absence Processes task: Evaluate Absences, Evaluate Certification Updates, Update Accrual Plan Enrollments, Calculate Accruals and Balances, Withdraw Accruals and Balances, and Generate Daily Breakdown of Absence Details.
Why it exists
Because recording an absence and confirming it are different acts, and different policies want different amounts of friction between them. A statutory entitlement that must survive termination needs a different rule from a vacation request that should die with the plan.
What breaks without it
Deferred processing is the rule that changes what submission means. With it enabled, a scheduled absence has no impact on accrual balance or entitlements until it is confirmed, and the only thing that confirms it is the Evaluate Absences process. A team that treats submission as the end of the story sees a correct calendar and an empty balance.
Source: ABS-RULE-001, ABS-RULE-002, ABS-PROC-001
Submitted is not entitled
Four states, and the rules on the absence type decide which gate an absence passes. Deferred processing is a switch, not a delay. Listed in order: Recorded, then Approved, then Confirmed, then Entitled.
A worker records an absence against an absence type, and the absence becomes scheduled. Between that state and an entitlement existing sits a gate, and the absence type decides which gate. Six approval and processing rules are configured on the absence type. Approval processing makes all absence submissions require approval, and the absence sits in awaiting approval until somebody approves it. Approvals reset on update means an updated scheduled absence returns to awaiting approval, so a date correction re-opens an approval that was already granted. Deferred processing means a scheduled absence has no impact on accrual balance or entitlements until it is confirmed, and the Evaluate Absences process is what confirms it - which means submission does not trigger the calculation at all, rather than triggering it late. Additional payload attribute configures the absence approval flow routing, so approvals can be routed the way the organisation actually works. Concurrency lets a worker receive concurrent entitlements through different absence types for absences scheduled for the same time and day, which is what stops two types claiming the same period. Payable after termination lets a worker receive qualification entitlements even after termination, because in some legislations the entitlement for maternity or adoption leave continues to be paid after employment ends. Six processes run from the Schedule and Monitor Absence Processes task: Evaluate Absences, Evaluate Certification Updates, Update Accrual Plan Enrollments, Calculate Accruals and Balances, Withdraw Accruals and Balances, and Generate Daily Breakdown of Absence Details. Evaluate Absences calculates entitlements for unprocessed absences based on absence plan rules, runs automatically when a user submits an absence unless deferred processing is enabled, and can also be run under special conditions such as extending an open-ended absence by 90 days, or when a work schedule changes and absence duration and plan deductions need recalculating. Its effective date parameter is required, and its record selection decides whether it reprocesses all matching records, only those with a duration change, only deferred absences, or only open-ended absences requiring an extension - so a run that looks successful can have skipped the absence in front of it. Withdraw Accruals and Balances exists for the case where the calculation or the dates were wrong and the balances must be rolled back.
What to take from this: Read the diagram as a gate between two states, not as a sequence of steps the worker performs. The teaching point is that the middle box is a switch and not a delay: deferred processing does not mean the evaluation happens later, it means submission does not trigger it at all, and the absence waits for a process run that nothing schedules automatically.
Source: ABS-RULE-002, ABS-PROC-004
The absence that was recorded and never confirmed
A worker submits a sickness absence. It appears on the absence calendar and on the manager’s view. Three weeks later a support ticket is raised because the worker has not been paid for it.
- 1.The absence is checked and it is present, scheduled, and approved.
- 2.The absence type is checked, and Deferred processing is enabled, so the absence has had no impact on accrual balance or entitlements since it was submitted.
- 3.The Evaluate Absences process is checked, and it has not been run for that date, so the absence was never confirmed.
- 4.The process is run with Record Selection set to evaluate only deferred absences, and the entitlement is created.
Takeaway: With deferred processing enabled, a scheduled absence has no entitlement until the Evaluate Absences process confirms it. Submission is not confirmation.
Source: ABS-RULE-002, ABS-PROC-002
Configuration model
Navigation paths
Absences work area > Schedule and Monitor Absence Processes taskABS-PROC-001Absences work area > Create Absence Type page > Display Features tabABS-PROC-004
Objects
Approval processing
All absence submissions must be approved.
Risk if wrong: Turning it off removes an approval a policy may require. Turning it on and not staffing the approver queue is worse, and the absence waits silently.
Approvals reset on update
When you update an already scheduled absence, it resets approvals and goes through manager approval again, and the status changes from scheduled to awaiting approval.
Risk if wrong: An update that looks like a correction re-opens an approval, and a manager who has already approved it never learns they must do it again.
Deferred processing
An absence that you schedule has no impact on accrual balance or entitlements until you confirm the absence.
Risk if wrong: Entitlements appear later than the policy expects, and the balance looks wrong rather than pending.
Additional payload attribute
Helps you configure the absence approval flow according to your organization needs, allowing more flexibility in routing approvals.
Risk if wrong: Routing that does not match the actual approver, and a request that sits with nobody.
Concurrency
Enable workers to receive concurrent entitlements through different absence types for absences scheduled for the same time and day.
Risk if wrong: Concurrent claims of the same entitlement, and a balance that pays twice for one period.
Payable after termination
Enable workers to receive qualification entitlements even after termination, where the legislation requires the entitlement to continue.
Risk if wrong: An entitlement that stops when employment stops, in a jurisdiction where it must not.
Constraints
- When you create an absence type, you can configure the absence approval and processing rules.
- Deferred processing means an absence that you schedule does not have any impact on accrual balance or entitlements until you confirm the absence.
- You must run the Evaluate Absences process to confirm deferred absences.
- Payable after termination enables workers to receive qualification entitlements even after termination.
- The Evaluate Absences process runs automatically when you submit an absence, and you can defer it by selecting the rule Deferred processing on initial entry in the Display Features tab of the Create Absence Type page.
- The Effective Date parameter of the Evaluate Absences process is required.
- The Evaluate Absences process can reprocess all absence records that meet the other filtering options, only those with a change in absence duration, only deferred absences, or only open-ended absences that require an extension.
- Administrators typically run Calculate Accruals and Balances at regular intervals, and can also run it for individual enrollments.
- Administrators typically run Withdraw Accruals and Balances when there is an error in calculation or the dates, to roll back the accrual balances and correct the error.
Source: ABS-RULE-001, ABS-RULE-002, ABS-RULE-003, ABS-PROC-001, ABS-PROC-002, ABS-PROC-003, ABS-PROC-004
Common mistakes
Wrong: Treating a submitted absence as a confirmed one.
Symptom: The absence is on the calendar and the worker is waiting for pay that was never triggered, and no error was raised anywhere.
Fix: With deferred processing enabled, an absence has no impact on accrual balance or entitlements until you confirm it, and the Evaluate Absences process is what confirms it.
Wrong: Editing a scheduled absence to fix a date and losing the approval.
Symptom: An absence reverts to awaiting approval, and a manager who already approved it never sees it again because it never appears in their queue.
Fix: Approvals reset on update, and the status changes from scheduled to awaiting approval. Re-approval is the documented consequence of the edit.
Wrong: Ending a qualification entitlement because the employment ended.
Symptom: A worker who has left is not paid the statutory entitlement that their legislation requires to continue.
Fix: Payable after termination enables workers to receive qualification entitlements even after termination, and is configured on the absence type.
Wrong: Running Evaluate Absences without an effective date, or with the wrong record selection.
Symptom: The process either refuses to run or reprocesses far more absence records than intended.
Fix: Effective Date is a required parameter, and Record Selection decides whether it reprocesses all matching records, only duration changes, only deferred absences, or only open-ended absences.
Diagnosing it
Symptom: An absence is recorded, visible and approved, but no entitlement or accrual movement exists.
Category: processing
- 1.
Is Deferred processing enabled on the absence type?
If no: Submission would have triggered evaluation automatically, so the absence is waiting for something else — check the process run history and the parameter values.
Evidence to capture: The Deferred processing rule on the absence type
- 2.
Has the Evaluate Absences process been run for the effective date of the absence?
If no: The absence has never been confirmed. With deferred processing, nothing else confirms it.
Evidence to capture: The process run history for the effective date
- 3.
Was the record selection set to something that excludes this absence?
If no: Evaluating only duration changes, only deferred absences or only open-ended absences will each skip absences that do not match, and the run looks successful.
Evidence to capture: The Record Selection value on the process run
- 4.
Was the absence updated after it was approved?
If no: An update resets the approvals and the status changes from scheduled to awaiting approval, so it may never have reached the evaluation stage at all.
Evidence to capture: The absence status and its approval history
Confirm: Confirm the absence has been confirmed by the Evaluate Absences process, not merely submitted. Submission and confirmation are different states, and only the second one moves a balance.
Recall
Name the six approval and processing rules on an absence type, say what deferred processing changes, and name the process that confirms a deferred absence.
Answer shape: Approval processing, approvals reset on update, deferred processing, additional payload attribute, concurrency, and payable after termination. Deferred processing means an absence that you schedule has no impact on accrual balance or entitlements until you confirm it. The Evaluate Absences process confirms it, and it is the only thing that does. Approval processing makes all submissions need approval. Approvals reset on update means an updated absence goes back to awaiting approval. Additional payload attribute configures the approval flow routing. Concurrency lets a worker receive concurrent entitlements through different absence types for the same time and day. Payable after termination lets a worker receive qualification entitlements even after termination.
Memory hook: Approve, Reset, Defer, Route, Concur, Pay. Deferral moves the work from the worker to the process schedule.
Source evidence
The six approval and processing rules, the effect of deferred processing, the six absence processes and the parameters of the Evaluate Absences process were read on 2026-10-20 from the Absence Approval and Processing Rules and Overview of Absence Processes pages of the Implementing Absence Management book.
Release scope: FA Latest
Recorded gaps
- The approval and processing rules page states what each rule does and does not describe how the approval flow is built, what the additional payload attribute carries, or which approver is used by default. The configuration options for approvals are on a separate page that has not been read.
- The processes page names six processes, their purposes and when they are typically run, but does not state the schedule of any of them, so this lesson describes who runs what and not when a tenant does it.
- The Evaluate Absences page lists its parameters and their effect but does not state the default value of the Record Selection parameter, and this lesson does not claim one.
Related concepts
- Absence typedepends on
Every rule in this lesson is configured on the absence type, and the deferred processing rule is what changes what submission means.
- Absence planextends
The processes calculate the entitlements and balances the plans define, and the rollback process exists because a plan calculation can be wrong.
Self-check
An auto-graded assessment is attached to this lesson: assessment-absence-processing-rules
Lesson progress
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