There may be times when you wish to limit the number of staff that can request time off at any given time. In these situations it can be a much smoother experience for everyone involved if the person requesting the time off is told at the time that it is not possible, rather than waiting to hear back from a supervisor.
You can set limits, called Absence Rules, at the Group level to control your Availability requirements. Employees are affected by the Absence Rules of all Groups they are members of.
It is important to understand that Absence Rules only apply to Employee requests. Focus Users still have full control over Absence Bookings, and Absence Rules will not stop a Focus User from making an Absence Booking, assuming he or she has permission to do so.
This guide will look at:
Currently Absence Rules are defined by importing them as a csv. Set up a spreadsheet with three columns - one for the date, one for the group name and one for the Required value.
Once you have your data in your spreadsheet, save or download it as a .csv file and then import it into Focus using the Import screen in System
The Required value is your Absence Rule for that particular day. If an Absence is requested which, if granted, would bring the number of employees scheduled to work below the required number then that Absence request is automatically denied at the time it is created.
You must choose which Absence Reasons are included in the Absence Rules system. To do this, check the ‘Include in Request Limit’ checkbox in the individual Absence Reason form.
Only Absence Reasons with this option selected will be ‘counted’ by the Absence Rule. Where this checkbox is unchecked, employees can request as many Absences as they wish without limitation.
The Availability Screen now has a third view, specifically for Absence Rules. To access this view, navigate to the Availability Screen and select Options. Note that in Absence Rules view, you cannot filter the view by Absence Type. In order for the Absence Rules view on the Availability Screen to function properly, all Absence Types must be included.
The Absence Rules view of the Availability Screen looks like this:
The rows under the grid are where the magic happens. As well as the typical ‘Available’ value, there is also a note of how many are Required, and also therefore how many Bookable Absences there are remaining on any given day.
Important Reminder: Focus Users can still book Absences for employees. They are not restricted by Absence Rules.
Employees will be prevented from making Absence Requests if there are no ‘Bookable Absences’ available for any of the dates selected.
If they are denied, they are told which date(s) are affected, along with which Group’s Absence Rules are being imposed.
Above is an example of the Absence Rules working in the main Self Service app.
The above is an example of Absence Rules working via a web browser Self Service login.
There is more to the Availability Screen than simply viewing which employees are absent or available each month.
An Absence Reason is the reason a Focus User gives to something happening.
In order to ensure that you have enough cover in place, you may wish to set a minimum notice period that employees have to give when making absence requests.
