Absence Requests Overview

Use the Absence Requests application to enter, submit, approve, and reject employee absence requests for time off from work.

The type of time off requested is based on the benefit accrual codes that you set up in Vision for vacation, sick leave, and so on.

The Absence Requests application displays in the Time & Expense menu if the Accounting and Time modules are activated in Vision and your security role has access to the Absence Requests menu (specified on the General tab in Configuration > Security > Roles).

Approval Workflows

When you use the Absence Requests application, absence requests go through an approval process that is based on an approval workflow that you create for them. The approval process is not optional for absence requests; it is required.

An approval workflow identifies the:

• Steps in the approval process for absence requests.
• Approvers assigned to each step.
• Notification alerts and actions to send or process for each step, to keep the approval process on schedule.

Configuration

You set up benefit accrual codes on the Benefit Accrual Setup tab in Configuration > Accounting > Time Analysis.

You create and configure approval workflows for absence requests in Configuration > Workflow > Approval Workflows. You can create simple or complex, multi-tiered, conditional steps for approval workflows. You can use the same or different approval workflows for each benefit accrual that you want to go through an approval process.

If you use organizations in Vision, you can specify approver roles at the organization level in Configuration > Organization > General.

You turn on approvals individually for the appropriate benefit accrual codes and specify the approval workflow that each will use on the Benefit Accrual Setup tab in Configuration > Accounting > Time Analysis.

Submitting and Approving an Absence Request

In Time & Expense > Absence Requests, you enter, submit, approve, reject, view, and delete absence requests.

The employee for whom the absence request applies is the "requester." You enter and submit absence requests for yourself. If you have security rights to employee records of others (such as a supervisor might have), you can enter and submit an absence request for other employees.

After you save an absence request, you click the Submit option on the toolbar of the Absence Requests form. This starts the approval process using the approval workflow that is specified for an absence type (benefit accrual code).

If you are an assigned approver for the current approval step, the toolbar on the Absence Requests form displays an Approvals option. You use the options in the Approvers drop-down menu to take action for an approval step, such as approving, rejecting, and reassigning.

Alerts

Alerts that you set up in Approval Workflows Configuration for an absence request approval workflow are automatically sent to notify approvers and others that absence requests are ready for their review, the due date for an approval step is near, a record has been rejected or approved, and so on.

Viewing the Progress of Absence Requests Being Approved

You can see the progress of an absence request that is going through the approval process in several places on the Absence Requests form in Time & Expense > Absence Requests:

• On the Absence Requests lookup in the Search field
• In the Status, State, and Step fields on the General tab
• On the Progress tab

These places show you whether or not the approval process has started, the approval is in progress, or the approval is completed. You can see the current approval step that the absence request is in and more details on the Progress tab.

Assigning a Delegate to Perform Your Approval Assignments in Your Absence

If you normally approve absence requests, you can temporarily assign another person to perform approval duties in your absence. You assign a delegate on the General tab of User Options, which you access from Vision's main toolbar.