Admins in absentify can configure individual user schedules to accommodate varying work patterns, ensuring accurate absence deductions and seamless integration with out-of-office notifications. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to managing work schedules.

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Accessing the schedule settings

  1. Navigate to Settings > Users.
  2. Select the desired user from the list and open their profile.
  3. In the user edit menu, select the Schedule tab from the side menu.

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Configuring a work schedule

Admins can define or update work schedules to reflect actual working hours. Follow these steps to create or modify schedules:

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Step-by-step guide

  1. Add or modify schedules:
    • Click New work schedule to create a new schedule or select an existing one to modify.
    • Set the start date for the schedule. For ongoing schedules, choose Start of employment.
    • Specify working days and hours:
      • Use checkboxes to enable or disable workdays.
      • Split daily working hours into shifts if necessary (e.g., 8:00 AM–12:00 PM, 1:00 PM–5:00 PM).
    • Save changes to finalize the schedule.
    If a user’s hours change, create a new schedule starting from the date of the change instead of modifying past schedules. Previous schedules will automatically be marked as Completed. Changes to past schedules will trigger a recalculation of absences, which may take some time.
  2. Handle schedule changes for temporary adjustments:
    • If a user transitions from full-time to part-time (e.g., for a specific period), create a new schedule with a defined Start Date for the part-time period.
    • Once the part-time period ends, create another schedule to reflect their return to full-time hours, ensuring continuity and accurate absence tracking.
    Using specific start dates for schedule changes avoids overlaps and ensures proper recalculation of absence balances during transitions.
  3. Half-day configurations:
    • Enable morning or afternoon shifts as needed.
    • Select Deduct full day to deduct a full day of allowance for a half-day absence.
    Deduct full day ensures that if a leave request is made for a half day, a full day is subtracted from the allowance. This is useful when company policies treat partial absences as full days.
    Use the Deduct full day option for scenarios where partial-day absences should impact full-day leave balances.

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Impact of schedules on absence calculations and out-of-office settings

Schedules affect more than just absence tracking. Below are the additional areas where schedules play a crucial role:

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1. Hourly absence tracking

  • When absences are booked on an hourly basis, only the periods within the defined working hours are considered.
  • For example, if an employee has a schedule of 8:00 AM–12:00 PM and 1:00 PM–5:00 PM, an absence request from 10:00 AM–3:00 PM will account for 4 hours of absence:
    • Morning: 2 hours from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
    • Afternoon: 2 hours from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
    • The 1-hour lunch break from 12:00 PM–1:00 PM is excluded.
Ensure schedules are accurate to reflect hourly absences correctly, especially for employees working variable shifts.

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2. Out-of-office notifications

  • Schedules are used to calculate the start and return times for out-of-office messages.
  • When placeholders like {{dateOfReturn}} and {{timeOfReturn}} are used in the out-of-office message template, absentify uses the employee’s schedule to determine the expected return date and time.
For a schedule of Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM, if an absence ends on Friday at 5:00 PM, the placeholders {{dateOfReturn}} and {{timeOfReturn}} will calculate the return as Monday, 8:00 AM.
Accurately configured schedules ensure out-of-office notifications provide the correct information to colleagues and external contacts.

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Best practices for schedules

  • Align with policies: Ensure work schedules match the user’s contractual working hours.
  • Use start dates for transitions: Define clear start dates for new schedules when an employee’s working hours change temporarily or permanently.
  • Avoid overwriting schedules: Create new schedules for changes instead of modifying past schedules to maintain historical accuracy and proper recalculations.
Incorrect schedules may lead to inaccurate absence deductions, incorrect out-of-office return times, or errors in hourly absence tracking. Double-check all settings before saving.