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Enter time off taken on Payroll classic

Updated

Available for the following Payroll plans: Standard, Premium, Core Payroll 
Available for the following user access level: Admin

Time off taken can be added during the pay run, or via time off requests.

Please note, time off must be entered via the Actions > Take Time off tab. Do not enter time off as earnings, as this will not record the time off as time off taken. If time off is entered as earnings, it will not be shown in the employee's time off balance, or in your time off reports. If the employee leaves the business, the time off balance that will be paid out will not be taken out of any time off entered as earnings. It will be more than what was entered as earnings.

Getting started

Enter time off via a pay run

  1. Open the pay run containing the employee and time off you would like to add.
  2. Select the Actions tab in the bottom-right corner.
  3. Select the Take Time off option.
  4. Enter the following:
    • Time off category
    • Notes
    • Units taken

Helpful Hint

Against each time off option, next to the Notes field, the platform will display how many units of the chosen time off the employee has available. If the units entered are higher than the balance available, a warning will display "This employee has taken more time off than they have accrued". They will be allowed to go into a negative time off balance, however, you can choose to only apply the number of units the employee has available, then process the remaining time off as time off without pay/unpaid time off in a separate "take time off" action.

Enter time off via a time off request

  1. On the Payroll dashboard, select the Manage Employees drop-down menu.
  2. Select Create Requests.
  3. Complete the Time off request. Time off can be created for more than one employee at a time.
  4. Depending on your permissions, the time off request may be approved immediately after saving.
  5. Head to the applicable pay run and select Time off Requests.
  6. Time off will not be automatically added to the pay run. To apply the time off requests to the selected pay run, select the request, then select Apply. You can also apply all time off requests by selecting the Bulk Apply button.

Helpful Hint

If a time off request spans more than one pay period, you will be notified of this. In this scenario, you can override the number of units by entering the number of units applicable to that pay run. The subsequent pay run will then keep a record of units previously applied and so will then just apply the remaining units.

Further information

If you are looking for further ideas, try our community.

Taking time off at half pay

When an employee requests paying any type of time off at half pay, three options can be recommended:

Option 1: Create Time off requests based on the pay schedule.

For example, you can create time off requests weekly or fortnightly for half the usual number of hours.

  • Pros: Able to apply the full time off to each pay run.
  • Cons:
    • Multiple time off requests.  If they normally work 40 hours, then the time off request will be for 20 hours, say time off and then a second time off request for Time off without pay for the other 20 hours. These should be created in the HR platform.
    • Time off requests may be confusing for the employee, as the platforms will prefill the usual hours.
      • If created in HR, they will need to adjust the hours, day by day, to half the usual amount. Then, create the unpaid time off in a similar way. When creating the subsequent time off applications for the same day, the system will not pick up that there is already an application in place for that day and will offer the full hours available for that day instead of the half remaining.
      • If created in Payroll, in regard to the subsequent unpaid time off, while the system will prefill the usual hours, it will also show the overlapping time off request and the hours outlined as a guide.

Option 2: Create a time off request for the total period.

  • Pros: Two requests for the employee (paid and unpaid).
  • Cons: Manual application of time off applications is required in the pay run for the appropriate hours.
    • Would also recommend a pay run task be set up for the period as a reminder to do the adjustment.

Option 3: (Hybrid) Employee creates two time off requests for the total period.

Once created and approved, an Admin enters the payroll platform time off application and changes the finish date to the end of the first pay run covered by the time off. They then create further time off requests with dates that align with the pay run dates. This will need to occur for both the paid and unpaid time off.

  • Pros:
    • The employee only has to create two requests.
    • Full time off requests can be applied to the pay run.
  • Cons: The Admin needs to adjust the initial request and create further requests

The option chosen will depend on your business circumstances and perhaps the time off type taken. For example, whether this is a frequent request from multiple employees as opposed to a one-off request from one employee will affect the decision as it relates to the subsequent actions.

In all cases, best practice dictates that an unpaid time off request for the other half of the hours also be created and processed for each pay run. This completes the administrative side of the transaction so that it is clear to all that the half pay is intentional and the other hours are accounted for in time off reporting.

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