Entering an absence for a whole population

Collective absence entry records the same absence (same type, same dates, same comment) for a whole population in a single operation: the company closing between two public holidays, an imposed bridge day, a day off for an entire site. Absences are created already approved, without going through approval. Each employee still goes through the same checks as an individual entry, and those who fail them are listed with the reason. This article explains how to define the population, describe the absence, confirm and read the report. It is intended for HR teams and administrators.

Before you start #

• The Absence management module must be installed and open to you. The screen opens from HR access › Collective entry.
• Two permissions are required, both at Execute level: Approve an absence directly (bypass approval) and Create an absence request. The supplied Administrator and HR Manager roles carry them. With only one of the two, the screen says so and stays empty.
• Scope: only employees within your scope are targeted, as if you entered their absences one by one. Hiring drafts and inactive employees are left out. See Defining a role’s target population.
• One operation targets at most 500 employees. Beyond that, split the population into several entries.

Defining the population #

The Population card combines two ways of targeting employees. Employees matching the criteria and those added by hand add up, without duplicates.

By criteria #

1. Click Criteria. The Custom Filters window opens.
2. Click Add Filter, then choose a Field (for example sub-company, office, department, teams, contract type or manager), an Operator (for example Equals to) and a Value.
3. Add further conditions with Add Another Filter, then click Save Filters. The button then shows the number of criteria, for example Criteria (1). Clear criteria removes them all.

By chosen employees #

1. Under Or chosen employees, open the Choose an employee list and type the start of a name to find them.
2. Click Add. The person appears under the list, with a cross to remove them.
3. Repeat for each employee.

Checking the population #

Click Preview the population. The screen shows the number of employees targeted and lists the first names. If the population exceeds 500 employees, the counter turns red and asks you to narrow it. Nothing has been created at this stage.

Any change to the population (a criterion, an employee added or removed) clears this preview: click Preview the population again before confirming.

Describing the absence #

1. In Absence type, choose the type. The list only offers the types that one of your roles allows you to enter for others.
2. Choose the From and To dates in the calendar. Dates outside the allowed entry window are greyed out there.
3. For a single-day absence, if the type accepts half days, choose the Duration: Full day, Morning or Afternoon.
4. Add a Comment if needed: it goes with each employee’s absence.

If remote work is managed in Flex Office for your workspace, a box at the top of the screen says so: imposed remote work is not entered here but in Flex Office (Remote work tab, collective booking), with an Open Flex Office link.

Creating and approving #

1. Once the population is checked and the type and start date are chosen, the button becomes Create and approve for N employee(s). Click it.
2. Before anything is written, the dates are checked for every targeted employee: if they fall outside the entry window of any of them, nothing is created and a message says so.
3. Otherwise, the absence is recorded for each employee, one by one, with the checks of an individual entry: balance, overlap with another absence, closed payroll period, contract, working day, supporting document and so on. A message sums up the number of absences created and rejected.

Reading the report #

The Report card appears below the form:

• the sentence “N absence(s) created out of M targeted employee(s).”;
• Created with a warning: absences created despite a check that your role lets through as a mere warning, with the warning message for each employee;
• Rejections: employees for whom the absence was not created, with the Reason, that is, the message an individual entry would have shown.

If you are part of the targeted population, your own absence is not approved automatically: it remains subject to approval, and the report says so.

Good to know #

• Employees receive the same notifications as for an absence entered for them individually.
• A rejection leaves nothing behind and does not prevent creation for the other employees.
• Each collective entry is logged: who made it, for how many employees, with the report.
• The absences created are ordinary, approved absences: they appear in each employee’s calendar and counters. See Absence management: overview and vocabulary and Approving absence requests.

Frequently asked questions #

The Create and approve button stays greyed out. #

You need a population checked with Preview the population (at least one employee, at most 500), an absence type and a start date. After changing the population, click Preview the population again.

An absence type is missing from the list. #

Only active types that one of your roles allows you to enter for others are offered. Some types are recorded elsewhere: imposed remote work in Flex Office when your workspace manages it there, for example.

Why is an employee rejected for an insufficient balance? #

Collective entry applies exactly the rules of individual entry: if their balance does not cover the absence and their policy does not allow a negative balance, the absence is not created for them.