The article details the setup and management of Leave of Absence (LOA) cases and workflows in a HR system, covering workflow creation, configuration, profile and rule setup, case management, manual updates, closing and extending cases, and form handling, with step-by-step instructions for administrators and managers.
Additional Employee Profiles to Update
Extending a Leave of Absence Case
Workflow Creation
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Request Workflow - Workflows can be configured to send the LOA request from the employee to a manager/administrator for review and approval, as well as to generate notifications to the desired parties. There is also a pre-configured workflow with an FMLA questionnaire the employee can complete to determine whether they qualify for FMLA.
- Settings > Global Setup > Workflows
- Select Add Default
- Select the Leave of Absence Request workflow type from the drop-down list
- Select Add Default
- Settings > Global Setup > Workflows
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- Enter the email address that notifications should be sent from and select the approver for leave requests.
- Edit the workflow as needed (see Workflows guide in the additional resource).
- Click Save.
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Case Workflow- Workflows can be configured to send the LOA Case through a process to generate notifications to Managers, as well as have an approval/rejection process for the case (not the request, see above for that workflow). This workflow requires steps for all processes of the workflow to work properly- Populate Timesheet, Approve/Reject, & Close Case.
- Settings > Global Setup > Workflows
- Select Add Default
- Select the Leave of Absence Case workflow type from the drop-down list
- Select Add Default
- Settings > Global Setup > Workflows
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- Enter the email address that notifications should be sent from and select the approver for leave cases.
- Edit the workflow as needed (see Workflows guide in the additional resource).
- Click Save.
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Configuration
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Categories
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Categories
- Add LOA categories such as CA Family Rights Acts (CFRA), Family Medical Leave (FMLA), Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL), Military, Workers Compensation Leave, etc.
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Categories
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Custom Field
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Custom Field
- Add any custom fields for information that needs to be collected, but is not on the default Leave Cases screen (My Employees > Employee Leave Maintenance > Cases)
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Custom Field
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Reasons
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Reasons
- Add reasons for the leave such as Care for a Family Member, Own Serious Health Condition, Pregnancy, Military, etc.
- LOA profiles will use the reasons to differentiate between sets of rules.
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Reasons
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Resolution Types
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Resolution Types
- Add LOA case resolution types such as Back to Work, Light Duty, Termination, Temporary Transfer, Reasonable Accommodation, Resignation etc.
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Resolution Types
Profiles
- Settings > Profiles/Policies > Leave of Absence > Profiles
- Select to create a profile for each set of employees with different LOA rules. For example, employees in different states may have different sets of Leave Categories available to them.
- a. Name: Enter the name of the profile. This should be easily identifiable when assigning the profile to the employee. For example, “California LOA” or “Full Time Employees LOA”
- b. Description: Enter an optional description
- c. Active: Select this box to make the profile active and assignable to employees
- d. Auto Run Balance Rules : Select this box so the system will run an employee’s entitlement balance automatically once a Leave of Absence case is created for them.
- e. Schedule Type: Select the default schedule to use for Leave of Absence time entries. Monday - Friday and Monday - Sunday are the only schedule types available at this time.
- f. Leave of Absence Request Workflow: Select the request workflow for this profile, if applicable
- g. Leave of Absence Case Workflow: Select the case workflow for this profile, if applicable
- h. Qualifier Questionnaire: Select the qualifier questionnaire for this profile, if applicable
- i. Collect Leave Document Workflow: Select the leave document workflow, if applicable
- j. Show Qualifier Questionnaire on Request Page: This option allows the Qualifier Questionnaire, if configured, to display in the Do I Qualify? section of the Leave Request for employees.
- k. Categories: Select the Leave categories that apply to this profile
- l. Reasons: Select the Reasons that apply to this profile
- Save the profile
Profile Rules
- Once saved, select View/Edit Rules and Add Rule
- Rules will be executed in order from top to bottom. It is recommended that rules be created in the following order:
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Waiting Period - Enter a separate rule for each LOA category with a defined waiting period.
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Look Back - Enter a separate rule for each LOA Category that requires an employee to have worked a certain number of hours to qualify for the leave.
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Entitlement Time - Enter a separate rule for each LOA Category in the profile, to determine the amount of time employees are eligible for
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Expire Leave Time Taken - Enter a separate rule for each LOA category where the leave time taken should fall off after a certain amount of time has passed (Rolling year)
- Use 12 Month Forward Measurement Period: When enabled, the leave taken time balances will be tied to this 12-month forward measurement period. After 12 months from the first date that a specific leave type was taken, the balance will reset.
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Waiting Period - Enter a separate rule for each LOA category with a defined waiting period.
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Set Leave Time Taken - Enter a separate rule for each LOA category where the leave time should reset to a particular amount on a specific date.
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Balance Notification - Enter a separate rule for each LOA category for which you would like to receive a notification if the employee’s balance falls below a certain amount, or is exceeded.
- You will need to add the corresponding “Entitlement Balance” notification under Admin > Company Settings > Global Setup > Notifications
- You will need to add the corresponding “Entitlement Balance” notification under Admin > Company Settings > Global Setup > Notifications
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Use Available Time Off / Use Available Time Off With Percentage - If time off to be used varies between reasons for one category, you will need to create rules for each category and rule combination (ex: if the employee should use Sick time if taking FMLA for Pregnancy and PTO time if taking FMLA for Care for a Family Member two rules would need to be created). If time off to be used is consistent for a category, the LOA reason can be left blank (ex: if sick time should be used for all FMLA leave, then create one rule with the ‘LOA Category’ of FMLA, and use ‘Sick’ Time off. ‘LOA Reason’ should be left blank).
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Set Leave Time Taken - Enter a separate rule for each LOA category where the leave time should reset to a particular amount on a specific date.
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Create Time Entry - Enter a separate rule for each LOA Category where time off should be added to the employee’s timesheet. If the time off to be created is dependent on the reason and category, the separate rules will need to be created for each category and reason combination.
Please note: If PTO is being applied first, the Create Time Entry for the Unpaid Time Off must be added immediately after each 'Use Available Time Off' category and/or reason. In the below example, the employee's Sick time will be applied first, then Vacation time, then Unpaid Time Off will be applied:
Leave Management
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Adding the Leave of Absence Profile to the Employee
- Team > My Team > Employee Information
- Under Profiles, add the applicable Leave of Absence profile
- Employees will go to My Info > My Time > Leave > Request to submit a new request
- Once complete, the employee should select Submit
- Once complete, the employee should select Submit
- Managers / Administrators with access to the Leave of Absence module will receive a notification when an employee has submitted a request.
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Select the bell icon to view pending requests
- Select the pencil icon to review the request details, then click to either approve or reject the request.
- Once approved, a Leave Case will be created for the employee.
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Updating and Adding New Cases
- Go to Team > Leave > Cases, and select the pencil icon for the case you want to work on.
- If no employee request, go here to manually add a case by selecting New Case
- Choose the employee, select a leave reason, and enter a Start and an Estimated End Dates
- Once the Leave Case is added to the employee use the tabs to manage the case, as follows:
- The General tab shows the case details and the employee’s entitlement balances based on the rules assigned to his profile.
- Select the leave categories that apply to the leave case based on the reason selected and press ‘Save.’
- The Time tab shows the time requested, and allows you to populate leave time onto the employee’s timesheet.
- Create a leave time schedule for the employee. Generate Leave Entries will use this schedule.
- Select Generate Leave Entries to populate the time into the Leave Entries widget using the schedule you have created.
- Review the entries and make any manual adjustments needed and ‘Save’
- Select Populate Timesheet to populate the leave entries onto the employee’s timesheet; this will use the time rules created in the LOA profile to determine the type of time off to populate (ex: sick, unpaid time off)
- Select View Timesheet to ensure the hours populated with the correct time off codes, etc.
- Create a leave time schedule for the employee. Generate Leave Entries will use this schedule.
- Documents relating to the leave, such as FMLA forms, can be attached by clicking the Paperclip button. Notes about the case can also be entered by clicking the speech bubble icon.
Additional Employee Profiles to Update
- Please note, only make these updates after all paid accrual time has been processed in payroll - these updates will stop an employee from coming into payroll. Do not make these updates if an employee is on intermittent leave.
- Team > My Team > Employee Information
- Under Personal Information update the employee’s account status to LOA
*** If you are utilizing the Arrearage Function, this will not calculate while an employee has a status of ‘LOA’. Any missed deductions will need to be managed outside of the system *** - Under Profiles, add or update the following profiles
- TS Auto Population - Change to ‘No Auto Populate. This will prevent Holidays from historically displaying on the timesheet while the employee is on leave.
- Pay Prep - Change to ‘Do Not Export’. This will ensure that any hours recorded on the timesheet will not pull into payroll.
- Under Base Compensation, update ‘Autopay Amount Earning’ to be blank in Base Compensation widget (if applicable - salaried employees)
Closing a Leave Case
- Go to Team > Leave > Cases
- Select the Pencil button for the case you want to close
- Enter the actual end date on the General tab and Save
- Select Close
- Select a Resolution Type from the drop down list
- If the employee returned early see the section below: “Making Adjustments to a Leave of Absence Case”
Post-Close Updates
- Go to Team > My Team > Employee Information
- Under Personal Information update the employee’s account status to ‘Active’
- Under Profiles, update the following profiles
- LOA Profile - remove the profile (only if all leave cases are closed and only if desired. Removing the profile will not delete the case from the system. However, you will be unable to view the employees cases without a profile attached to the employee. )
- TS Auto Population - Change to ‘Holidays’ (if applicable). This will auto populate all Company paid holidays onto the timesheet.
- Pay Prep - Change to ‘Export to Payroll’. This will now allow any hours on the timesheet to be brought into payroll.
- Under Base Compensation, update ‘Autopay Amount Earning’ in Base Compensation widget (if applicable - salaried employees)
- Under Accruals, change ‘Accrued To’ date for Vacation in Accruals widget as date employee came back from leave. Enter a comment, and save
Leave of Absence Forms
- Leave of Absence forms can be assigned to the employee under Team > Leave > Forms
- Select the form you want to assign
- Select Add New
- Select the employee from the drop down list.
- Select Populate Form to bring in any employee data available in the system.
- The form can also be Finalized to lock it down and prevent further changes, if needed
- The employee will now be able to access the form under My Info > My Time > Leave > Forms
- Forms that cannot be completed electronically (for example, WH-380-E, which requires the signature of a Health Care Provider), can be downloaded as PDFs, and uploaded again once signed.
**Note** Customized Leave of Absence forms can also be created, with fields that populate case-specific information. Please see the Custom Forms Guide in Additional Resources for more information.
Manually Updating Entitlement
- You can back-date the employee’s taken time used by creating cases for previous leaves of absence. Include the dates and add the leave entries, which will then reflect as time taken within the employee’s entitlement time balance.
- Another option is to manually enter how much time has been taken. This method will not allow you look back and refer to a specific case or refer to notes entered when the update was made.
- The employee must be assigned the LOA profile
- Within their employee information screen > HR Tab there is a Leave of Absence widget
- If this widget is not already added, click ‘Edit Tabs.’ Click the HR Tab, and from the available windows list, drag and drop ‘Leave of Absence’ into the desired column and press ‘Save.’ Press ‘Back’ to view the added widget.
- Once the widget has been added, click Run Entitlement Rules and then Edit Leave of Absence Balances at the top of the widget to manually add the amount of time taken, as of what date and press ‘Save.’ You will now see the updated balance of the employee’s entitlement time.
Adjusting Leave Entries
- If adjustments need to be made to a leave of absence case, you must manually update the leave entries within the case and then populate the timesheet.
Extending a Leave of Absence Case
- On the ‘General’ tab, update the est. end date and ‘Save’
- On the ‘Time’ tab, there will now be additional leave entry dates. Manually add the leave times to the new dates and press ‘Save.’ Do not generate leave entries.
- Populate the employee’s timesheet to reflect the newly added entries.
Additional Resources
UKG Leave of Absence Account Status Maintenance
UKG Leave of Absence Module Employee User Guide