Absence Additions | PowerSchool Atrieve

The Absence Additions Screen is used to add employee absences and dispatches. Absences is a term we use loosely to mean not only absences, but also short and long term leaves. Differentiation between these different forms of absences is accomplished by defining and using different absence codes.

You will notice that the top half of the screen is devoted to entering absences, and the bottom is used to enter dispatches. By having both absences and dispatches handled on the same screen, replacement employees can be connected to the absent employees they are replacing without jumping from one screen to another. Recording absences can still be entered without a corresponding dispatch and dispatching of replacements without an absence to give you the best of both worlds.

Note: users of the web based Attendance Management System (AMS) option should refer to the section for Absence/Replacement Screen for instructions and documentation.

Employee

Enter the number of the employee to record the absence for or enter part of the employee’s last name and hit Enter to search.
To bypass the absence part of the screen and move to the dispatch section, press Enter without specifying an employee number.
Click the toggle button next to the employee lookup fields to toggle between Absence/Dispatch Additions and Changes.

Abs Reason

Enter the Absence Code to be associated with this absence. Search to display all absence codes.

Comment

Enter up to 60 characters of description to go with this absence (optional).

Need Rep

Enter 'Y' if you require a replacement employee for this absence or 'N' if you do not require a replacement for this absence.

Tentative

Enter 'Y' if you want to mark this as a tentative absence.
Enter 'N' if not. (Tentative Absences show on the Tentative Absence Report.)
You can control whether or not this field shows on the absence/dispatch screen through the Substitute/Casual Dispatch Parameters Profile. Include Tentative On Absence/Dispatch Screen. Answering this prompt 'Y' will display this prompt onscreen. Answering 'N' will not display this prompt.

Start Date

Enter the start date of the absence as YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD.

End Date

Enter the absence end date absence (YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD). If the absence is for a single day, the end date will be the same as the start date. If the end date is open or unknown, leave the end date blank. A detail absence record will only be created for the start date. You will be expected to fill in the end date when it is known to generate the rest of the detail records. There is a process called Open Ended Absence/Dispatch Day Advance that will perform this task for you.

Part Of Day MTWTFSS

Enter the letter [F, A, P, H or X] which corresponds to the part of day the absence will be taken. The letters have the following meaning:

LETTER	MEANING
F	Full Day (Start And End Times Picked Up From Location)
P	PM (Afternoon) (Start And End Times Picked Up From Location)
A	AM (Morning) (Start And End Times Picked Up From Location)
H	Hours (Start And End Time To Be Specified)
X	Hours (Start And End Time To Be Specified, Ignore Assignments & Schedules)

If you enter F, P, A or H, the system will check the employee's assignment(s) and schedules and book only the assigned time within the implied location times or specified times. For example, an employee is assigned to work from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM Monday through Friday; if you enter 'F' in the part of day field, the employee will only be marked absent from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM. If you enter 'P' in the part of day field, the employee will not be marked absent.
If you enter 'X', all of the employee's assignments and schedules will be completely ignored so that what you enter for times is what will be booked.
Note the prompt MTWTFSS directly over the PART OF DAY prompt. Each letter corresponds to a day of the week beginning at Monday. If you enter a date range covering more than one day, this field will be accessed to determine which days to book an absence for.
Let's say that you want to record an absence for every day for a two week period. When the cursor moves to the PART OF DAY prompt, you will notice that every work day is filled with 'F's.

MTWTFSS

FFFFF

If you accept the default of 'FFFFF', absences will be booked for Monday through Friday throughout the date range. If you want to record absences for only Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays within the date range, you could modify the defaults in the following manner:

MTWTFSS

F F F

Placing 'F's only under Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will tell the system that only those days are to be booked. Any combination of 'F', 'A', 'P', 'H', or 'X' could also be used.

Start Time

Enter the start time of the absence. Times are always entered in 24 hour format so the system can differentiate between AM and PM. You cannot enter an end time before the start time, or a start time that is after the end time.

End Time

Enter the end time of the absence. Always enter times in 24 hour format so the system can differentiate between AM and PM. You cannot enter an end time that is before the start time, or a start time that is after the end time.

Hours

Enter the amount of hours/days that the employee will be absent. Either hour or day units can be entered. Fractions of days or hours can also be entered as decimals.
Once you have entered the above fields, the Absence Detail screen will appear showing the systems interpretation of the absence entered. If 'X' was entered in the part of day field, the absence will appear exactly as you entered it.
If F, A, P, or H was entered, the system will refer to the employee's assignment(s) and schedule(s). The detail screen will show the absence date, day, position, location, start time, end time, and hours/FTE. Change any field by moving the cursor to the desired field and making the change. Entire lines can also be deleted, copied, or moved by using the Cut Line, Paste Line, Insert Line buttons.

Cost Centre (or Subjects)

Enter the cost center to charge this absence to. Search to display all the cost centers in the system. This field is optional. Note: You will only see this field if you have entered ‘A' or 'B’ on field Include Costing On Absence/Dispatch Screen in the Substitute/Casual Dispatch Parameters Profile. Otherwise this field will display as Subjects. Subjects is an obsolete field that can be used in any way.

Enter the GL to charge this absence to. This GL overrides the GL in the cost center. This field is optional.
Note: You will only see this field if you have entered ‘A' or 'B’ on field Include Costing On Absence/Dispatch Screen in the Substitute/Casual Dispatch Parameters Profile.

Dispatch Details

Employee

Enter the number of the employee to record the absence for or enter part of the employee’s last name and hit Enter to search.
To exit the absence/dispatch screen, Cancel without specifying an employee number.

Position

The position should default to the replacement position code found on the absent employee’s absence position code, however it can be changed by entering the code of the position the replacement employee will be working as or using the search to view all valid position codes.
Important: If you do not wish details of the absence to be copied as defaults for the dispatch, click the “No Abs Copy' button next to the postion code field. The message 'NO ABS COPY' will appear in the footer of the screen. You will be able to fill in the details of the dispatch.

Comment

Enter up to 60 characters of description to go with this dispatch. (Optional.)

Tentative

Enter 'Y' to mark this dispatch as tentative, 'N' if not. Tentative Dispatches will show up on the Tentative Dispatch Report.
You can control whether or not this field shows up on the absence/dispatch screen through the Substitute/Casual Dispatch Parameters Profile. Field INCLUDE TENTATIVE ON Absence/Dispatch SCREEN. Answering this prompt 'Y' will display this prompt, answering 'N' will not.

Source

This field was originally intended to track the source of the dispatch for reporting purposes but has evolved to be used to direct payroll as to how this dispatch should be paid (usually extra pay logic).
You can control whether or not this field to shows up on the absence/dispatch screen through the Substitute/Casual Dispatch Parameters Profile. Field Include Source On Absence/Dispatch Screen. Answering 'Y' will display this prompt, answering 'N' will not display this prompt.

Start Date

Enter the start date of the dispatch as YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD.

End Date

Enter the end date of the dispatch as YYMMDD or YYYYMMDD. If the dispatch is for a single day, the end date will be the same as the start date. If the end date is open or unknown, you can leave the end date blank. A detail dispatch record will only be created for the start date. You will be expected to fill in the end date when it is known to generate the rest of the detail records.

Part Of Day MTWTFSS

Enter the letter [FAPHX] which corresponds to the part of day the dispatch will be taken. The letters and their meaning are listed below.

Letter	Meaning
F	Full Day (Start/End Times Picked Up From Location)
P	PM (Afternoon) (Start/End Times Picked Up From Location)
A	AM (Morning) (Start/End Times Picked Up From Location)
H	Hours (Start/End Time To Be Specified)
X	Hours (Start/End Time To Be Specified, Ignore Assignment & Schedules)

If you enter F, P, A or H, the system will check the employee's assignment(s) and schedules and book only the assigned time within the implied location times or specified times. For example, an employee is assigned to work from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM Monday through Friday; if you enter 'F' in the part of day field, the employee will only be marked absent from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM. If you enter 'P' in the part of day field, the employee will not be marked as absent at all.
If you enter 'X' all the employee's assignments and schedules will be completely ignored so that what you enter for times is what will be booked.
You will notice the prompt MTWTFSS directly over the PART OF DAY prompt. Each letter corresponds to a day of the week beginning at Monday. If you enter a date range covering more than one day, this field will be accessed to determine which days to record a dispatch for.
Let's say you want to record a dispatch for each day for a two week period. When the cursor moves to the PART OF DAY prompt, you will notice that every work day is filled with 'F's.

MTWTFSS

FFFFF

If you accept the default 'FFFFF', dispatches will be booked Monday through Friday throughout the date range. To record dispatches for only Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays within the date range, modify the defaults in the following manner:

MTWTFSS

F F F

Placing 'F's only under Monday, Wednesday, and Friday tells the system only those days are to be booked. Any combination of 'F', 'A', 'P', 'H', or 'X' can be used.

Start Time

Enter the start time of the dispatch. Times are always entered in 24 hour format so the system can differentiate between AM and PM. You cannot enter an end time before the start time, or a start time that is after the end time.

End Time

Enter the end time of the dispatch. Times are always entered in 24 hour format so the system can differentiate between AM and PM. You cannot enter an end time before the start time, or a start time after the end time.

Hours

Enter the amount of hours/days that the employee will be dispatched. Either hour or day units can be entered. Fractions of days or hours can also be entered as decimals.
Once you have entered the above fields, the Dispatch Detail screen will appear showing the systems interpretation of the absence entered. If 'X' was entered in the part of day field, the dispatch will appear exactly as you entered it.
If F, A, P, or H was entered, the system will refer to the employee's assignment(s) and schedule(s). The detail screen will show the dispatch date, day, position, location, start time, end time, and hours/FTE. Change any field by moving the cursor to the desired field and making the change. Entire lines can also be deleted, copied, or moved by using the Cut Line, Paste Line, Insert Line buttons.

Rate

Enter the rate of pay the replacement employee will be paid. Note: You will only see this field if you have entered ‘D' or 'B’ on field Include Costing On Absence/Dispatch Screen in the Substitute/Casual Dispatch Parameters Profile.

Cost Centre

Enter the cost center to charge this dispatch to. Search to open a window displaying all the cost centers in the system. This field is optional. Note: You will only see this field if you have entered ‘D' or 'B’ on field Include Costing On Absence/Dispatch Screen in the Substitute/Casual Dispatch Parameters Profile.

Enter the GL you wish to charge this dispatch to. This GL overrides the GL in the cost center. This field is optional. Note: You will only see this field if you have entered ‘D' or 'B’ on field Include Costing On Absence/Dispatch Screen in the Substitute/Casual Dispatch Parameters Profile.
Once all the above fields have been entered, the cursor will move to the Field To Change prompt. If you leave this field blank and enter, the absence will be entered. If you click into a field you want to change, the cursor will be moved to the desired field where you can make modifications. Any other highlighted key can be pressed to activate functions summarized in the table below:

Buttons	Function
Restart	The screen is cleared and the user can restart entry.
Documents	If licensed, eDocs window will open for absent employee.
Actions
Absence - View Schedule Details	Opens the detail absence window to view or edit
Absence - Duplicate First Day	Copies absence details for all days absent based on first days detail entry
Absence - Recalculate Details	Re-calculates the absence details based on changes (dates, times etc.)
Absence - Open Ended Schedule	Creates schedule to be used by the voice system for open ended absences. You will be prompted to enter the schedule to be used for this open ended absent/replacement employee. Enter the location, position, start and end times and total hrs or FTE for each day of the week. Enter up to 5 locations per day that the abs/rep employee is away from/working at.
Check Payroll Banks	Checks the Payroll storage banks
Check HR Entitlements	Checks the employee's HR entitlement for the specified absence type
View Attendance Comments
Dispatch - Delete Replacement Employee and Redispatch
Dispatch - View Schedule Details	Opens the detail dispatch window to view or edit
Dispatch - Add a New Replacement Employee	Saves any existing dispatch record and allows the user to add a new replacement or replacement request/search.
Dispatch - Duplicate First Day	Copies replacement (dispatch) details for all replacement days based on first days detail entries.
Dispatch - Recalculate Details	Re-calculates the dispatch details based on any changes
Dispatch - Copy Absence Details	Copies the absence details to the dispatch detail screen
Dispatch - Open Ended Schedule	Creates schedule to be used by the voice system for open ended dispatches. You will be prompted to enter the schedule to be used for this open ended absent/replacement employee. Enter the location, position, start and end times and total hrs or FTE for each day of the week. Enter up to 5 locations per day that the abs/rep employee is away from/working at.
Custom Functions	Opens functions/reports customized for the logged-in user, defined in HR Setup & Maintenance > Setup Tables > Abs/Dis User
ADS Functions
Search for Replacement Employee	Performs a search for the best qualified replacement employee
View ADS Details	Opens Inquiry Screen to display queue information (subjects, levels, requested employees, etc)
View Dispatch Queue Records	Opens the ADS Queue Processing Screen for any queue records for this absence.
View Manual Queue Records	Opens the Manual Intervention Processing Screen for any manual queue records for this absence.
View Suspended Queue Records	Opens the Suspended ADS Queue Processing Screen for any suspended queue records for this absence.
Delete Queue Records	Deletes queue records for the selected absence.
View ADW Comment for Replacement Employee	Displays the message for the replacement employee entered on the web portal during absence entry.
View Web Leave Form	Opens the web leave form associated to the absence.

Attendance Management

Process Comments & AMW Group options

To access the AMS WEB Comment Selection Screen, click Process Comments or AMW Group at the bottom of the Absence/Dispatch Changes Screen.

A window will appear prompting for selection criteria on comment information. Once the information is entered on this screen, it will be saved so that if Process Comments is pressed again, you do not have to enter the selection criteria all over again, the criteria will be saved until you exit the module. To change the criteria without having to exit the module, use the AMW Group button.

To view comments for a specific absence, load the absence in Absence/Dispatch Changes, then click Actions > View Attendance Comments.