Enter Time Balance Definition

Explanation

Use this function to define employee time balances. A time balance is based upon the result entered in the employees time card information. How it was entered, automatically by the calculation program, or manually by the user, doesn't matter.

The time balance has a basic definition that describes,e.g., the minimum and maximum allowed values, any rounding or threshold values, which wage codes are affecting the balance, and so forth.  All balances are updated from the accruing and withdrawing wage codes entered in the definition window. Wages codes with a positive factor are accruing to the balance. Wages codes with a negative factor are withdrawing from the balance.

The balance may be connected to a reconciliation period. This means you can let the balance fluctuate within the period and at the end of the period set it to a certain value. You can also have any cut out time transferred to a wage code or to another balance. This we call the conversion of a balance, which is available both to daily remainders as well as to remainders created when reconciling the balance.

A time balance may also use the alert functionality. However, this requires that you enter a set up in the IFS/Foundation1 component. Alerts are used, e.g., to warn for overtime hours coming close to violating work time regulations.

In order to have a balance come effective it is connected to a work hour rule type. The rule type is in turn linked to the employee.

Prerequisites

The wage codes that should be used to accrue and withdraw from the balance should have been entered.

System Effects

There are no system effects.

Window

Balance Definition

Related Window Descriptions

Balance Definition

Procedure

  1. Select New to enter a new balance definition.
  2. Enter an appropriate Balance ID. This is the name you will use in the rest of the system. If relevant, enter a Description of the balance.
  3. Select a Unit, one of Hours or Days, and select the balance Type. Note that the unit Days is allowed only for a balance of type Other.
  4. Open the General tab.
  5. Enter the mandatory Minimum and Maximum balance values. You enter the values in hours and 1/100's.
  6. If applicable, enter rounding rules in the Round Accrual Value and Round Withdrawal Value fields. Downward rounding is achieved by using a negative value, upward rounding requires a positive value. The value refers to hours and 1/100's, e.g., -0.1, means you round downward to the nearest 1/10 of an hour.
    7.57 is rounded to 7.50 etc.
  7. If applicable, enter the Maximum Daily Accrual and Maximum Daily Withdrawal. You enter the values in hours and 1/100's.
  8. If applicable, enter the Accrual Threshold and Withdrawal Threshold. You enter the values in hours and 1/100's. These thresholds can be used to avoid that to small amounts are added to and withdrawn from the balance. E.g., you may require at least 15 minutes (0.25) before the balance is updated.
  9. Select one of the three available options how to manage remainders and enter the supplementing information for the options. Remainders are the leftovers from roundings, thresholds, and maximum and minimum limits.
  10. If you entered a balance of type Other and selected the unit Days, you must select a Conversion Rule. Selecting the Fixed option also require you to enter a Conversion Hours value.
  11. Open the Daily Rule tab.
  12. If applicable, enter a Positive Wage Code and a Negative Wage Code. These wage codes will be used to summarize the accruing and withdrawing time from the wage codes that generates the balance (see below). The wage codes entered will be displayed in the employees time card result.
  13. Enter the relevant information in the Wage Code Generating Balance fields. The Wage Type and Wage Code refers to the information calculated from the clocking, or manually entered by the employee. The Factor should be a positive number value for the accruing wage code, and a negative value for the withdrawing wage code. Normal values are +1 and -1. If you have defined another balance, which remainders should be converted into the current balance, you must select one wage code with positive factor and one with a negative factor and select them as the Conversion Default. This means the transferring balance will convert the remainders to these wage codes. Note that the balance type controls what can and should be entered in these fields.
  14. If you have defined a balance of type Other you may select non, one, or both of the checkboxes Level balance change and accruing result and Level balance change and withdrawing result. The affect is that the time accounted to the wage codes that generates the balance (the first calculation) will be adjusted to match the result from the balance calculation (the second calculation). I.e., any balance related rounding, or threshold operation etc. will affect the result from the first calculation.
  15. Open the Time Balance Alerts tab. This is optional and not applicable to most balances. You may consider it if you have a balance counting overtime hours. Then the alerts could be useful in order to avoid breaking the work time regulations.
  16. Enter the Alert Name and the applicable Min Alert Value and Max Alert Value. E.g., in case of an overtime hours balance, only the maximum limit is of any interest. Now you also have to set up the alert in the Event Registry in the Admin tool.