WFM UK | HR & Payroll: Creating Absence in Days – Fourth & HotSchedules Customer Success Portal

Return to: WFM UK | HR & Payroll: Absence (Sickness)

Overview

This article covers the end-to-end process of recording and managing absence in days within the system, from creating an absence record through to how it flows into Rotas, and Scheduling. It also covers how the system handles absences alongside other types of leave, such as holidays and statutory leave.

Absence records in the system are designed to reflect real-world absence management as closely as possible, ensuring that once an absence is recorded, the downstream impact across pay, rotas, and reporting is handled accurately and consistently. Whether an absence is straightforward or involves complex pay calculations, this article aims to provide a clear understanding of how the system behaves at each stage.

For Processing Absence in Hours, go to: WFM UK | HR & Payroll: Creating Absence in Hours

For details on how absence records process through payroll, including SSP and CSP calculations, refer to: WFM UK | HR & Payroll: Absence (Sickness) - Payroll Processing, SSP & CSP Calculations

Important: Before proceeding, we recommend reviewing the WFM UK | HR & Payroll: Absence Related User Permissions & Portal Settings article, as your configuration of various settings can impact absence creation and downstream calculations. References are made throughout this article where relevant, but not every possible configuration scenario may be captured.

Configuring an Absence
Absence Record Breakdown
Absence Representation in Rota
Absence Representation in Scheduling

Configuring an Absence

This section covers how to record an absence through the UI. For bulk recording of absences, refer to:

WFM UK | HR & Payroll: Absence (Sickness) Data Imports

Once absence types have been configured in the system, they can be applied to employee records to record periods of sickness. Where an employee has a contract assigned that is configured to pay Company Sick Pay (CSP), this will be calculated and paid alongside Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) where the employee is eligible.

Users with Full Access to the Absences permission will be able add new absences.

Via HR or Payroll Module

To configure an absence, navigate to either:

HR Module > Employees > Employee List > Find & Select Employee > Employee HR Info > Absences
Payroll Module > Employees > Employee List > Find & Select Employee > Employee Info > Absences

Select Add A New Absence

**Fig.1 - Add New Absence (Employee Record)**

Filter Reason for Absence By: Select whether the absence is in Days or Hours. For the purpose of this article, select Days.

If the Enforce Absence in Hours Only? Global Setting is enabled, days will be unavailable to select.

Reason for Absence: Automatically filtered to display absence types configured for days. Select the relevant absence type from the list.

Whether an absence type appears here is determined by the Absence in Hours setting configured on the absence type itself.

Absence Date From / Absence Date To: The start and end dates of the employee's absence. Day-based absences can be left open-ended, meaning the Absence Date To can be left blank until the employee returns.

**Fig.3 - Select Absence Type & Apply Data Range**

Doctors Certificate: If the absence requires a doctor's certificate, tick this option and enter the certificate date range. The certificate dates are required if this is ticked.

**Fig.4 - Doctors Certificate and Date Range**

Evidence Seen: Tick when sickness-related documentation has been provided and reviewed.

Evidence Seen is required for SSP and CSP to be paid. However, the absence type can be configured to remove this requirement, allowing SSP and CSP to pay automatically without evidence being provided. A further option on the absence type allows the field to be hidden from the form entirely.

Any additional information relevant to the absence can be recorded here.
Certain special characters are not permitted in this field for security purposes. If saving the absence fails unexpectedly, review the Notes field for any special characters and remove them before retrying.

**Fig.5 - Evidence Seen & Absence Notes**

Return to Work Completed: Indicates whether a return to work has been completed for this absence.

This is currently an administrative field only. Ticking this has no functional impact on the absence or its calculations, but the value is available for reporting purposes.

Days Usually Worked: Defines which days of the week are treated as qualifying days for the absence. At least one day must be selected. Each day ticked means every occurrence of that day within the absence date range will be considered a qualifying day for SSP and CSP purposes.

**Fig.6 - Return to Work & Days Usually Worked**

The following fields may also appear on the absence form depending on your Global Settings configuration. For more information on these settings, refer to WFM UK | HR & Payroll: Absence Related User Permissions & Portal Settings:

Rota Text: An optional field allowing up to 10 characters of text to be entered against the absence, which appears on the rota when hovering over the employee's absence as "Employee Absent [Rota Text]". Visible when the Hide Absence Rota Text Comments global setting is disabled.

Days Worked in Last 12 Weeks: Displayed within the Days Usually Worked section, showing how many times the employee has worked each day of the week based on their rota history. Only available for employees included in the rota. Visible when the Show Rota Days Usually Worked on Absence Form global setting is enabled.

When the absence record has been configured, click Save

Once saved, the record will appear in the Absences page:

Via Rota

If using Scheduling, users may not be able to see the Rota Module.

Absences can also be created directly from within the Rota module, without the need to navigate to the employee's record in HR or Payroll. The fields and behaviour are the same as described above.

Creating absence directly from Scheduling is not currently available.

To configure an absence, navigate to:

Rota Module > Rotas > View Rotas > Find & Select Necessary Rota

Filter to the correct Division, and Job Title if required and select a day of the week for the Day Content Page:

**Fig.12 - Navigate to the Day Content Page**

Find the employee to add an Absence for, and select the icon:

A pop-up will load, allowing a new absence record to be created for that day. The fields and process are the same as described in the HR and Payroll Module steps above. Complete the fields accordingly and select Save:

Creating Absences via Rota are limited to one day at a time.

Once the record has been saved, the pop-up window will close, and the Rota will now show there is an absence for this day:

**Fig.15 - Absence now showing on Rota (Day Content Page)**

**Fig.16 - Absence now showing on Rota (Week View)**

Returning to either:

HR Module > Employees > Employee List > Find & Select Employee > Employee HR Info > Absences
Payroll Module > Employees > Employee List > Find & Select Employee > Employee Info > Absences

The absence created via the Rota, will show in the employees Absence records:

Where the Consolidate Rota Absences global setting is enabled, individual day absences created via the rota will automatically be merged into a single absence record upon rota submission to payroll, provided they are continuous and identical in their details. For example, three consecutive single-day absences created via the rota would become one absence record on the employee's record rather than three separate entries.

Validation vs other types of leave or absence

When recording an absence, the system will validate against other leave types already present on the employee's record for the same date range. The table below outlines how absence in days interacts with each leave type and the expected behaviour in each scenario:

	When attempting to create a Full Day Absence in Days record:	When attempting to create a Half Day Absence in Days record:
Half Day Sickness (Absence in Days)	Not Yet Available	Not Yet Available
Full Day Sickness (Absence in Days)	Not permitted, absence will not save
Part Day Sickness (Absence in Hours)	Not permitted, absence will not save
Full Day Sickness (Absence in Hours)	Not permitted, absence will not save
Full Day Holiday	Not permitted, absence will not save
Half Day Holiday	Not permitted, absence will not save
Statutory Maternity Leave	Not permitted, absence will not save
Statutory Paternity Leave	Not permitted, absence will not save
Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave	Not permitted, absence will not save
Statutory Shared Parental Leave	Not permitted, absence will not save
Statutory Adoption Leave	Not permitted, absence will not save
Statutory Neonatal Care Leave	Not permitted, absence will not save
Full Day Statutory Carers Leave	Not permitted, absence will not save
Half Day Statutory Carers Leave	Not permitted, absence will not save

Important: Where an employee has existing shifts on any of the days within the absence date range, the absence will still save successfully. Any shifts falling on those days will be automatically removed and replaced by the absence record.

**Fig.18 - Example Error when attempting to save an Absence Record where an Holiday record exists on the same date**

Absence Record Breakdown

Once a record is created, the system will immediately start to calculate entitlements and payments, which can be seen in the Absence Record Breakdown. The Absence Record Breakdown provides a day-by-day view of SSP and CSP calculations for an individual absence record, directly within the employee's absence screen. The values shown match exactly what the payroll calculation engine produces, ensuring figures tie out with payroll outputs and exports. If an absence record is edited and recalculated, the breakdown updates automatically to reflect the new figures.

How to view the breakdown

To see the Absence breakdown, go to either:

HR Module > Employees > Employee List > Find & Select Employee > Employee HR Info > Absences
Payroll Module > Employees > Employee List > Find & Select Employee > Employee Info > Absences

Then where the employee has an absence record, select the button in the Breakdown column:

This will expand the UI to present the breakdown for that Absence record:

The view is read-only and cannot be edited from this panel.
Values shown match exactly what the payroll calculation engine produces, so they'll tie out with payroll outputs and exports.
If the absence record is later edited and recalculated, the breakdown updates automatically to reflect the new figures.

What the breakdown shows

The breakdown is split into two halves: the left side covers Statutory Sick Pay, and the right side covers Company Sick Pay.

Column Header	Description
Absence Date	Shows the date of the absence, the day of the week it falls on, and whether that date counts as a qualifying day, indicated with a tick or cross.
Pay SSP Day	A tick shows the date is eligible for SSP, a cross shows it isn't. A number in brackets tracks the cumulative SSP day count as the absence progresses; for example, Day 1 (qualifying) shows SSP Day (1), Day 2 (qualifying) shows SSP Day (2), Day 3 (qualifying) shows SSP Day (3). Day 4 and Day 5 (non-qualifying, no SSP due) both remain at (3). Day 6 (qualifying) moves on to (4), and Day 7 (qualifying) moves on to (5).
SSP Daily Rate	Shows the SSP amount for that specific day, with the running cumulative total for the absence shown in brackets.
Excluded Reason	Shows the reason why SSP isn't being paid for that day, where applicable.
Entitlement Started	Shows when CSP entitlement begins for this absence record. This may be later than the absence start date if the contract is configured with CSP waiting days.
Pay CSP Day	A tick shows the day is due CSP, with a number in brackets tracking the same cumulative day count logic used for SSP above. Alongside the tick or cross, a symbol indicates the type of day: a full circle for a full CSP day, a half circle for a half CSP day, and an hourglass for a CSP waiting day.
CSP Daily Rate	Shows the CSP amount for that specific day, with the running cumulative total shown in brackets.
Payment Date	Shows the date on which the SSP and CSP for that day will be paid.

At the bottom of the breakdown, a summary row shows the overall totals for the absence record:

Column Header	Description
SSP Days Paid	Total number of days SSP was paid for
SSP Paid	Total SSP amount paid across the absence
CSP Full Days Paid	Total number of full CSP days paid
CSP Half Days Paid	Total number of half CSP days paid
CSP Paid	Total CSP amount paid
Gross CSP Paid	Total CSP amount before any SSP Offset

These figures will only update once the relevant payroll has closed, meaning the figures have actually been paid.

Absence Representation in Rota

Once an absence record has been created, it will appear on the employee's rota for the relevant days, provided the employee is included in the rota. Where an absence in days is in place, a working shift cannot be added for the same day:

**Fig.21 - Created Absences for Employee**

Navigate to:

Rota Module > Rotas > View Rotas > Find & Select Rota:

Immediately within the Rota, using the Division & Job Title search if required, the employee(s) with Absences in place will appear in the Rota with the icon indicating they are absent that day:

**Fig.23 - Rota Week, where Employee is Absent**

Attempting to add a shift in this page will not be possible, and clicking the day with an Absence in will load a pop-up giving a brief overview of the Absence:

**Fig.24 - Rota - Clicking an Employees Absence Day**

Staying within the Rota Week, select one of the days of the week where an absence exists:

**Fig.25 - Select a Day of the Rota Week**

And within the Day Content Page, the absence will also be visible:

**Fig.26 - Absence showing on Rota (Day Content Page)**

Click Return To Rota at the top of the Day Content Page, returning users back to the week view of the Rota. Then select the drop-down arrow and select Weekly Attendance:

**Fig.27 - Rota Week - Weekly Attendance Navigation**

And again, the absence on each day where an absence is present will show on this view of the Rota:

Absence Representation in Scheduling

Similar to the Rota module, absence records will also be visible within Scheduling for the relevant days, giving schedulers visibility of any employee absences when managing shifts.

**Fig.29 - Created Absences for Employee**