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    Sam McNeil
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    WFM UK | HR & Payroll: Absence in Wage Cost

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

    Overview

    The Wage Cost function provides customers with a view of their forecasted and actual labour costs, giving visibility of the true cost to the business across scheduled and worked time. It is a configurable function that spans a wide range of pay elements, and this article focuses specifically on how absence (sickness) is represented within it.

    As of the 1st October 2026, the Wage Cost was updated to significantly improve the accuracy of absence cost representation:

    • SSP Cost - Previously calculated using a fixed estimated daily rate, SSP costs within the Wage Cost are now taken directly from the payroll calculation engine. This eliminates any disparity between the SSP figure shown in the Wage Cost and the actual SSP amount processed through payroll.
    • CSP Cost - Company Sick Pay has been introduced into the Wage Cost, using the actual CSP amounts net of any SSP offset. This gives customers a true cost of CSP rather than an approximation, and ensures the Wage Cost accurately reflects what is being paid to absent employees.

    In addition to SSP and CSP, the Wage Cost also surfaces the Absence Deduction for Salaried Employees, which represents the salary offset applied where a salaried employee is absent, allowing customers to see the impact of absence on their existing salary labour costs.

    The sections below cover each of these absence elements in detail, including how they are calculated, how they appear in the Wage Cost, and how they can be configured.

    More Information:

     

    Contents

     

    Configuring Absence in the Wage

    Absence elements within the Wage Cost are configured via the Wage Function Settings. From here, the following absence-related elements can be included or excluded from the Wage Cost as required:

    • SSP - Includes SSP costs within the Wage Cost
    • CSP - Includes CSP costs within the Wage Cost
    • Absence Deduction for Salaried Employees - Includes the salary offset for absent salaried employees within the Wage Cost

    Each of these elements is covered in detail in the sections below.

    To configure these elements in the wage cost, go to:

    • Rota Module > Administration > Wage Function Settings
    Fig.1 - Wage Function Settings

     

    SSP & CSP

    Scrolling down, SSP and CSP is available to configure:

    Fig.2 - SSP & CSP Wage Function Elements

    For both of these elements, they can be configured with the following:

    • Wage Cost - Ticking this box will include it in the calculations and display it within the Wage Cost reports
    • NI Calc - Ticking this box will include it in the calculations of National Insurance within the Wage Cost.
    • Hols Accr - Ticking this box will include values in the calculation of Holiday Accruals within the Wage Cost.
    • Factor X, Y, Z - Ticking these boxes will include values in calculations under these configured factors.

     

    Absence Deductions For Salaried Employees

    Scrolling back up, Absence Deduction for Salaried Employees is available to configure:

    Fig.3 - Absence Deduction for Salaried Employees

    Absence Deduction for Salaried Employees will remove the cost of a salary when an absence is entered, regardless of the configuration of the absence type. 

     

    Important: 

    • It is recommended that this be left unticked to avoid understating the Rota wage cost when salaried employees receive paid leave
    • Following the work undertaken to bring SSP and CSP costs in line with actual payroll calculations, we are actively reviewing the Absence Deduction for Salaried Employees element with the same goal in mind. We recognise the importance of accurately reflecting salary deductions within the Wage Cost, ensuring it is neither understated nor overstated where absences occur. We will update this article when that work is delivered.

     

     

    SSP & CSP in Wage Cost Reporting

    Where SSP and CSP are configured within the Wage Function Settings, the costs are included as part of the overall labour cost across the following Wage Cost reports:

    • Analysis Page
    • Monthly Wage Cost Analysis

    In each of these, and other Wage Cost reports, SSP and CSP costs are reflected within both the forecasted and actual labour costs, giving customers a consistent and accurate view of absence-related pay across planned and confirmed periods.

    The Employees Absence looks like this:

    Fig.4 - Employee Absence

     

    The employees Absence Breakdown CSP Daily Rate is the full CSP Rate before SSP offset. The Wage Cost will use the offset values. We are reviewing updating the breakdown to present both the full rate and offset rate.

     

    Analysis Page

    • Scheduling > Select Location > Schedule > View > Analysis
    • Rota Module > Rotas > View Rota > Find & Select Rota > Analysis (Drop Down Arrow)
    Fig.5 - SSP & CSP in the Analysis

     

    Monthly Wage Cost Analysis

    • Scheduling > Reports > Monthly Wage Cost Analysis
    Fig.5 - SSP & CSP in the Monthly Wage Cost Analysis

     

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