Figure 46 - The Configuration Menu options.
This will display the Exception Setup screen (see figure 47 below), which enables users to view the Exception Rules and Formulas. To view the rules for a particular exception, click the Rules button from the Exceptions list. The application will display the Rules Screen, which displays all the rules that are used to calculate or generate the exception (see Figure 48 below).
Figure 47 – The Exceptions Setup Screen.
Only authorized users have access to the Exception Rules and Formulas screens. The exception rules screen can either create an exception record for an employee or can generate a system message as needed.
Figure 48 – The Exception Rules Screen.
16. What are Alerts and Messages?
Alerts and Messages are notifications to either employees or to other users of the Time and
Attendance application. These notifications can be viewed in several places. The most convenient location is the Console screen, in the bottom right hand corner of the screen (see figure 5 above).
The Messages and Alerts section contains two tabs, one for user messages and one for employee messages as well as a button (see figure 49 below), which displays the Received Messages screen (see figure 50 below).
Figure 49 – The Messages and Alerts section of the Console Screen.
Employees are able to send and receive predefined messages through the timeclocks when they punch in or out. Messages that are sent by the employees can be viewed in the employee messages tab (see figure 49 above). The Received Messages Screen displays all messages sent or received by the employee. Users have the ability to update the Action Taken column to describe what action, if any was taken by the employee, and then save the record by clicking the Save Changes button.
Figure 50 – The Received Messages Screen.
Users have the option of viewing all messages, read or unread messages by selecting one of these options from the Show drop-down box in the top right-hand corner of the screen. A message can be selected by checking the checkbox to the left of the message and can be marked as read by clicking the Mark As Read button, at the bottom of the screen. Users can delete messages from the screen by checking the desired messages and clicking the Delete Selected button.
Another method of viewing messages is from the Message History Screen, by clicking the Message History button from the Toolbar, or selecting the Alerts and Messages option from the View menu. The Message History Screen (see figure 51 below) is a self-contained communication feature of the Time and Attendance application, which allows users and employees to communicate with each other without having to use any other software. The Message History Screen displays all the available messages, which have not been deleted.
A user can select either to view all the messages, those that are in their Inbox, or those that they sent, by selecting one these options from the Show drop-down box at the top right-hand side of the screen. A user may delete any of the available messages by checking the checkbox to the left of the message and clicking the Delete button at the top left-hand side of the screen. To delete all
available messages for the user, they can check the Select All checkbox and then click the Delete button.
Figure 51 – The Message History Screen.
The Message History screen will only display information about the message such as who sent it or what time it was sent as well as the subject of the message. To view the contents of the message a user can double click on any of the available messages in the Message History screen (see figure 52 below).
There are three types of messages in Time and Attendance, High, Medium and Low priority. High Priority Messages appear in Red text, Medium and Low Priority Messages appear in Black text.
Similarly the messages themselves can give the user a clue whether they are high, medium or low priority. A high priority message has a Red header, a medium priority message has a Yellow header and a low priority message has a Green header.
Figures 52 - A High Priority Message. Figure 53 – A Low Priority Message.
To create a message, a user can click the Send Message button from the Toolbar, which will display the Send Message screen enabling the user to,
• Select who to send the message to – one or more recipients
• Specify an expiration date and time for the message
• Set the priority of the message
• Specify the message subject
• and finally, the content of the message.
17. How do I add new Departments to Time and Attendance?
To add a new department to the Time and Attendance application a user should,
• Select the Properties option from the File menu
• Click on the Departments tab
• Click the Add button
• Enter a description into the New Department description text box
• Select the new department start date from the start date drop-down box
• Click the OK button
To change the Department name,
• Select the Properties option from the File menu
• Click on the Departments tab
• Select the department from the list
• Click the Rename button
• Enter the new department name in the input box
• Click the OK button.
To delete a department,
• Select the Properties option from the File menu
• Click on the Departments tab
• Select the department from the list
• Click the Delete button
• Click the Apply button
Figure 54 – The Departments Tab on the Properties screen.
18. What is the Audit Screen?
The Audit Screen (see figure 55 below) can be called from the Toolbar by clicking the Audit button. The Audit button displays all manual changes to an employees punch record. This means that if a User instead of a Timeclock entered a Punch, it will be displayed on this screen. The Audit screen provides for the user a date range that they can use to select the desired data. The screen displays:
• the user who made the manual edit
• the date when the edit was made
• the name of the Employee, job position, hours worked and Overtime indicator
Figure 55 – The Audit Screen.
The desired range of dates can be selected by using the Date From and Date To calendar controls at the top left-hand corner of the screen. The Statistics button displays the Audit Statistics screen, which displays a graphical representation of the statistical information, displayed on the Audit Screen.
The Audit Statistics screen (see figure 56 below), displays either a Bar or Pie chart representation of all the statistical data displayed on the Audit screen. The data grid on the right side of the screen is the summary information from the Audit screen. The data grid allows a user to send a message to the user who made the manual change, by right-clicking the record and selecting the Send Message option on the context menu. The statistical information only pertains to the
range of dates selected on the Audit screen. The audit screen will display all the users who made manual changes to any employee punches.
Figure 56 – The Audit Statistics Screen.
19. What is the Timeclock Statistics Screen?
The Timeclock Statistics screen can be displayed by clicking the Timeclock Statistics button from the Toolbar. The Timeclock Statistics Screen displays a list of all the timeclocks used throughout the organization as well as their status and online availability (see figure 57 below).
The Timeclock Statistics screen also provides additional Statistical information such as,
• The Total Number of Timeclocks throughout the organization
• The Total Number of Activ e Timeclocks
• The Total Number of Punches for Today
• The Total Number of Punches to date.
The Timeclock Statistics Screen offers additional functionality. By right-clicking a timeclock record, the user has two additional options available to them, the Open Timeclock option and the Show All Punches at clock option, displaying a list of all punches made through the selected timeclock.
Figure 57 – The Timeclock Statistics Screen.
The Open Timeclock option displays the Individual Timeclock Statistics Screen (see figure 58 below), which displays additional statistical information about the individual Timeclock, instead of all the timeclocks as a group. The Individual Timeclock statistics screen provides the following information,
• Name of the Timeclock
• The Date and Time the Timeclock went offline
• Online and Offline Percentages Overall
• Online and Offline Percentages Today
• Recorded Punches Percentage Today
The Individual Timeclock Statistics screen also features a Details Button, which displays a grid outlining the Start of each Downtime Time and the Downtime Interval (see figure 58 below).
Figures 58 - The Individual Timeclock Figure 59 – The Downtime Detail
Statistics Screen. Feature.
The Show All Punches option selected on the Timeclock Statistics Screen, displays the Timeclock Punches Screen (see figure 60 below), which lists all the punches for the Timeclock selected for a specific date. By default the date displayed will be today’s date. The user has the option of selecting any of the available Timeclocks from the Timeclock drop-down box and can select a different date from the Calendar control. Each of these actions will automatically refresh the screen, which will provide the most up to date information on the data grid.
The Timeclock Punches Screen features additional functionality, by right-click the data grid, the screen will present the following options for the user:
• Open Transaction Detail – which displays the Punch Detail Screen
• Employee Info – which displays the Employee Screen
• Pay Periods – which displays the Pay Periods Screen
• View Attendance Record – Which displays the Attendance Record Screen.
Figure 60 – The Timeclock Punches screen.
20. What is the Exceptions Screen?
The Exceptions Screen displays all exceptions for the course of the year, and can be accessed from View Menu by selecting the Exceptions option. On this screen, the color intensity represents the volume of exceptions for any day within a selected year. The more intense the color, the greater the volume of exceptions. This means that either there were too many absences for a particular day, or possibly many employees worked overtime to cover a very busy day, or even a combination of both, since each is considered to be an exception. Users have the ability to display weekend information, company holidays, show the data in Exception Groups or view the data across departments. Users also can display data for prior years if it is available.
The bottom of the screen displays all the details for the date selected. Detail View Button at the bottom of the screen will display the punch record in detail for the employees with exceptions for a selected day. Users have the ability to Print the contents of the bottom data grid by clicking the Print button next to the selected date.
Figure 61 – The Exception Distribution Screen.
21. What kinds of Reports are available in the Time and Attendance application?
There are a variety of available reports in the Time and Attendance application. A user’s access rights will determine which reports are available to them. Many screen feature the Print button or may have the Print option from the File menu, enabling users to Print the contents of the screen. A user can select to display only the data they are interested in, using Content and
Advanced Filters as well as hiding certain columns from the Grid and clicking the Print button to generate a report that is based strictly on the data they see on the screen.
There are also numerous predefined reports that are available to the users. These range from Schedule Discrepancies to Summary Hours and Earnings to a Staffing Hours Analysis Report.
To generate a predefined report the user can,
• Click the View Reports button to display the Reports List screen
• Select the report to generate from the Reports List
• Click the OK button
• Once the report is displayed on the screen, click the Print button from the top of the screen.
• Click the Close button to close the report
• Click the Cancel button to close the Reports List screen
22. How can I configure Time and Attendance to my organization’s needs?
There are several different ways to customize the Time and Attendance application to your organization’s needs. The first thing that an authorized user needs to do is set up the Time and Attendance Properties (see figure 60 below). This includes setting up Facility Name, the
departments, the Calendar Year Start Date, the Time Rounding option, the Program start up screen, Printer options, as well as Custom fields. Users have the ability to set up custom departments, shifts, units, positions, pay cycles, company holidays, exceptions, accruals, and allocations.
Figure 60 – The Time and Attendance Properties Screen.