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Personal Time Off Requests

Updated

Overview

BQE CORE provides a Personal Time Off feature that allows your employees to request time off and your managers to review these requests and then take appropriate action as per the company's HR policies. PTO is a flexible arrangement that gives you a set amount of days off to be used at your discretion for non-work related issues such as vacation, personal time, illness, etc. The PTO hours earned can be based on the number of hours worked or length of employment with the company. Click to watch this video on PTO requests in CORE. 

pto thumbnail.png

CORE enables you to specify the distribution of time off hours as paid, unpaid and compensation time. However, your manager has the authority to decide and change how many hours shall be paid, unpaid or tagged as comp hours. Compensation hours must be approved before they are available for PTO. PTO must be scheduled in advance and approved by the manager. When approved, PTO requests can be automatically recorded as time entries and task allocation for the default PTO project set in the Settings screen. This helps in avoiding scheduling issues. The time entries tied to a PTO entry are updated automatically when the PTO is updated. PTO users see a full snapshot of their benefits when requesting time off.

Field Descriptions

How To

Create PTO Requests

Edit PTO Requests

Add Documents

Submit PTO Requests

Approve PTO Requests

Show/Hide Columns in Grid

Export PTO Requests

View Reports

Apply Filters

Mark Screen as Favorite

Field Descriptions

Field Name Field Description
Personal Time Off Requests > List View
Vacation Time Used/ Sick Time Used/ Comp Time Available

This information bar displays the total number of vacation and sick hours used by employees and compensation time remaining year-to-date. It includes the values of active records only. Negative values are displayed in parenthesis ().

The PTO information here (Available hours) is retrieved from CORE HR (Benefits Usage), if available. Otherwise, it comes from Employees > Permissible Hours. However, the Used hours are retrieved from the time entries using the default 'Time Off' activities set at the Settings > Time & Expenses > Personal Time Off level. For non-HR users, the values displayed here are year-to-date.
Personal Time Off Requests > Edit PTO Request > Details >
Request For The employee or vendor for whom the PTO request is being entered. With the correct permissions, you can enter a PTO request for yourself or other employees.
Vacation Time: Hours Earned Number of hours an employee has earned as vacation time. It is calculated based on the Benefits profile of the employees, if available; otherwise it is taken from their Permissible Hours in the Employees screen.
Hours Used

Number of vacation hours used by the employee. Negative values are displayed in parenthesis ().
Hours Available

Number of vacation hours still available to the employee. They are equal to the difference between the earned vacation hours and used vacation hours. Negative values are displayed in parenthesis ().
Sick Time: Hours Earned

Number of hours an employee has earned as sick time. It is calculated based on the Benefits profile of the employees, if available; otherwise it is taken from their Permissible Hours in the Employees screen.
Hours Used

Number of sick hours used by the employee. Negative values are displayed in parenthesis ().
Hours Available

Number of sick hours still available to the employee. They are equal to the difference between the earned sick hours and used sick hours. Negative values are displayed in parenthesis ().
Comp Time: Hours Earned/ Used/ Available

Comp time is calculated as per the Employees profile setting and time entries of the employee. Comp hours for distributed PTO is considered under benefit usage, provided that employee has such benefit assigned in the PTO Request period and has earned the comp time. Also, the PTO request needs to fall under the benefit assignment period. Negative values are displayed in parenthesis ().
Balance

This represents the total hours available for the employee from PTO: sick, vacation or comp time. Negative values are displayed in parenthesis ().
From-To Allows you to specify the date range for which to request time off. CORE automatically calculates the hours based on the dates selected here. It is smart enough to exclude weekends when calculating hours.
Distribute time Allows you to specify how the time off hours should be distributed under paid, unpaid, and comp time. However, the reviewer makes the final decision about the distribution of time-off hours.
Paid Hours

Number of paid hours you want to use for time off. This ensures that you will be paid for the time taken off for these hours, which is calculated by the given formula:

Paid Hours = Total Hours Requested - Unpaid Hours - Comp Hours
Unpaid Hours Number of unpaid hours you want to use for time off. You are not paid by the company for the time taken off for these hours.
Comp Hours Number of compensation hours you want to use for time off.
Hours Requested Number of hours you want to take time off. CORE automatically calculates the hours based on the From-To date range specified but you can change it here. Example: If you are planning to take off two days and your working hours per day are 8, then enter 16 here. You can also use decimal format, say, 5 . 5 to mean five and a half hours.
Submit To

You can submit PTO requests to a specific person from the list. It is pre-filled with the employee manager.

Personal Time Off Requests > Workflow > Submit Requests >
Submit To

You can submit PTO requests to your manager or a specific person from the list. It is pre-filled with the employee manager.
Resource

This can be an employee or a vendor (contract employee or outside consultant). This option is available only if you choose Submit To: Specific.


Create PTO Requests

To request PTO, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    create pto.png

  2. Click Create PTO Request.
  3. On the Add Personal Time Off Request screen, enter the required information. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
    • Request For: The employee or vendor for whom the PTO request is being entered
    • From-To dates or Hours Requested
    • Submit To: manager or specific person

    add pto.png

  4. Select Distribute time if you want to specify how to distribute the time-off hours, say Paid Hours, Comp Hours, etc. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
  5. Click Send. The PTO request is created and submitted.

Edit PTO Requests

You can view, enter and edit PTO details in the detail view. If you delete PTO requests having billed time entries associated with them, CORE does not delete those time entries.  

To edit a PTO request, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    edit pto.png

  2. In the list view, select a PTO record on the grid that you want to edit and click dropdown-caret.png to select View Details.
  3. On the Edit Personal Time Off Request screen, enter details or make changes as needed.

    edit pto request.png

  4. Click Update.

Add Documents

To add a document to a PTO request record, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.
  2. In the list view, select a PTO record on the grid that you want to edit and click dropdown-caret.png to select View Details.
  3. On the Edit PTO Request > Documents screen, click Add.

    pto_add_documents_2.jpg

  4. On the Add Documents dialog, select the relevant tab, depending on the type of attachment.
    • Computer: To attach files stored on your computer, enter its Description and drag your file or click to browse to that location.
    • Hyperlink: To attach an external link, enter its Description and then insert the hyperlink.
    • Dropbox: To link files stored in your Dropbox account, enter its Description and then browse for it.
    • Google Drive: To link files stored in your Google Drive account, enter its Description and then browse for it.
    • OneDrive: To link files stored in your Microsoft OneDrive account, enter its Description and then browse for it.
    • Box: To link files stored in your Box account, enter its Description and then browse for it.
    • Resource Library: To link company resources, select the resource from the library. This option is available only with CORE CRM.
  5. Click Add.

CORE pre-fills some of the information about the attached documents in the grid. You can send the documents to your clients, employees, or other contacts for getting their digital or electronic signatures (eSignature via DocuSign) using the eSign option from the dropdown-caret.png row-action menu. CORE automatically adds the signed documents to the Documents folder of the entity (record) as separate attachments. It displays the status of the document, whether it has been delivered via DocuSign, viewed by the recipients, declined or completed by the recipients, etc. This column does not show up if you are not connected via the DocuSign integration. You can also check the detailed video on managing documents in CORE.

Submit PTO Requests

When you create PTO requests, CORE submits those to the person specified by you. As a part of the workflow, CORE allows you to re-submit the selected PTO requests for approval using various options. When PTO requests are submitted, the supervisor or manager gets notified about these submissions. You cannot submit entries that are already approved. In case of email notifications, CORE allows managers to quickly approve or reject the workflow entries submitted by employees directly from the emails.

To submit a PTO request for approval, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    submit pto.png

  2. In the list view, select the PTO records on the grid that you want to re-submit.
  3. Click Actions > Workflow > Submit.
  4. On the Submit Request dialog, enter the required information. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
    • Submit To: your manager or a specific person
    • Resource: employee or vendor
    • Memo
  5. Click Done.

After submitting the PTO requests, you have an option to un-submit them by clicking Actions > Workflow > Un-submit.

Approve PTO Requests

As a part of the workflow, CORE allows you to approve the PTO requests submitted to you. You can also reject the submitted PTO requests for any reason. However, only submitted or forwarded PTO requests can be rejected, not the approved ones. When a reviewer approves a PTO request, CORE allows you to record a time entry automatically for that and also create a task allocation for it. You can set the default project for this PTO entry in the Settings screen. Updating the PTO simultaneously updates the corresponding task allocation. In case of email notifications, CORE allows managers to quickly approve or reject the workflow entries or items submitted by employees directly from the emails.

To approve a PTO request, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    pto approve.png

  2. In the list view, select Submitted from the drop-down to view PTO requests submitted to you.
  3. Select the PTO records on the grid that you want to approve and click Actions > Workflow > Approve.
  4. On the Approve Requests dialog, enter a memo, if needed.
  5. Click Approve. When prompted, you can convert the approved PTO request into a time entry.

After approving the PTO requests, you have an option to un-approve them by clicking Actions > Workflow > Un-approve.

Show/Hide Columns in Grid

You can configure the fields or columns that appear on the grid in the list view. You can hide or show columns, and sort the order of columns according to your requirements.

To do so, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    show hide col n export pto.png

  2. In the list view, click More > Show/Hide Columns on the action bar.
  3. Select or un-select the column names in the drop-down list, say Approved By.
  4. Next, click the column you want to sort, say Hours.
  5. Click once for ascending order (A-Z) and twice for descending order (Z-A).

Note: You can resize the column widths on the grid and then reset them, if needed (More > Reset Column Widths).

You can also check the detailed video on navigation and customizing grids in CORE.

Export PTO Requests

In CORE, you can export PTO requests to the Comma Separated Values file format. CORE exports data from all available columns and not just the columns visible in the grid.

To export PTO requests to a .CSV file, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    show hide col n export pto.png

  2. In the list view, click More > Export as CSV.
  3. A .csv export file is created and saved on your system at the default download location, say your desktop. Click to open the spreadsheet.

You can also check the detailed video on exporting data in CORE.

View Reports

To view a report, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    pto reports.png

  2. In the list view, click More > View Reports.
  3. Select a report from the Report List dialog. It opens in the viewer.
  4. Preview the report and then choose to export or print it.

You can also check the detailed video on running and managing reports in CORE.

Apply Filters

To view selective data on the grid, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    pto filters.png

  2. In the list view, click filters-01.png on the right.
  3. On the Filters panel, select a filter from the drop-down and specify individual records or range.
  4. Click Add Filters to specify more filters.
  5. When you have finished, click Apply Filter. You can see selective data now.
  6. Next, to save the applied filters as your favorite, click Save Filters.

    PTO extend filter.png

  7. It opens the Save Filter dialog, where you can select a name for your filter combination and then click Save. You can also update your existing saved filters by clicking the Update Saved Filters link.
  8. In the list view, you can remove the individual filters by clicking remove-01.png on each. To use your favorite filter or disable applied filters temporarily or remove all filters, click filter_icon.png next to the Filters icon and select Disable Filters or Clear All, respectively.  

You can also check the detailed video on applying filters in CORE.

Mark Screen as Favorite

You can mark or flag the most-often used and important screens in CORE as your favorites up to a maximum of ten. These favorite screens then display separately on the side menu under the Favorites list. You can manage all your favorite screens in CORE from User Settings.

To mark this screen as your favorite, watch this video or follow these steps:

  1. Open the Personal Time Off Requests screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses > Manage PTO.

    pto fav.png

  2. In the list view, click favorites.png on the top-right.
  3. You can access this screen from the side menu under Favorites.

You can also check the detailed video on marking screens as favorite in CORE.

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