How to approve Staff Availability Exceptions
Staff members with the required privileges can approve Staff Availability Exceptions from the Dashboard (provided this Dashboard Portal has been configured) or identify Pending Availability Exceptions by using the Staff Availability Exception Search Report.
This article outlines how to identify Pending Availability Exceptions using either of the methods mentioned above and how to 'Approve' or mark as 'Not Approved' Staff Availability Exceptions.
Privileges:
- The Team Leader and/or Human Resources privilege is required to approve Availability Exceptions from the staff member's 'Availability' tab in their Staff Account
- The 'Human Resources for ALL Staff' privilege is required to use the Staff Availability Exception Search
Audience: HR Specialists, Team Leaders
Summary
The following list summarises the content of this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:
Identifying Availability Exceptions Pending Approval
Staff Availability Exceptions that are Pending Approval can be identified from the 'Staff Availability Exception' Dashboard portal, or by using the Staff Availability Exception Search.
Dashboard
When the 'Staff Availability Exceptions' Dashboard portal has been configured as on for your organisation or by the individual (in cases where the Dashboard is configurable by each individual staff member), Staff Availability Exceptions that are Pending Approval will display on the Dashboard. Staff who have the Team Leader or Human Resources privilege for the same Sites and Services as the staff member who added the Availability Exception will see these on their Dashboard.
Pending Availability Exceptions have an amber border and the information displayed includes the staff member's name, a link to the Availability tab in their Staff Account, the Type of Availability Exception i.e. 'Unavailable' or 'Available', the From and To Dates and Times, as well as any Notes the individual entered.
It is important to note that due to the privileges and access that you have been granted, there may be some Availability Exceptions displayed for staff who are not your direct reports.
The Availability Exception is approved from the Availability tab in the individual's Staff Account, as outlined below.
Once the Status is updated to 'Approved' or 'Not Approved', the Availability Exception is no longer displayed or accessible via the Staff Availability Exceptions portal on the Dashboard.
Staff Availability Exceptions Search
Where an individual has 'Human Resources for ALL Staff' privilege, a Staff Availability Exceptions Search can be generated to proactively search for Availability Exceptions Pending Approval.
Navigate to the Reports menu:
Scroll down to the Staff section and select Staff Availability Exception Search from the Human Resources subsection:
This Search can be used to search for Availability Exceptions 'Pending' approval only:
For the month of September, for example:
Alternatively, you could choose the relevant staff members you wish to search for Availability Exceptions for specifically.
Selecting the staff member target icon and link in the search results will navigate you to the Availability tab in their Staff Account, as this is where the approval process is completed.
Managing Availability Exception Approvals
Once the Availability Exception has been selected from either the Dashboard or via the Staff Availability Exception Search, you will be navigated to the Availability tab in the staff member's Staff Account:
Both 'Available' and 'Unavailable' Availability Exceptions are listed in the 'Availability Exceptions' section of this tab:
As an example, you can see here that Abel has advised his 'Unavailability' for a fortnight period from 21/04/2024 to 03/05/2024. Given that Abel works 3 days a week and 8 hours/day, he has entered 48 hours in the 'Annual Leave' field. The Status is displaying as 'Pending':
This is where the Availability Exception can be reviewed and approved by staff with the relevant privileges.
This includes entering any Annual Leave or Personal Leave hours if your organisation is choosing to track this information.
The Shared Notes field displays any Notes that the staff member has entered regarding their Availability Exception. Additional notes can be added here by the person approving/not approving the Availability Exception to provide an explanation for the resulting Status as required.
Private Notes can also be entered and are visible only to those with high-level access to the staff member's Availability tab.
Private Notes are not displayed in the Notes section in the staff member's Availability Exception in 'My Staff Account':
The Status drop-down list is where the Availability Exception can be 'Approved' or 'Not Approved':
Each Availability Exception Status displays a different colour border as follows:
- 'Pending' is amber
- 'Approved' is green
- 'Not Approved' is grey
Approving an Availability Exception
To approve an Availability Exception, select 'Approved' from the Status drop-down list:
Once 'Approved', a green border will display for that entry, and the Type ('Available' or 'Unavailable') along with the From/To Dates and Times will be bolded:
Automatically update Shifts that occur during the 'Unavailable' period to 'To Be Filled'
Once 'Approved' and 'Save User' have been selected, if this staff member is rostered into any Activities that occur during the 'Unavailable' period, the 'Remove Staff Member From Associated Shifts' window will open:
This functionality automatically updates rostered Shifts for this staff member that occur during the 'Unavailable' period by removing them and setting the Shift to 'TO BE FILLED'.
N.B. If a portion of the Shift falls within the 'Unavailable' period, then the complete Shift will be updated to 'TO BE FILLED'.
The number of Shifts occurring during this period is displayed e.g. 2 shifts.
'No' is selected by default; however, selecting 'Yes' opens the 'Appended Note' field where the relevant information can be added:
This note will be displayed in the 'Non-Replicating Staff Notes' field in the associated Activities:
Selecting 'Confirm' updates the relevant Shifts and appends the 'Non-Replicating Staff Notes' accordingly.
Marking an Availability Exception as Not Approved
To mark an Availability Exception as 'Not Approved' select this option from the Status drop-down list:
Once 'Not Approved' has been selected, a grey border will display for that entry, and the Type ('Available' or 'Unavailable') along with the From/To Dates and Times will be bolded.
Additional notes may be added in the Shared Notes field to clarify why the Availability Exception was not approved, for example, due to being short-staffed.
Private Notes can also be entered here for reference but are only visible to those with high-level access to the staff member's Availability tab. They are not displayed in the Notes section in My Staff Account.
Notifying Staff
The staff member who submitted the 'Availability Exception' does not get an automated notification when it has been 'Approved' or 'Not Approved', however, they will be able to see the Status in the Availability tab of their 'My Staff Account':
Any additional notes added to the 'Shared Notes' field by the person approving the Availability Exception, for example, explaining why it may not have been approved, will be displayed in the 'Notes' section.
When the question mark icon is selected next to the Status, this will display more information about who and when this was completed by for reference:
Given there are no automated notifications to staff when the Status is updated, you may wish to advise the staff member separately via email to ensure they are aware of the outcome. The email button on the 'User Details' tab of their Staff Account can be used to generate an email via your usual email program:
