Absences

In the following steps, you can define different rules for processing absences in payroll. You can specify which calculation basis should be used to valuate a paid absence, and also that that allowances are granted for certain absences, while others involve deductions. For example, you can:

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Specify bases for determining salary reductions for an unpaid day of absence Determine a fixed vacation allowance per day of absence Specify how an illness should be valuated Determine that an absence should be valuated using an average salary to be defined at a later stage Specify processing methods for special requirements

There are four different methods of valuating absences. You can use one method, or a combination of several methods. The following provides an introduction to the four methods. 1. Form counting classes for factoring: Absences which are not paid, or only partially paid, lead to a reduction in salary. Example: Employees who have taken unpaid leave should be subject to a reduction in salary. 2. Valuate absences using the 'as if' principle: The absence is valuated as if the employee had worked. Example: If employees are absent due to incapacity to work and are being paid, they should receive the same bonuses for working on Sundays and public holidays as they would if they were actually at work. 3. Valuate absences using averages or constants: The number of absence hours, absence days, calendar days, payroll days or payroll hours is entered in the number field of the wage type. Example: The average amount of overtime worked by the employee merits a supplementary vacation allowance. 4. User-specific calculation: If the standard methods of absence valuation are not adequate for your purposes, you can create your own personnel calculation rules for special processing. * INCLUDED IN OHAJAB000

Describe Absence Valuation Rules

In this activity, you describe absences according to your company requirements regarding absence valuation in Payroll. You describe absences by defining rules for absence valuation. The description is part of the key you use in the following steps to set rules for absence valuation. Examples You create descriptions of absences based on the following requirements: 1. You want to valuate absences for paid leave differently to absences for illness or days in lieu.

2. You want to keep statistics on the number of paid and unpaid absences that occur in your company. To do this, you create counting class in in the step Form counting classes for absence valuation . When the payroll is run, you collect the times in these "buckets" and can then fill the appropriate wage types during further processing. 3. You want to valuate absences differently according to:

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Employee grouping Legal regulations (for example, continued pay, illness) Whether the absence falls on a workday or a public holiday

Standard settings The standard SAP R/3 System contains sample entries for absence valuation rules:

Paid leave Illness/stay at health spa Accidents Unpaid leave

Recommendation The descriptions of the absence valuation rules are based on the country grouping. If you use an international version of the SAP R/3 System, you can specify different absence valuation rules for each country. Please note the following situation that arises from the special position of absence valuation as an interface between Time Management and Payroll Accounting: You cannot group the absences according to country grouping since country groupings are not used in Time Management. SAP recommends using descriptions that are internationally applicable: Ctry grpg 01 02 03 ValRule 01 01 01 Name Paid leave Paid leave Paid leave

You can account for the country-specific differences in Group absences for absence valuation. Activities 1. Check whether the standard absence valuation rules cater to your requirements. 2. Add new absence valuation rules if required. Choose appropriate names so that the absence valuation rules are easily identifiable.

Group Absences for Absence Valuation

Absences that must be processed in the same way through the assignment of absence valuation rules are grouped in this step. According to the absence valuation rules, you define how specific employee absences must be valuated in payroll in the subsequent operation phases.

Examples You want to valuate absences for paid leave differently to absences for sickness or days in lieu. Requirements The absence types must be determined. Recommendation The absences are grouped independently of the country grouping. If you have set up your absence types so that the personnel subarea grouping for attendance and absence types is identical to the personnel country grouping , you should be careful when assigning absence valuation rules to use the country grouping that corresponds to the personnel subarea grouping. Activities 1. Decide which absence types you want to group together. 2. In the view, select the personnel subarea grouping and absence type you want to edit. 3. Enter the required absence valuation rule. You can use the possible entries pushbutton for an overview of all absence valuation rules. Take note of the corresponding country groupings.

Define Grouping for Absence Valuation

In this IMG activity, you group together employees whose absences you want to be valuated identically according to employee subgroup grouping for the payroll rule. To do this, you must specify which employee subgroup groupings in which table entries the system must take into account in an absence valuation. You perform this through the call to function MOD XMOD (or xMOD) GEN in the payroll schema xT00 (x = country indicator). Calling this function, you go to the payroll rule XMOD o xMOD (Payroll accounting groupings). Example You wish to store different regulations for employee absence valuation by hours and wage payees. To do this, you must specify in this IMG activity the table entries that the system must take into account in absence valuation.

Hourly wage earners within the system belong to the employee subgroup grouping for payroll rule 1. Within this grouping the following regulations are stored in the payroll rule XMOD or xMOD: in the absence valuation employee grouping 01 you must store the rules for absence valuation of hourly wage earners. The salaried payees within the standard belong to the employee subgroup grouping for payroll rule 2. Within this grouping the following regulations are stored in the payroll rule XMOD or xMOD: in the Absence valuation employee grouping 02 you must store the rules for absence valuation of salaried payees.

Standard settings In the standard SAP version the modifiers A and2 (MODIF A; MODIF 2) are fixed. Modifier A controls access to the table Absence Valuation, which is treated in the following IMG activities.

MODIF A = 01: Payroll accounting only takes into account the entries in table Absence Valuation with the value 01 in the field Absence valuation employee grouping. Other entries are not taken into account. MODIF 2 = 01: The MODIF 2 for this Payroll rule is also fixed. Groupings for access to the table via the MODIF 2 are specified in a later IMG activity, in time wage type valuation. Recommendation Perform modifications only if you wish the payroll driver accesses other grouping tables. To do this, you must perform a codification in the corresponding grouping in the appropriate tables. Activities 1. Specify with which groupings you wish to access which tables. 2. Call the payroll rule XMOD through the action Specify grouping for absence valuation. 3. Specify the grouping you prefer. The documentation for the operation MODIF contains a summary of groupings and tables. To view a summary, enter MODIF A in the column Operacin and press F1. 4. Copy the payroll rule XMOD or xMOD in the payroll rule ZMOD. 5. Set values of MODIF A in the payroll accounting ZMOD in dependence on employee subgroup grouping for payroll rule in accordance with the groupings with which you wish to access the tables. 6. If you need more groupings to access the tables, add lines following the model of the standard entries. 7. Through the action Introduce in the schema the modified payroll accounting rule , change the call to the payroll rule MOD XMOD (xMOD) GEN in the payroll schema xT00, introducing as second parameter the payroll rule ZMOD in place of XMOD (xMOD). Further notes If you are also employing time evaluation, you can select wage types there, during selection of time wage types, for the absences that are evaluated according to an estimative principle. If in this IMG activity you are making changes in the assignment Absence valuation employee grouping (MODIF A), you must include these modifications in the time evaluation schemas to guarantee a consistent valuation.

Define Day Rules

In this IMG activity, you define the day rules that you can use when forming counting classes when valuating an absence using averages or constants. Day rules allow you to form counting classes or wage types based on the following conditions set for the day of an absence:

Public holiday class or day type of current day or previous day? Weekday? Does the employee's personal work schedule for the current or previous day show planned hours?

You can specify several different conditions for a day rule, and assign them sequential numbers. The R/3 System runs through the numbers in consecutive order until it finds a condition that is fulfilled.

Example 1. If your employees are absent due to illness on a public holiday, you do not want to pay them the usual rate for public holidays, but the standard rate for a normal workday. In the IMG activity Valuate absences by constants/averages , you store two wage types for the absence valuation rule Sickness/Cure. You then assign the wage types the appropriate day rules. The R/3 System then chooses the appropriate wage type according to the day of the absence. 2. You want to group absences on non-working days in counting class 11, and absences on workdays in counting class 12. You create the day rules AT (workday) and AF (day off) to determine the conditions set for the day: AT - On workdays So that the counting class is only formed on workdays, two conditions must be fulfilled. You store these conditions in a rule without a sequential number: a) The day assigned is day type BLANK b) There are planned hours stipulated for the employee for this day, either:

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A valid daily work schedule with planned hours > 0, or A time substitution

Remember: Making specifications for just one of these conditions is not sufficient to determine a workday. If a day is assigned the day type BLANK, the decision as to whether or not the employee must work is made on the basis of the planned hours in the work schedule (are there planned hours specified for the employee on the day in question or is the daily work schedule OFF). Therefore, the planned hours in the daily work schedule must be queried as well as the day type. AF - On days off Days off can be characterized by two different conditions that you represent by assigning the sequential numbers 01 and 02 to day rule AF: a) Sequential number 01: The day is assigned day type 1 b) Sequential number 02: There are no planned hours specified for the employee on the relevant day Standard settings There are already day rules defined in the standard system. The name range reserved for customers is A-Z. Activities 1. Check whether the standard day rules cater to your requirements. 2. Define new day rules if required. 3. To define a new day rule, choose New entries and enter the name of the new rule. Enter an identifier from the customer name range A-Z as the first character. If you cannot represent the required conditions in one subrule, enter a subsequent number for the rule. In order to keep performance times to a minimum, you should number the subrules such that the rules that most often apply are the ones that the System runs through first. 4. Specify the conditions under which the day rule should apply. Under Condition set for public holiday class, day type, weekday, and planned hours, deselect those conditions under which you do not want the day rule to apply. 5. If necessary, define an additional subrule. Further notes

Valuate Absences by Constants/Averages

In this IMG activity, you specify regulations for absences that are valuated using an average or constant. Example 1. Your employees are to receive a fixed vacation allowance for each payroll day on which they are on leave. In this case, you use a wage type that is valuated using a constant amount, and determine the absence times using the time unit payroll days. 2. For each absence day on which they are on leave, your employees are to receive a vacation allowance based on the average amount of overtime they have worked over the last three months. In this case, you use a wage type that is valuated using average bases. Requirements 1. You have performed Describe absence valuation rules. 2. You have performed Group absences for absence valuation. 3. In the IMG activity Define grouping for absence valuation , you have grouped together all employees who are processed using the same method of absence valuation. 4. You have appropriately set all the wage types used:

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Wage types which give rise to payment of a fixed amount must be valuated using a constant value. You must define a basis for calculating averages for wage types which are valuated using an average value. If you use average values, only wage types that have not yet been valuated can be valuated in the further course of payroll.

5. You must work through the IMG activity Define day rules if you also want to choose wage types according to certain conditions set for the day. Standard settings The standard SAP R/3 system contains sample entries for absence valuation. Activities 1. Select the absence valuation rule you want to process. 2. Enter a wage type. 3. Specify when the money should be paid out. Refer to the F1 help documentation for the various options. 4. Next, indicate what percentage of the payment must be paid at the specified time. The Time and Percentage fields allow you to control the payment in a detailed manner. You can enter up to fifteen different records. 5. Enter the time unit with which you wish to valuate an absence. There is additional information in the F1 help documentation. Please note that the wage type you enter must be assigned to this unit. 6. Activate the Basic pay split field if the employee has changed jobs within the payroll period, for example, and you want the system to take account of this fact. Further notes

Create Counting Classes for Absence Valuation

In this IMG activity you define counting classes and specify regulations regarding which absences are collected in the counting classes, and what percentage of them are paid or unpaid. You can specify up to 10 counting classes for each absence valuation rule. Counting classes are used in order to form "buckets" to valuate paid and unpaid absences: 1. For factoring to reduce salaries for unpaid absences In the standard SAP R/3 System, all counting classes that contain unpaid absences are processed together for factoring. A prerequisite of factoring is that you have assigned the paid absences to at least one counting class.This means that you should not collect unpaid absences in more than one counting class if you use standard factoring (schema xAL0), otherwise the absences would be valuated twice. If you want to form several counting classes for unpaid absences, you must specify explicitly which counting classes should be taken into account in factoring. 2. To generate statistics and for cost accounting You can collect absence times in the counting classes in order to fill wage types and evaluate the cumulated values for cost accounting or statistical purposes. You can access the counting classes using operation NUM. Both paid and unpaid absences are usually collected in one counting class. The following rule applies to the further course of payroll: Paid counting classes are queried in operations APnn, and unpaid counting classes in operations AUnn. Example 1. An employee with a fixed salary takes unpaid leave. The number of unpaid absence hours must be calculated before a reduction in salary can be determined. You therefore specify a counting class which is 100% unpaid for the absence valuation rule unpaid leave. 2. You want to find out what sort of costs are incurred for a paid period of incapacity to work. You therefore assign the absence valuation rule Sickness/Cure a counting class in which the absence times are 100% paid. 3. You want to collect absences on public holidays in one counting class, and absences on workdays in another. Requirements 1. You have performed Describe absence valuation rules. 2. You have performed Group absences for absence valuation. 3. In the IMG activity Define grouping for absence valuation , you have grouped together all employees who are processed using the same method of absence valuation. 4. You have decided which counting classes you want to set up. It is generally sufficient to use one counting class for paid and unpaid absences - for example, counting class 01 for paid and unpaid periods of incapacity to work. On the basis of the information in the Paid/unpaid field, the system recognizes whether the absence should be valuated as a paid or unpaid period of incapacity to work. 5. You perform the IMG activity Define daily rules only if you want to form counting classes on the basis of certain conditions set for one day. Standard settings The standard SAP R/3 system contains sample entries for absence valuation.

Activities 1. Select the activity Define counting classes and define the "buckets" in which you want to collect paid and unpaid absences. Use a two-character identifier and give the counting class a name that makes it easily identifiable. 2. Select the activity Form counting classes. 3. Choose an existing entry or choose New entries. To create new entries, enter the employee grouping for absence valuation and the absence valuation rule for which you want to form counting classes. 4. Enter the counting classes in which you want the absences to be collected. 5. Specify what percentage of a counting class should be paid and what percentage should be unpaid. You mark unpaid absences by leaving the P/U field blank. The percentage rates of a counting class should add up to 100%. 6. If you only want counting classes to be formed when the day of the absence fulfills certain conditions, enter an appropriate day rule. Note: The system does not check the total percentage of counting classes for which a day rule is specified. Further notes

Valuate Absences Using "As If" Principle

In this IMG activity, you decide which absence valuation rules should be paid according to the "as if" principle. The "as if" principle of absence valuation means paying employees exactly as if they had worked. This includes bonuses that form part of the employee's planned working time. Overtime is not taken into account when absences are valuated using the "as if" principle. Absence valuation based on the "as-if" principle can be performed in time wage type selection in time evaluation. In this case, wage types that have already been determined for absence valuation are passed on to Payroll using table ZL. These wage types are assigned the IFTYP A via time evaluation, on the basis of which you can query the absences. When absences are valuated in Payroll, they are only taken into account if you have specified additional regulations (regarding the formation of counting classes, for example). Example An employee grouping is paid according to time worked. One employee should have worked 160 hours in the month. Instead, he worked 120 hours and was unable to work the other 40.

Wage types must be generated for these 40 hours so that the employee can be paid for the absence. The employee is also to receive bonuses for Sunday work, night work, and so on, just as he would have if he had worked as normal. This is stipulated by the collective agreement, legal requirements, or enterprise-specific regulations.

Requirements 1. You have described rules for absence valuation. 2. You have grouped absences for absence valuation. 3. In the activity Define grouping for absence valuation , you have grouped together all employees who are processed using the same method of absence valuation. Standard settings

The standard SAP system contains sample entries for absence valuation. Activities 1. Check whether there are entries for the employee grouping for absences and for the absence valuation rules relating to absences. 2. If required, create additional groupings or absence valuation rules. 3. Activate the Time wage type selection field. The system will now select time wage types for the absences during time evaluation or payroll. Further notes

Special Processing for Absence Valuation Rules

In this IMG activity you can specify a special processing for absence valuations. You do this using a personnel calculation rule that controls the special processing you require. The standard SAP R/3 System contains tables, personnel calculation schemas, and personnel calculation rules for absence valuation. If the options they provide are not sufficient for your purposes, you can specify special processing for absence valuation. To do this, you create a personnel calculation rule in which you define your own rules for absence valuation. With special processing, you can access temporary information calculated by the system - information from the employee's master data and from calculations for specific periods, for example. The system enters the calculated values in record layout fields. For information on record layout fields, please see the documentation on the operands for operations NUM, RTE, and AMT. Examples You want to query the leave year or leave type of the absence being valuated in order to:

Valuate leave taken during the previous year differently to leave taken during the current year Valuate standard annual leave differently to leave for challenged employees

Recommendation Perform special processing only if the method of absence valuation used in your company cannot be represented using the standard tables, personnel calculation schemas, and personnel calculation rules. Activities 1. Decide whether your company requires special processing to represent a specific regulation regarding absence valuation. 2. If you do require special processing, create an appropriate personnel calculation rule. 3. Choose the employee grouping for absence valuation and the absence valuation rule for which you require special processing. 4. In the Rule field, enter the name of the personnel calculation rule for special processing. 5. In the Time field, specify at what stage during the absence the valuation should be made. 6. You can use the Operation indicator field if you want to specify separate regulations for processing leave. Depending on whether or not the indicator is selected, the personnel calculation rule for special processing is accessed differently according to the entry in the Time field. Use F1 help for a list of possible entries and a detailed description of the indicator options.