Qualification Absence Plan
In this article, we will learn how to configure the Qualification Type Absence Plan in Oracle Fusion Cloud Absence Management, step by step. We have already covered the configuration of Accrual Plan, Compensatory Plan, and Donation Plan in previous articles.
The Qualification Plan is a special absence plan primarily designed for maternity or long-term illness absences, although it can be used for other purposes as well. Workers under this plan typically continue to receive payment during their absence, but the payment percentage varies depending on the duration of the absence.
To qualify for this absence plan, workers must meet specific predefined criteria, such as the occurrence of a maternity or long-term sickness event. In this article, we will focus on configuring a maternity plan and determining the payment percentage based on the worker’s length of service.
Let’s proceed with the step-by-step guide to configure the Qualification Type Absence Plan in Oracle Fusion Cloud Absence Management.
Business Requirements for Maternity Leave
To understand the concept of the qualification plan, let’s consider the following business requirements for maternity leave:
- Eligibility: Only female workers are eligible for maternity leave.
- Payment Percentage for Workers with 5+ Years of Service:
- 100% payment for the first 50 days of the maternity leave.
- 50% payment for the next 50 days.
- No payment after the initial 100 days.
- Payment Percentage for Workers with Less than 5 Years of Service:
- 75% payment for the first 50 days of the maternity leave.
- 50% payment for the next 25 days.
- No payment after the initial 75 days.
- Payment Calculation: The payment percentage will be based on the employee’s gross earnings.
- Plan Term: The entitlement period for maternity leave would cover the previous one year from the maternity absence start date.
- Overlapping Leaves: If there are overlapping durations between two maternity leaves within separate plan terms, only the overlapping days will be counted in the entitlement calculation.
With these requirements in place, we can now proceed with the absence configuration steps to meet these specific requirements.
Configuration Steps for Maternity Leave
For your easy understanding and convenience, we have organized the configuration tasks into distinct steps. While all the steps outlined below are necessary to precisely meet the business requirements, we have identified a few of them as optional. This allows you to concentrate solely on the mandatory steps required to configure and comprehend the qualification plan.
1. Configure Eligibility Profile (Optional)
As the maternity leave is only applicable for female employees, create an eligibility profile by searching the task Eligibility Profiles or following below navigation.
Navigation : My Client Groups » Absences » Eligibility Profiles
We have already learned how to create an eligibility profile in this article. Taking that as a reference create an eligibility profile as follows:
- Name : AP Female Employees
- Profile Usage : Global
- Eligibility Criteria » Personal » Gender : Female
- Eligibility Criteria » Employment » Assignment Status : Active – Payroll Eligible
2. Configure Length of Service Derived Factors (Optional)
As the payment percentage differs based on the length of service of employees, we need to configure one derived factor using task Derived Factors or following below navigation.
Navigation : My Client Groups » Absences » Derived Factors
If you have followed this article you have already configured a derived factor Avi Length of Service, which you can reuse in this article for maternity leave also. If you have not created already, follow the mentioned article and create one quickly as follows.
- Name : Avi Length of Service
- Unit of Measure : Years
- Period Start Date Rule : Date of hire
- Determination Rule : As of event date
- Greater than or Equal to Length of Service : 0
3. Configure Rate Definitions (Optional)
Rate definitions are a new concept that we have not covered as part of the absence management setup. It’s a significant payroll concept, but we will briefly cover it here. Rate definition is used in absence management to define the rate at which employees will be paid during the absence period, specifically in the case of maternity leave. Additionally, we use rate definitions to set rates for disbursing accrual balances and calculating accrual balance liability, among other purposes.
A rate definition serves as a placeholder and doesn’t calculate amounts on its own. Instead, it passes information to payroll through an element or any third-party payroll system through integration, which then reads the information from the rate definition.
To create rate definition for our maternity plan search for the task Rate Definitions or follow below navigation.
Navigation : My Client Groups » Absences » Rate Definitions
On the Rate Definitions page, click on the Create button and enter details as follows on the Create Rate Definition popup window.
- Category : Derived Rate
- Effective Start Date : 1/1/1951
- Legislative Data Group : < Select your legislation for example : US Legislative Data Group>
Once you enter required details, click on OK button, which will take you to Create Rate Definition page. On this page enter details as follows (leave everything else defaulted)
- Name : AP Payment Rate
- Short Name : AP_RATE
Scroll below to Calculation Details section and click on the Create button. In the Create Rate Contributor popup select value Balance for the field Contributor Type, click OK and then enter details as follows on the Create Rate Contributor page.
- Add or Substract : Add
- Balance Name : Gross Earnings
- Balance Dimension : Relationship Year to Date
- Periodicity : Annually
- Factor Rule : Value
- Factor Value : 1
Click on Save and Continue and then click on Submit to complete Rate Definition configuration.
4.1. Configure Absence Element (Optional)
To configure an absence element follow below navigation or directly search for the task Elements.
Navigation : My Client Groups » Quick Action » Payroll » Elements
On the Elements page, click on the Create button and enter details as follows on the Create Element popup window.
- Legislative Data Group : <Select your legislation for example : US Legislative Data Group>
- Primary Classification : Absences
- Secondary Classification : Maternity
Once done click on the Continue button, which will take to Create Element: Basic Information page. On this page enter details as follows (please note some of the information may differ based on the legislation you have selected, if you are unsure what values to choose either consult your payroll consultant or go with default values)
- Name : AP Maternity Leave
- Reporting Name : AP Maternity Leave
- Description : AP Maternity Leave
- Effective Date : 1/1/1951
- What calculation units are used for reporting? : Days
- Work Unit Conversion Rule : Standard Rate Annualized
- What type of absence information do you want transferred to payroll? : Accrual Balances and Absences
Once done, click on the Next button, which will take to Create Element: Additional Details page. On this page for Absence Payments section enter details as follows
- How do you want to reduce earnings for employees not requiring a time card? : Reduce regular earnings by absence payment
- Which rate should the absence payment calculation use? : < Choose rate you configured earlier that is : AP Payment Rate>
- How do you want Absence Payment to be taxed? : Regular
- Does this plan enable entitlement payments after termination? : No
Enter details as follows for Accrual Liability and Balance Payments section
- Calculate absence liability? : Yes
- Which rate should the liability balance calculation use? : AP Payment Rate
- Does this plan enable balance payments when enrollment ends? : Yes
- Which rate should the final balance payment calculation use? : AP Payment Rate
- How do you want Payout Amount to be taxed? : Regular
- Does this plan enable partial payment of balance? : Yes
- Which rate should the discretionary disbursement calculation use? : AP Payment Rate
- How do you want Cash out amount to be taxed? : Regular
Enter details as follows for Overtime Rules section
- Should this element be included in the earnings calculation of the overtime base rate? : Yes
Click on Next Button then click on Submit button after reviewing and confirming element details.
Wait on this screen until element is created successfully.
4.2. Configure Element Eligibility
Once element is created you will be redirected to Element Summary: AP Maternity Leave page. On this page click on the Element Eligibility link (under AP Maternity Leave), and then click on Action button and select option Create Element Eligibility.
In the Element Eligibility Name field enter value AP Maternity Leave Open.
Click on Submit button.
Please note that this step will create element eligibility only for a single element, namely AP Maternity Leave. However, the application has internally generated several other absence elements with the prefix AP Maternity Leave, for example AP Maternity Leave Entitlement and we must create eligibility for all those elements.
To find all those elements, you can go back to the elements page and search for the element AP Maternity Leave. In the search results, you will find all elements associated with that name. Please create element eligibility for all those element effective from 1st Jan 1951 (same as element start date)
5. Configure Absence Plan
We have completed all prerequisites to configure Maternity absence plan, now its time to configure qualification plan to support maternity leave, to create an absence plan search for the task Absence Plans or follow below navigation.
Navigation : My Client Groups » Absences » Absence Plans
When you are on Absence Plans page, click on the Create button and then enter following details on the Create Absence Plan pop up window.
- Effective As-of-Date : <Enter the plan start date, for example 1/1/1951 >
- Legislation : <Select your legislation, for example United States>
- Plan Type : Qualification
Once done, click on Continue button. Ensure Plan Attributes tab is selected and enter details as follows in the General Attributes section.
- Plan: AP Maternity Plan
- Plan UOM : Days
- Legislation Data Group : <Your legislation, for example : US Legislative Data Group>
- Status : Active
In the Plan Term section enter following details.
- Type : Rolling backward
- Start Rule : Absence start date
- Term Duration : 1
- Term Duration UOM : Years
- Overlap Rule : Split
You might be wondering what are these new fields and their use in the plan term section which we didn’t see in accrual type absence plan, then worry not, here is the detailed explanation of each filed.
Plan Term Type : In the accrual plan we have seen that there are only two types of plan term available which are Calendar year and Anniversary year. Both these plan terms are static in nature and plan duration is always one year in length but qualification plan supports few interesting additional plan term where the length of plan is decided dynamically. Here are the list of plan term type supported by qualification plan
- Calendar year : This is very much similar to what we have already seen in accrual plan. We manually select the start date of the plan period and plan duration is always one year.
- Absence duration : Here the absence duration itself becomes plan duration, which means plan period is decided at the run time. Absence start date entered by employee becomes plan period start date and absence end date becomes plan period end date.
- Rolling backward : This is the plan term type we have used in our configuration (to support business requirement number 5). It is an interesting and widely used plan term for qualification plans. When you select the rolling backward term type, the absence start date entered by the employee actually becomes the plan period end date (unless you want to change it to something else using fast formula). The plan period start date is calculated by subtracting the term duration from the end date. So, if your term duration is one year, the plan period start date would be one year earlier than your plan period end date. To understand it better, let’s assume the plan term is one year, and the absence start date entered by the employee is 1st January 2023. In this case, the plan period end date would be 1st January 2023, and the plan period start date would be 2nd January 2022. You will have better clarity once you complete this configuration and see the result later in this article.
- Overlap Rule : When the term type is Rolling backward, we also need to handle scenario when there are other absences submitted in the past and their duration is falling partially in the current plan period due to a new absence entered by employee. In this article we are going to practically explain most widely used overlap rule that is Split. This rule only counts the duration of past absence that overlaps with current plan period. Include option includes the entire duration of the past absence while Exclude option completely ignores past absence when its overlapping.
- Rolling forward : This is very much similar to rolling backward but it looks ahead rather than rolling backwards. Absence start date become plan period start date and plan period end date is calculated by adding the term duration to the start date. For example, if the term duration is one year and the absence start date is 1st January 2023, then the end date will be 31st December 2023. Unlike rolling backward, there is no concept of overlap rule.
Participation Tab
Once you enter all these details, click on the next tab that is Participation. On this tab enable the checkbox “Evaluate remaining entitlement without absence record“. This check box determine how the Manage Absences and Entitlements page displays entitlements. If the check box is selected, it allows to see complete qualification plan entitlement details, even worker doesn’t have any absence record (Confused!! don’t worry we have demonstrated it later in this article)
In the Eligibility section click on Select and Add button and attach the eligibility profile “AP Female Employees” we configured earlier (If you didn’t configure this eligibility profile, leave the field blank)
Once you enter all these details, click on the next tab that is Entitlements Tab
Entitlements Tab
This is an important tab for qualification plan. On this tab enter details as follows in the Entitlement Attributes section.
- Entitlement Definition Type : Matrix
- Entitlement Start Date : Absence start date
In the Qualification Band Matrix section, click on the +Add button and enter details as follows
- Sequence : 10
- Expression : [LengthOfService.AviLengthofService] < 5
In this article we have already explained how to enter expression using Expression builder. You will have to use your own length of service derived factor you configured earlier. (If you didn’t configure this derived factor as it was an optional step, you can simply enter 1 = 1 in the expression builder)
Click on the +Add button again in the Qualification Band Matrix section and enter details as follows.
- Sequence : 20
- Expression : [LengthOfService.AviLengthofService] >= 5
Now, click on the first expression (sequence 10) we configured earlier and scroll below to Qualification Details section and click on the +Add button, which is available in the Qualification Details section and enter details as follows in the Add Qualification Details pop-up window.
- Sequence : 10
- Detail Name : 75% payment for the first 50 days
- Duration : 50 Days
- Payment Percentage : 75
Note : Here we are configuring the payment percentage as per the requirement for employees having less than 5 years of service.
Click on Save and Close button.
Once again click on the +Add button, which is available in the Qualification Details section and enter details as follows in the Add Qualification Details pop-up window.
- Sequence : 20
- Detail Name : 50% payment for the next 25 days
- Duration : 25 Days
- Payment Percentage : 50
Click on Save and Close button. Now click on the second Expression (sequence 20) from the Qualification Band Matrix section, scroll below and click on +Add button available in the Qualification Details section and then enter details as follows in the Add Qualification Details pop-up window.
- Sequence : 10
- Detail Name : 100% payment for the first 50 days
- Duration : 50 Days
- Payment Percentage : 100
Note : Here we are configuring the payment percentage as per the requirement for employees having 5+ years of service.
Click on Save and Close button and then click on the +Add button again to enter details as follows in the popup window.
- Sequence : 20
- Detail Name : 50% payment for the next 50 days
- Duration : 50 Days
- Payment Percentage : 100
Once you enter all these details, click on the next tab that is Entries and Balances.
Entries and Balances Tab
On this tab enter details as follows, if you have not configured element and rate definition no need to enter any details.
- Absence Payment Rate Rule : Rate definition
- Rate Name : AP Payment Rate
- Transfer absence payment information for payroll processing : Yes
- Element : AP Maternity Leave
Once done, click on the Save and Close button to complete absence plan configuration.
6. Configure Absence Type
We have completed configuration of qualification type absence plan, now its time to create an absence type so that employees can use it to schedule maternity leave. To create absence type search for the task Absence Types or follow below navigations
Navigation : My Client Groups » Absences » Absence Types
On the Absence Types page, click on the Create button and then enter following details on the Create Absence Types pop-up window.
- Effective As-of Date : 1/1/1951
- Legislation : Select from the list, for example United States
- Pattern : Childbirth or placement
Click on the Continue button, which will take you to Create Absence Type page. Ensure Type Attributes tab is enabled then enter following details.
- Name : AP Maternity Leave
- UOM : Days
- Legislative Data Group : <Select your LDG for example : US Legislative Data Group>
- Status : Active
- Event Type : Childbirth
- Eligibility Profile : AP Female Employees <You can leave it blank if you have configured eligibility profile>
Scroll down to Absence Record Maintenance section and enable following three check boxes.
- Enable employee updates
- Enable manager updates
- Enable administrative updates
Click on Plans and Reasons tab and then click on the Select and Add button to enter details as follows on the pop-up window
- Plan : AP Maternity Plan
- Priority : 10
- Status : Active
Click on OK to return back to Create Absence Type page and then click on Save and Close button. With this we have completed our absence type configuration for maternity leave. Now its time to check the setup.
Test Qualification Plan Setup
Follow below navigation and search for any active female employee within your legislation that would be eligible for maternity leave plan.
Navigation : My Client Groups » Absences » Absence Records
You are on Manage Absences and Entitlements page. On this page scroll below to Plan Participation section and under Plan Balances you will NOT find your absence plan – AP Maternity Plan. This is because qualification plans do not carry any balance unlike accrual plans therefore they are not listed under Plan Balance section.
To see qualification plan scroll a bit further down to Qualified Entitlements section, and you will find your plan there. You will see the payment percentage, entitlement, used and remaining entitlements.
Verify Plan Period – Rolling backward
You can change the date from field Balance As-of Date to see balance as on different dates. Suppose you change the date to 31st July 2023, you will notice that plan period is from 1st August 2022 to 31st July 2023, this is because we have used plan term as Rolling backward to 1 year.
At this point of time employee has not applied for any maternity leave but you are still seeing the qualification plan entitlements only because we enabled the checkbox Evaluate remaining entitlement without absence record earlier while configuring absence plan otherwise you see these details only when employee has applied for maternity leave at least once.
Schedule an absence
Lets schedule maternity leave for this employee. Scroll up to Existing Absences section and click on Add Button. On the Absence Administration page select absence type as AP Maternity Leave and enter details as follows
- Expected Date of Childbirth : <Next Monday, In our case it is 7th August 2023>
- Planned Start Date : <Next Monday, In our case it is 7th August 2023>
- Planned End Date : <Enter a working day so that total duration is more than 100, in our case it is 29th December and total duration is 104 >
If you scroll below, you will notice that the Plan Use tab is currently disabled. Click on the Submit button, which will take you back to the Manage Absences and Entitlements page. (If you face any issue while submitting the absence, it is most likely due to Rate Definition and Element attached with the qualification plan, please check if you have followed the steps correctly and most importantly you have created element eligibility for all elements. If you still face issue, I suggest to remove the Rate Definition and Element you have attached with the qualification plan in the Entries and Balances tab and come back to this step again and continue rest of the steps)
Scroll down again to the Qualified Entitlements section. Change the Balance As-of Date field to any date that falls between the absence start date and end date. Then, click on the Go button. You will notice the changes reflected in the Used and Remaining columns.
Now, scroll back up to the Existing Absences section, where you will find an absence entry for AP Maternity Leave with the status Scheduled. Click on the hyperlink displaying the Absence Start Date – End Date to open the absence details, which you entered earlier.
Verify Payment Percentage
On the Absence Administration page, scroll down and click on the Plan Use tab, which was previously disabled. You will now find details of the entitlement with the payment percentage that we configured earlier.
The first 50 days are paid at 100%, the next 50 days are paid at 50%, and for the remaining 4 days, the payment percentage is zero. This is because the employee we used in this example has more than 5 years of service. From this, we can conclude that our setup is working as per the requirements outlined initially.
Click on the second row, which corresponds to the 50% payment, and scroll down to the last record for the detailed section. Take note of the date; in our case, it is 22nd December 2023.
Click on Cancel button to return back to Manage Absences and Entitlements page.
Verify Overlap Rule
Scroll below to the Qualified Entitlements section once again and modify the Balance As-of Date to 15th December 2024. To obtain this date, follow these steps: First, refer back to the last date we noted down earlier, which was 22nd December 2023. Next, add one year to that date, resulting in 22nd December 2024. Finally, subtract one week from the calculated date, which will give us 15th December 2024.
You will notice that 5 days are shown as used days. This is because, after changing the date, the plan period is from 16th December 2023 to 15th December 2024, and this worker has taken 5 days of maternity leave between this period (18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd December 2023). I am explaining this because we had earlier used the Overlap Rule as Split while configuring the qualification plan, and this is precisely what the application is doing.
Verify Element Entry
For the same employee we used for maternity leave follow below navigation
Navigation : My Client Groups » Payroll » Element Entries » Search Employee
You are on the Element Entries page. Change the Effective Date to start date of the absence (7th August 2023)
You will find an element entry named AP Maternity Leave Entitlement with the Effective Start Date same as the absence start date and the Effective End Date same as the absence end date. This confirmation ensures that the correct element is attached to the employee, which will be used in payroll processing or for passing information to a third-party payroll through interface, in accordance with the rate definition.
Qualification Plan Questions and Clarification
With this, we have successfully completed the configuration of our qualification plan, including the rate definition and absence element. Each configuration step has been thoroughly demonstrated, accompanied by supporting screenshots. Furthermore, we have ensured that the setup aligns with the specified business requirements.
If you have any questions or need further clarification, we encourage you to post them on hcmfolks.com. Hcmfolks.com is a vibrant community comprising HCM (Human Capital Management) professionals from around the world. It serves as an excellent platform to engage in discussions, share knowledge, and seek assistance related to HCM topics.
Feel free to leverage this community for any inquiries related to our configuration process or any other HCM-related queries. The community members are always eager to help and share their expertise, enhancing the collective learning experience for everyone involved.
