Applies to versions: 1.8, 1.9

Benefits

TimeIPS Benefits feature allows you to track sick and vacation time accrued and used.

Permissions: Payroll Management -> Benefits
Default Permission Groups: Manager, Employee Administrator, or Payroll Administrator

Using the left pane Main Menu, click on: Benefits » Benefits

Benefits Overview

The TimeIPS Benefit and Accrual system is available with the IPSQBI module. With this module alone, you receive the following features:

• One accrual group
• Two tenure levels
• Vacation and Sick accrual types
• Automatic weekly accruals

With the Advanced Benefits Tracking module (IPSBEN), the following features are added:

• Unlimited accrual groups
• Unlimited tenure levels
• Unlimited custom plus Vacation and Sick accrual types
• Flexible accrual periods
• Enhanced configuration options including caps and prorating

Viewing and Using Benefits

Benefits -> Benefits

Viewing Current Benefit Availability

Viewing Benefit Details

By clicking on an employee's name in the "View/Use Benefits" report, or by requesting this report for only one employee, a detailed view will appear. This view has one row for each benefit type available. Each row contains the current hours available and the total hours used and available. The "Available To Date" may differer from "Total Available" when there are future-dated benefits.  The "Add" and "Reset" columns contain links that can be used to change the amount of benefits available to the employee.

Using Benefit Hours

To use benefits, enter the number of hours in the "Use Benefit Times" row at  the top, and select the desired benefit type, subclass (if configured) and hours.  The Note field can be used to contain optional comments, then click the "Save" or "Split and Save" button.  Save will save the entire use as a single block.  When requesting multiple days, such as an entire week, use the Split and Save option. The employee's available benefits will be reduced by the specified amount at the specified date, and, if the benefit is of a paid benefit type, the employee will receive the specified number of hours at that date when payroll is calculated.

Resetting Benefit Totals

A benefit reset is a fixed point in an employee's benefit history. It is an assertion that the employee definitively has a certain number of hours at a certain time. If your company's policy requires benefit totals to be reset to a fixed value at a scheduled time, such as resetting unused benefits to 0 at the beginning of each year, this adjustment can be made using a benefit reset. Benefit resets can also be used to set an initial value for employees, such as benefit hours earned before using TimeIPS, or to correct errors. Benefits can be reset in three ways:

• To reset a benefit total for a single employee, you may click the "Reset" link on the benefit table. This will open a window allowing you to specify the new total, the date the reset becomes effective, and a comment explaining the reason for the reset.
• To reset benefit totals for multiple employees, you may select one or more employees or groups from the Benefit Totals page and click the "Set Benefit Totals" button. This will open a dialog allowing you to specify the new total, the date the reset becomes effective, the benefit type to be reset, and a commend explaining the reason for the reset. The dialog also includes a list of employees that will be affected by the reset.
• Benefit totals may also be reset using the Benefits Import function, described below.

Benefit resets may be scheduled at any time in the future or in the past. If scheduled in the past, accruals after the reset will be recalculated starting at the time of the reset. If scheduled in the future, accruals will continue as normal until the time of the reset, at which time accruals will start over at the specified value.

Note that accruals will be given in full after a benefit reset; the reset does not imply any sort of prorated or truncated behavior, even if "Prorate Partial Periods" is selected. For example, if employees earn 2 hours per year on January 1st, a reset to 3 hours at any time during the year (even on December 31st) will result in a total of 5 hours available after the next accrual on January 1st.

Note: For best results, use an effective date for resets that makes the intent clear. If benefits are scheduled to reset at the same time (during the same second) that accruals are scheduled to be calculated, the reset will apply after the accrual, that is, the accrual will have no effect on the total available benefit hours.

Adding Bonus Hours

To grant a one-time bonus of available benefit hours to an employee, click the "Add" link for the desired benefit type from the employee's benefit detail view. This will open a window allowing you to specify the number of hours to add, the date the bonus becomes effective, and a comment explaining the reason for the bonus.

Benefit bonuses may be given at any time in the future or in the past. If given in the past, accruals will be recalculated starting at the time of the bonus. If given in the future, the employee will not receive the increased available hours until the specified time. Benefit bonuses may cause the hours available to exceed the accrual limit specified by the "Maximum Accrued Hours" or "Maximum Net Hours Available" settings, but accruals that take place after the bonus cannot increase available hours beyond this limit.

There is no provision in TimeIPS for granting "temporary" hours that are subsumed into a later accrual. That is, if employees earn two hours per year on January 1st, there is no way to grant one hour during the year to an employee and automatically reduce the next accrual by an equivalent amount, such that on the next January 1st the employee only receives a total of 2 hours for the year. Such a provision is not necessary as, with manager approval, TimeIPS will allow employees to use more benefit hours than are reported as available.