Guidance: How to Accrue Hours from Workday Payroll in Absence

Let's look at an example of how this might cause issues:

• An accrual will only calculate off of 30 hours worked in the period. 
• Period 1: worker works 15 hours, those get sent to absence. 
  • No problem. The accrual is calculated off the 15 hours from payroll
• Period 2: worker works 30 hours for period 2, and has 20 hours of retro from period 1
  • Problem: Absence receives a total of 50 hours from period 2 (30 hours worked in the period plus 20 retro hours worked from period 1).  Because the accrual is limited to 30 hours (again, absence doesn't recognize which period the hours were worked, only what period the hours were paid), the worker will never receive an accrual off of 20 hours (which really should be 15 hours).

Instead of limiting the hours on the Absence accrual, consider if setting up a memo earning and using that to send from payroll might be a better option. Workday Payroll knows how to allocate the hours and limit the hours based on the period worked. It will then send the full hours to absence. 

Let's look at the example again if the limit is configured on a memo earning in Payroll. 

• A memo earning will only calculate off of 30 hours worked in the period. 
• Period 1: worker works 15 hours, those get sent to absence. 
  • No problem. The accrual is calculated off the 15 hours from payroll
• Period 2: worker works 30 hours for period 2, and has 20 hours of retro from period 1
  • No problem: The memo earning is recalculated by the retro process for period 1 and the new total is 35 hours.  With the limit applied within the memo earning, retro calculates a true-up of 15 hours (not 20).  The period 2 pay result calculates the memo earning for the current 30 hours, brings in the retro 15 hours for period 1, and sends 45 hours to absence.

Hours Pay Component Related Calculation(s) (PCRCs)

Hours from Workday Payroll that you want to be used in a Time Off Plan accrual must come from the WD-delivered ‘Hours (unprorated)’ related calculation or ‘Hours (prorated)’ related calculation. Tenanted PCRCs can't be used. Be mindful of what calculation is appropriate for your situation. Generally, we find that Hours (unprorated) is the best option—but ensure you understand the implications of the delivered calculation you select. 

Other PCRCs

One thing to be mindful of, there are other delivered PCRCs that can be sent to Absence from Workday Payroll. Be mindful if any of the earnings you are sending to absence include these and ensure the hours you are sending are as intended. 

• Time Off Paid (Units)
• Time Off Unpaid (Units)
• Time Off Total (Units)

Limits

If you want to limit the hours that count towards your absence accrual, be mindful of where the limit goes. A common option is to limit the hours on the absence accrual itself. This option can lead to issues if the hours within Workday Payroll are impacted by Retro calculations. Workday Absence doesn't take into consideration the period the hours were associated with, just the period they're sent over from payroll. Payroll does take into consideration the period the hours are associated with in the retro calculation. 

Considerations

1. Ensure your payroll and absence consultants and functional areas are on the same page as to where an accrual limit should be configured.
2. Consider if the memo earning should be displayed on the payslip or not and ensure your run category and payslip configuration are in sync with what you want.
3. Ensure employees understand how their absence accruals are impacted. Hours will still be accrued in the period payroll processes them. If you want the hours to be accrued in the period earned, you would need to do an override on the accrual for the appropriate period and the memo earning would likely not be appropriate for you.