Configure absence policies

Set up the categories, request rules, calendars, and assignments that control how employees request and use absences in flair.

Who can use this?

HR Admins in Salesforce. Employees use the resulting policies in the Employee Hub and mobile app.

Before you begin

• Employees have active workloads for the periods covered by the policies.
• You can access HR Admin and Absence Settings in the flair HR app.

Open absence settings

1. In the flair HR app, open HR Admin.
2. Go to Attendance → Absence Categories and Policies. The page shows Absence Categories, Accrual Policies, and employee assignments.

Configure an absence category

1. On Absence Settings, click Create in the Absence Categories panel.
2. Enter the category name.
3. Select whether the category uses days or hours.
4. Select a Deduction Type value.
5. Configure how the category deducts time from an employee's workload target hours.
6. Optional: In Color, enter a hexadecimal color code or use the color picker.
7. For an hourly category that should ignore time outside scheduled hours, enable Clamp to Working Hours.
8. Select a Default Visibility for New Records value.
9. Click Save.

Choose a deduction type

The Deduction Type value controls which days in an absence's date range count toward its amount:

Value	What counts
Consider working days and holidays (default)	Only the employee's scheduled working days. A full-day public holiday deducts nothing, and a half-day holiday counts as 0.5.
Calendar days except holidays	Every day in the range, including weekends and other non-working days. A full-day public holiday deducts nothing; half-day holidays don't reduce the amount.
Calendar days	Every day in the range, including weekends and public holidays.

Changing a category's deduction type affects new absence records only.

Choose the default visibility for new records

The Default Visibility for New Records value becomes the default for new absences in the category:

Value	Who can see the absence
All	All employees.
Employees, Teams, with their Managers	The employee, employees on the same team or with the same manager, and managers.
Employee only with their Managers	The employee and their managers.

Managers, additional managers, and the employee can always see the employee's absences. Visibility affects the Employee Hub calendar, Colleagues, Absent Today, Shift Planner, and other absence views.

Changing a category affects new absence records only. HR managers can change visibility for an individual absence.

Require a medical certificate

Absence Request Policies can require supporting documents, set minimum notice, or limit the duration of a request. This procedure applies a document requirement to sick leave.

1. On Absence Settings, select the sick-leave category.
2. From the Accrual Policies panel menu, open Absence Request Policies.
3. Click Create.
4. Enter a policy name.
5. Select Require document upload.
6. Enter the absence duration that requires a document.
7. Select the document category where flair stores the upload.
8. Click Save.
9. Open the new policy, and then click Assign.
10. Select a start date or Use employee start date.
11. Click Select Employees.
12. Select the employees, click Add, and then assign the policy.

Configure maternity or parental leave

1. On Absence Settings, create or edit an absence category.
2. Enter the category name, such as Maternity Leave or Parental Leave.
3. Set Type to Daily.
4. Set Target Hours Deduction to Deduct by workload target hours.
5. Configure the regulations required by your organization.
6. Click Save.
7. From the Accrual Policies panel menu, open Absence Request Policies.
8. Click Create.
9. Enter a name for the request policy.
10. Select Maximum per absence request.
11. Enter the maximum number of days.
12. Click Save.
13. Open the policy, click Assign, and select the relevant employees.

Create separate categories and policies when maternity and parental leave use different maximum durations or regulations.

Assign policies to employees

Use this procedure for absence categories, absence request policies, and accrual policies.

1. On Absence Settings, select the category and policy you want to assign.
2. In the Employees panel, click Assign.
3. Select the assignment start date.
4. Optional: Select an end date.
5. Click Select Employees.
6. To narrow the employee list, click Show Filters, and then filter by fields such as Location, Department, or Position.
7. Select the employees.
8. Click Add.
9. Click Assign To Employees. The policy applies for the selected date range.

Import public holidays

1. From the App Launcher (⋮⋮ grid icon), open Calendars.
2. Click New.
3. Enter a calendar name.
4. Optional: Enter a start date and an end date.
5. Set Type to PUBLIC_HOLIDAY.
6. Click Save.
7. In Calendar Subscription, enable Automatically add calendar periods.
8. Click Define Country Calendar.
9. Select the country and, when available, the state and region.
10. Click Save and add holidays for this and next year.
11. Open an Employee Workload Template.
12. In Public Holidays Calendar, select the calendar, and then save the workload.

flair adds public holidays for the selected location for the next two years. The holiday names use the local language. You can also create calendars for every state or region of a country in one guided action; existing calendars are skipped.

Import holidays for a location

1. Open Locations.
2. Select the location.
3. In Holidays, click Import.
4. Select the year.
5. Select the holidays to add.
6. Click Import.

If flair cannot download the holidays, check the street, postal code, state, and country on the location record.

Customize an imported calendar

• To rename a holiday, open it in the monthly calendar, edit Calendar Period Name, and save it.
• To remove a holiday, open it, select the down arrow, and click Delete.
• To add an organization-specific holiday, click Add Period Manually, enter its name and dates, and click Save.

Create a mandatory absence from a calendar

1. Open the calendar.
2. In Calendar periods, click Add Mandatory Absence.
3. Enter the Mandatory Absence Name.
4. Set Type to Full day.
5. Select the start and end dates.
6. Select the Absence Category.
7. Review the Included and Excluded employee counts.
8. Save the period. flair creates approved absences in the background for included employees.

warning

You cannot change the absence category after creating the period. Absences linked to the period cannot be edited individually, and deleting the period removes them.

Add a holiday to a location

Employees can have one primary employment location. For remote employees who need holidays from multiple regions, create a shared location and add the required holidays to it.

1. From the App Launcher (⋮⋮ grid icon), open Locations.
2. Select a location.
3. In Upcoming Holiday, click New.
4. Enter the holiday name.
5. In Day, select the date.
6. In Type, select half day or full day.
7. If the holiday is official, select Official.
8. Click Save. The holiday applies to employees assigned to the location without reducing their vacation allowance.

Add a manual allowance

Use manual allowances for one-time adjustments. Configure an accrual policy for recurring allowances.

1. From the App Launcher (⋮⋮ grid icon), open Employees.
2. Select the employee.
3. Open Absence Categories.
4. Select the accrual policy.
5. Open Allowances.
6. Click Add allowance.
7. Enter a descriptive name.
8. Enter the allowance amount.
9. Select the start and end dates.
10. Click Save. The manual allowance appears on the employee's record.

Related articles

• Configure accrual policies
• Correct allowances
• Request and approve absences
• Timesheets and workloads