Complete guide

Registration

To use the tool you need to register with a few pieces of information.

You can also enter defined bank holidays, holiday entitlements and working days. This information can be templated for creating new users who will have the default information assigned to them. Of course, you can enter every user's information individually, too.

After registration the access data will be sent to the specified email address. You will be able to login with the access data.

After the login you can create more user accounts.

Attention: After initial registration you can add new users with the "Create new user" function. New users do not have to register.

Login

After registration an email with the access data will be sent to the specified email address. This access data is needed for registration.

There is an entry mask on the left side to enter a user name (user name equates to email address) and password.

After clicking "login" you will access the secured member area where you will find further functions.

If you try to use a function you will be asked to enter a new password.

Overview

User types define which functions are available to each user. For example, an administrator or a manager can create new users but an employee cannot.

While creating a new user you can select "admin", "manager" or "employee" user types. The user who completed the initial registration always becomes an admin automatically.

Employee

An employee is able to use the basic functions - request a holiday, enter periods of absence, view his/her holiday or absences in the overview or view telephone lists.

Manager

The manager is able to use the same functions as the employee and in addition, is responsible for granting or declining holiday requests of respective employees. The manager can also change settings such as working days, allocation of employees etc.

Administrator

The administrator has the same functions as the manager but can also change global settings that can be seen and selected by all users e.g. lists of absence types.

Employee

An "employee" user type can use the following functions:

Making holiday requests

Entering of absences
Overview of holidays
Overview of absences
Overview of the holiday entitlement
Overview of colleague's holidays
Telephone list
Editing the own profile
Overview of the bank holidays
Changing the password

Manager

A "manager" user type can use the following functions:

all "employee" user type functions
Granting and Declining of holiday requests
Overview all respective employees
Creating new user accounts
Allocating users to managers
Overview of holiday accounts
Overview of absences
Overview of sickness
Editing of working days
Setting holiday entitlement

Administrator

An "administrator" user type can use the following functions:

all "manager" user type functions
Management of bank holidays
Selection of editable absence types

Data entry alternatives

Use the "create new user" function in the left navigation bar to create a new user account. Remember this function is only available for "administrator" and "manager" users.

After clicking the "create new user" function you can choose the method for creating the new user:

Create a new user account
If the information is available all new user data can be entered.

Import user data
You can bulk import many user accounts.

Overview

The allocation of employees to managers is only used for the holiday request process. Holiday requests are sent to allocated managers. Employees can also be allocated to an administrator who has wider permissions than a manager.

A user can be allocated to one manager or several managers. Managers and administrators should also be allocated to a manager. Upon initial registration, the administrator is allocated to him/herself. This can be changed as soon as other users (such as a line manager) are created.

Managers and the administrator can be allocated to themselves if they are free to authorise their own holidays.

Administer assignments

Administrators and managers have access to the "manager" function within the left navigation bar. Clicking the link displays all employees grouped by their respective manager.

To allocate single users to another manager select the users and the respective manager at the end of the list then click "allocate". The page will then be refreshed with the changes.

"Employee" users cannot make these allocations.

Overview

A holiday request is handled as follows:

1. Request holiday
The holiday request will be completed and submitted. As soon as the request status is changed to "completed" the employee cannot edit the request.

2. Email information for line manager
The manager will receive an email with information regarding the requested holiday.

3. Granting or declining a holiday request
The recipient can grant or decline the holiday request.

4. Email information about grant or decline
The employee will get an email granting or declining the holiday request.

5. Change of status
The holiday request will be given a "granted" or "declined" status, and will be displayed in associated colours in the overviews.

Enter vacation request

To complete a new holiday request select "request holiday" in the left navigation bar. Clicking the link opens a form to enter the duration, comments and processing status.

While the status is not "submitted" the request can be edited and will be not sent to the line manager.
Once the status is "done" the holiday request is sent automatically to the manager.

Entered dates are automatically validated. The end date has to be after the start date (apart from a half day), the date has to be valid and the period must not overlap with an existing holiday.

Grant or decline a request

When the holiday request status changes to "completed" the respective line manager will get the opportunity to grant or decline the holiday request.

There are two ways to send a response:

Using the link from the email
The manager will get an email with information about the holiday request. It has two links for granting or declining the holiday request.

Using the overview of open holiday requests
The manager can login and see the open requests by clicking on the left navigation bar. This allows the selection of several holiday requests for granting or declining.

Change or delete the request

The ability to edit a holiday request depends on its status:

Holiday requests in progress
Holiday requests "in progress" can be edited or deleted. Click on "Overview" within "My holiday". Click the bench vice symbol to edit or the recycle bin to delete.

Holiday that has already been requested
Holiday requests that are "completed" cannot be edited. This prevents deletion of granted or used holidays. Such requests have been submitted to the line manager or have already been decided upon.

A manager can delete a holiday request to cope with cases where an employee is sick during holidays. To allow traceability, editing holiday requests is not possible after granting or declining. Instead, a request has to be deleted and a new one created:

1) Login as a manager or an administrator
2) Click "Overview" , "Administration" and "Holiday requests"
3) Click the recycling bin next to a holiday request in the list of holiday requests to delete the request. NB. The recycle bin symbol only appears when the administrator activates the "managers are allowed the delete holiday requests" function by clicking "settings" and "global settings".

Own holiday contingent

The holiday account incorporates the information about

Holiday entitlement
Holidays remaining from the previous year
Special leave

Use the function "holiday account" within "your holiday" to view your holiday account.

You will show an overview of holiday entitlements, holidays taken and outstanding holidays.

You can also see your holiday accounts for previous years by clicking on the arrows next to the date.

Holiday contingents of the user

An "administrator" or "manager" can view the holiday accounts of allocated employees.

To view holiday accounts use the function "holiday accounts" within holiday overview.

You are then able to see the holiday accounts of the employees, their holiday entitlements, granted and declined holidays.

In addition you can see holiday accounts for different years by clicking on the arrows next to the date.

Edit holiday contingents of the user

An "administrator" or "manager" can edit employee holiday entitlements and can enter special leave or define holiday entitlements.

You can view and edit holiday entitlement information as follows:

1) Login as a manager or administrator
2) Click on "settings"
3) Click on "holiday entitlement"

You can now view the holiday entitlements of your employees and can see a data entry mask for editing every changeable number in view. This information can be overwritten and saved by clicking on "edit".

Only information from the line where you clicked on the "edit" button will be changed and saved. You can only edit one line at a time. It is therefore advisable to edit a line and click on the "edit" button before editing another line.

Enter sick leave absence

Every user can enter different types of absence, including "sickness".

To define a period of "sickness" use the "new entry" function within "absences".

After clicking the link select the absence type "sickness" and define the period.

When "completed" status is selected the manager can view the entry.

View sick leave entries

An administrator or manager can view sick notes of their employees.

To view sick notes use the "sick notes" function within the holiday overview.

After clicking the link you can view the sick notes of your employees.

Change or delete sick leave entries

The sick note editing facility depends on user type and its status:

Sick note "in progress"
Sick notes "in progress" can be edited or deleted. Click on "overview" and "absences", and then the vice symbol to edit or recycle bin to delete the item.

Sick note "completed"
If the Sick note is "completed" the entry cannot be edited or deleted.

A manager can delete a sick note entry if an employee is coming back to work earlier than planned.
For tracking purposes editing a sick note is not possible. Instead, the entry has to be deleted and a new entry has to be created:

1) Login as a manager or administrator
2) Click "overview"
3) In the list of absence entries click on recycle bin symbol next to the respective entry. NB. The Recycle Bin symbol is only visible if the administrator has activated the respective function by selecting "settings" and "global settings".

Choose absence types

An "administrator" can to define which absence types can be entered and edited by his employees.

To get an overview of currently activated absence types the "absence types" function in "settings" within the left navigation bar has to be used.

After clicking the link all absence types will be shown. The activated absence types are ticked.

By ticking the box next to the absence type it can be activated or deactivated. After clicking "send changes" the changes will be activated.

When a user has entered an absence and the administrator later removes the absence type from the list of editable absence types the entry will persist and still be viewable.
New entries of the removed absence type are no longer possible.

If the absence type "sickness" is deactivated employees can no longer enter any sick notes. Furthermore "administrators" and "managers" can no longer get a "sickness ovierview".

Absence types are always effective for all users. It is not possible to define different absence types for different users.

Edit or delete absence entries

Absence entry editing depends on its status:

Absence request in progress
If you have entered an absence request and the request is still "in progress" you can edit or delete it. Click on "overview" within "absences" and then click on the bench vice icon to edit or on the recycle bin icon to delete it.

Absence request "completed"
If you have "completed" the absence request it cannot be edited or deleted by the applicant.

However the line manager can still delete the absence entry.
For traceability editing absence requests is not possible. To change the entry it has to be deleted and a new one has to be created:

1) Login as manager or administrator
2) Click on "overview" within "settings" and "absences"
3) Click on the recycling bin icon next to the respective entry within the list of absence entries. Remember you can only see the recycle bin icon when the administrator has activated the function "managers are allowed the delete holiday requests" (found using the links "settings" and "global settings").

Overview

Individual working days can be chosen for every employee.

Therefore you can define Monday to Friday as working days for employees.

You can define every weekday as a working day for all employees.

Working days are used to calculate holiday entitlement.

Example:
Employee Miller has Monday to Friday defined as his working days whilst employee Smith has Monday to Saturday.
If both of them are requesting a week of holiday from Monday to Sunday, Miller will be credited 5 leave days and Smith 6 days. Bank holidays defined for each employee are also taken into consideration.

Edit working days

An administrator or manager can change employee working days.

To see and edit working days use the "working days" function under "settings" in the left navigation bar.

After using the link the working days of the employees will be shown in a table. Weekdays defined as a working days are ticked.

Change employees' working days by activating or deactivating respective days using a mouse click. Changes are saved using "send changes" at the bottom of the list.

All working days, including those on different lines, can be changed. After clicking on "send changes" all of the changes will be saved.

Bank holiday definitions

As different countries or regions have different bank holidays it is necessary to assign defined bank holidays to employees.

Therefore a bank holiday rules are provided.

Bank holiday regulation

A bank holiday rule allocates specific dates to named bank holidays.

A bank holiday rule makes it possible to assign different bank holidays to individual employees. This important when employees are working at different sites with different bank holidays.

Example:
In Germany the bank holiday "Allerheiligen" is effective in the federal state Baden-Württemberg. However the bank holiday is not enjoyed in Hamburg.

For each federal state a bank holiday rule is defined to include or exclude "Allerheiligen".

Employees at these two sites will be assigned to separate bank holiday rules.

Predefined bank holiday rules

To minimise administration effort predefined bank holiday rules are used. For example, all federal states in Germany, Austria and Switzerland can be defined.

More bank holiday rules can be added when required.

Bank holiday rules can be applied to all users. Only an administrator who has created an individually defined rule can edit that rule.

Therefore predefined bank holiday rules cannot be changed.

Bank holidays

Because a bank holiday rule contains specific bank holidays, creating and editing bank holidays involves creating and editing corresponding bank holiday rules.

Predefined bank holidays

Predefined bank holidays are entered so that they can be transferred to individual bank holiday rules. For example New Year and Easter are predefined. Tip:
Here is an overview of different bank holidays.

Variable bank holidays

Some bank holidays are not fixed to a certain date. They depend on certain factors. This includes for example the Christian bank holidays Easter, Corpus Christi or Whitsun.

Those bank holidays are variable because they do not occur on the same date every year.

Variable bank holidays are always predefined and cannot be set as personal bank holidays. Personal bank holidays always have the same date every year.

Create and edit bank holiday definitions

An "administrator" is able to set and edit bank holiday definitions.

The function "bank holiday definition" within "settings" in the left navigation bar has to be used to be able to see and edit the bank holiday definitions.

Predefined bank holiday definitions cannot be edited only used to assign user to the contained bank holidays.

Create and edit bank holidays

Bank holidays can be seen, defined or edited with help of the function "bank holidays" within "settings" in the left navigation bar (only administrator).

Predefined bnak holidays and variable bank holidays (for example Easter) cannot be edited. They can only be used in own bank holiday regulations.

Assign bank holidays to employees

An "administrator" or "manager" is able to define bank holidays for employees by assigning every employee to a certain bank holiday regulation.

For being able to define or to change the bank holiday regulation of a user Um die Feiertagsregelung proceed as follows:
1. Click on "overview" within "user" in the left navigation bar
2. Users will be shown
3. Click on the Icon with the pencil within the respective line
4. Choice of the designated bank holiday regulation

On the basis of the bank holiday regulation the number of leave days will be calculated automatically.This will happen in real time in certain views.
Therefore bank holiday regulations can be changed or new assigned all the time. Afterwards the holiday entitlement will be automatically calculated on the basis of the new defined bank holidays.

Overview

With holiday blockers you can define periods of time where it is not allowed to take any holidays. The holiday blockers are always effective for all users.

If an employee is requesting holiday and it collides with one of those dates the holiday request cannot be send. Instead the user will get an error message.

Holiday requests which were entered before the holiday blocker was in place will not be deleted or declined belated - those are not affected by the restriction.

Edit holiday blockers

To enter, edit or delete holiday blockers you need to be authorised. You are authorised to edit holiday blockers if you

If your are authorised to change holiday blockers proceed as follows:

1.Login
2. Click on "holiday blockers" in the left navigation bar
3. Click on "edit holiday blockers" or "delete holiday blockers" (if you cannot see those links then you are not authorised)
Then follow the instructions on the site to enter, edit or delete holiday blockers.

Deleting a single holiday blocker
To delete a single holiday blocker instead of all of them proceed as follows:

1. Login
2. Click on "holiday blocker" within the left navigation bar
3. Click on "edit holiday blockers" (if you cannot see the link then you are not authorised)
4. Delete all entries of the holiday blocker (start date, end date, reason) you want to delete
5. Click on "save changes"

Holiday request during holiday blockers

If there is a holiday blocker in place it is not allowed to request holiday for this period - the software will only send an error message.

To request a holiday for this period:
1. The administrator has to delete the holiday blocker
2. Enter the holiday request
3. The administrator has to perform a re-entry of the holiday blocker

Printing

Do you have problems with printing of calendar views? Please see below to get some solutions.

Every page can be printed. Use the page printing fuction of your browser (usually "File"->"Print"). By intelligent use of the printing function only the relevant parts of the page will be printed. So printing the left or upper navigation bar and most of the navigation elements or buttons can be avoided.

Printing the calendar

If you want to print a calendar view the highlighted selections of the absences will not be printed. This is because highlighted selections are background attributes which will be ignored for the printing process.

To solve the problem activate the printing of background colours in the settings of your internet browser. Depending on the internet browser please proceed as follows:

Chrome
Open the print menu which will display the print preview. On the left bottom activate the option "Print background colours".

Internet Explorer / Edge
Click on "Tools->Internet options". Afterwards click on the tab "advanced". The option "print background colours and images" has to be ticked Within the window showing the settings.

Firefox
Click on "File->Page Setup". Then click on the tab "Format & Options". Tick the box "print background (colours and pictures)".

Filter

The filter function, which is available for several views, makes it possible to filter the list for certain criteria.

Example:
Choose a certain employee within the filter criteria for the holiday overview. After confirming the filter the list will be refreshed and only the holiday of the chosen employee will be shown.

Choose relevant criteria for the list and click on "execute filter" to refresh the list.

Change password

To change the password use the function "change password" in the left navigation bar.

After having entered the old password and the new password twice the password will be changed.

After the first registration and the creation of a new user the password will be created automatically. By using this password you are able to login. After the first login a change of the password is requested automatically.

Change email address

If your email address has changed you can change your email address within the system. Proceed as follows:

Change your own email address

Every user can change his own email address at any time. Proceed as follows:

1) Login and click on "my user data" within the left naviagtion bar.
2) Click on "change email address" next to your email address.
3) Follow the instructions on the next pages to change the email address.

Change email address of an employee

"administrators" or "managers" are able to change email addresses of their employees (but only with confirmation of the respective user: the user will receive an email showing the changes and asking him to confirm the information). Proceed as follows:

1) Click on "overview" within the left navigation bar.
2) Click on the symbol with the loupe next to the employee to access the employee information.
3) Click on the link "change email address" next to the email address.
4) Follow the instructions on the next pages to change the email address.