HR Tip - Staff Leave Management

This HR Tip guides Supervisors on how to access staff leave information using the Absence Management tile in the Manager SSO function in Staff Services Online (SSO).

Management of excessive leave balances, staff leave requests, and leave cancellations are key actions required to be taken by Supervisors.

This HR Tip complements the Managing staff excess leave accruals procedure and Workforce Management Policy, and applies to all fixed term and continuing staff members.

Managing staff excess leave accruals

Supervisors are required to monitor annual leave and long service leave balances to ensure staff members’ plan, record and take leave.

Supervisors should review annual leave plans as part of their discussions with team members during the Planning, Development and Review (PDR) meetings.

Supporting resources are available for Supervisors to address and manage staff with excess leave accruals, and advice can also be provided by your relevant HR Manager and HR Advisory Team members.  Forms and templates are available on the dedicated Workforce Management webpage.

Manager SSO – Absence Management

Manager SSO can be accessed by clicking on the dropdown option next to Employee SSO, at the top of the SSO homepage. In Manager SSO, click on the Absence Management tile and find the toolbar on the left that takes you to important leave information:

Monthly Calendar

Click on Monthly Calendar to find a monthly snapshot of all approved and requested leave for your direct reports for the current month.

Here you will find the work schedule of each staff member, including total workday hours, public holidays and rostered days off.

This is a very useful tool to help Supervisors manage workload and consider when it may be appropriate for staff to take leave.

Handy Tips:  

• By ticking ‘Show Schedule’ in the ‘Display Options’ and then clicking the ‘Refresh View’ button, Supervisors can see the work schedule of all direct reports across the month.
• Previous and future months can be viewed by adjusting dates in the ‘View Criteria’ section.
• The monthly calendar information can be exported to spreadsheet by clinking the spreadsheet icon.

View/Forecast Balances

This function helps you identify excessive annual and long service leave balances.

Click on this tab for details of staff leave balances, whether now or at a particular date and time. Select an employee in the list presented and you can view their current balances for each leave type.  Note: approved, future-dated leave periods are not included in the current balance displayed.

Selecting Forecast Balance for an individual allows you to calculate that employee’s leave balance for a particular leave type, at a specific date in the future.

Handy Tip

• Forecasting will take into account an employee’s recorded Voluntary Flexible Work Arrangement.  Remember to consider the impact of a VFWA ending or a new VFWA request taking effect during the period selected.

Action Absence Request

If you have any outstanding leave requests from your direct reports, you will find them by clicking on Action Absence Request, or by following the link included in the notification email you were sent.

Handy Tip

• This section will also provide you with a history of all previously approved or denied leave requests.

Apply for Employee’s Absence

In the event that an employee is unable to submit their own leave request (i.e. due to prolonged illness or lack of system access) Supervisors can do so on behalf of their direct and indirect reports by clicking Apply for Employee’s Absence.  This action results in an e-mail notification to the employee which includes the duration and type of leave submitted on their behalf.

View Employee Absence Request 

Click here to find a history of all staff leave requests. This also allows Supervisors to cancel previously approved leave in the event the employee is unable to do so themselves due to lack of system access.

Supervisors are presented with a list of their direct report employees, and an option to drill down to view their indirect reports. Selecting a specific employee provides a summary of all leave requests across a 6 month timespan. 

Supervisors can cancel a previously approved absence request on behalf of an employee by clicking the ‘Edit’ Button.

Handy Tip

• Supervisors can expand the timeframe to view historical leave requests by selecting a new date rage using the ‘From’ and ‘Through’ fields on the employee’s page.

Ensure leave balances are accurate

Supervisors are required to monitor leave balances to ensure accuracy. This includes, reconciliation of leave taken against leave recorded in SSO.

Questions or Feedback?

We’d like to hear your thoughts on how we can tailor future HR Tips to support you in your leadership role in the University.

If you have any questions about Manager SSO, feedback or a general HR query, please get in touch with our friendly HR Service Centre team on 8313 1111, or complete the HR online enquiry form.