Accrual: The accumulation or increase of something over time. In All Things Time Off, agents accumulate (accrue) hours to use for time off from work.
Accrual rates: How much and how often time accrues. May be via an external source such as an Excel spreadsheet, via the CommunityWFM engine, or accrual information fed to CommunityWFM via the Community Web restful API.
Accrual schedule: The rate at which agents accumulate hours. Accrual schedules may be weekly, monthly, or annually. The amount accrued may be based on length of service if those with longer service earn more time off, or the same for all agents.
Bid round: A period of time designated for agents to ‘bid’ with other agents for time off within a PTO calendar. Bid rounds are typically for a set period of time, after which the bids are approved or denied. Calendar rules determine the allowable block sizes, the number of agents who may bid at the same time, and other parameters.
Block: A single time off request made by or on behalf of an agent during a bid round. See Selection.
Calendar partition: The calendar partition establishes time off rules, bidding rules, and manages the time off bidding process. It’s the mechanism by which agents can request to use their accrued hours in a bid round or during open selection. If participating in a calendar partition, an agent may not request time off for that time period using the legacy request system.
Classification: A way to organize and report time off. Assign events to a classification, then assign classifications to a policy. You may create multiple classifications, but the same event may not be included in more than one classification. Classifications may be included in more than one policy.
Open selection: A period of time when agents may request time off in a calendar without bidding against other agents for the same days. Calendar rules are used to validate then approve or deny the request.
Policy: Policies establish accrual rules for classifications. Employees are assigned to only one policy. Policies might include full-time exempt, part-time non-exempt, etc. You may create as many policies as needed to cover all employee situations; however, an employee may be assigned to only one policy. Employees must be assigned to a policy in order to apply accrued time and participate in calendar partitions.
PTO: Planned time off.
Published calendar: The published calendar includes all of the time off accruals and the policies governing time off requests for that time. Once published, there’s no going back. You cannot “unpublish” the calendar.
Restricted action plan (RAP): A mechanism to prevent automatic time off approval for certain agents. RAPs may also be used to restrict access to the website, mobile application, and to prevent participation in ASAPs and schedule swaps. Default reason codes include corrective action, disciplinary action, or additional training required. You may create additional codes as needed and apply codes to individual agents within their profile.
Selection: In a bid round, a selection is the sum of all of the blocks (requests) within a bid round response. See Block.
Waitlist: In a calendar partition, the waitlist is available when a request fails a brownout rule.
Working accrual calendar: Similar to a working schedule, the working accrual calendar allows you to refine and fine tune accruals, classifications, and policies prior to publishing. You can create as many working accrual calendars as needed