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Timesheet auto-approval settings

Lisa Kirby
  • Updated

 

What is auto-approval of timesheets?

By default, any timesheet that is created in Deputy will need to be approved by a manager before it can be exported to payroll.

If the optional auto-approval of timesheet setting is configured in a location then timesheets generated in that location that fit the criteria specified will be auto-approved by Deputy and not need a manager to review and approve them.

Here is an example of timesheets that have been auto-approved. You can see the lightning arrow icon next to the date.

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Timesheets that do not meet the specified criteria for auto-approval will still be presented for manager review and approval with a status of "Pending".

 

Who can configure timesheet auto-approval settings?

To configure auto-approval of timesheets, you'll need to be logged in as either a Location Manager or System Administrator. Timesheet auto-approval settings are unique to each location, so Location Managers can only configure the settings associated with the location they manage. System Administrators can configure timesheet settings for all locations but will need to configure each location individually or use the copy settings function to bulk update location settings with the same settings.

 

How to access timesheet auto-approval settings

1. On the Location tab click on Edit settings for the location you wish to configure Web_template_-_2021-12-23T164645.966__5_.png

2. Select Timesheets from the list on the left-hand side of the page.Web_template_-_2022-01-04T113534.990__3_.png

3. All the timesheet settings for the location will be displayed.

 

Timesheet auto-approval settings

Under the Timesheet approving section on the Timesheets page, you can configure the settings for automatically approving timesheets where:

  1. clock on time
  2. clock off time
  3. total shift time (including breaks)

is within the variance you select in the drop-down on the right.

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  • If you select never, auto-approval of timesheets will not occur.
  • If you select a time variance then auto-approval will be considered for timesheets where the start, finish or total shift length time do not deviate more than the variance you selected.

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When will auto-approval be applied?

If you have activated the auto-approve timesheet option in a location then timesheets in that specific location will be automatically approved by Deputy if they fit these criteria:

  • the timesheet matches the scheduled time or is within the selected time variance for clock in and out time, plus total shift length including breaks.

  • the timesheet contains no warning flags

Example:

  • The System Administrator or Location Manager has configured an auto-approve timesheets option for The Azure location if within variance from the schedule is up to 10 minutes.
  • Abby is scheduled to work at the Azure location from 9am - 5pm and clocks in and out for her shift to create a timesheet of 9:01am - 5:07pm.
  • There are no warnings associated with the timesheet.
  • This timesheet will be auto-approved.

Note: When implemented in your location, Deputy runs the auto time-approve timesheets functionality every 15 minutes and is applied to timesheets submitted in the previous 15-minute period. This means you may not see timesheets auto-approved instantly after being submitted but may have to wait up to 15 minutes in real time for the auto-approve settings to be applied to your timesheets.

When will auto-approval not be applied?

Even if you have activated the auto-approve timesheet option, timesheets will NOT be auto-approved for the following reasons:

  • the timesheet does not match the scheduled time and the variance of the clock in or clock out time or the total shift length time (including breaks) is greater than the selected time variance that was configured.

  • the timesheet contains warning flags

Example:

  • The System Administrator or Location Manager has configured an auto-approve timesheets option for The Azure location if within variance from the schedule is up to 10min.
  • Abby is scheduled to work at the Azure location from 9am - 5pm and clocks in and out for her shift to create a timesheet of 9:00am - 5:12pm.
  • This timesheet will NOT be auto-approved and will have to be reviewed and approved by a manager as the shift length is 12 mins longer than scheduled and the allowed variance was set at 10mins.

Note: when checking for a time variance from scheduled, Deputy checks three key points (where X is the variance amount in minutes that the manager selects):

  1. whether the clock on time is X mins earlier or later than scheduled
  2. whether the clock out time is X min earlier or later than scheduled
  3. whether to total shift length is X mins shorter or longer than the scheduled total shift length (including breaks).

If the checks fail any one or more of the three conditions above then Auto approval will not be applied and the manager will need to review the timesheet to approve it. Need some more examples?

Another reason that a timesheet will NOT be auto-approved (even if it is within the time variance specified) is if the timesheet contains any warning flags. Warning flags are evident on a timesheet when you review them for approval as they will have a triangle warning icon as shown below.

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Timesheet warnings that result in a timesheet NOT being auto-approved are:

  • the timesheet differs from scheduled so that no part of the shift was clocked in or out within the scheduled shift time
  • the timesheet was shorter or longer than the scheduled duration (outside the variance specified)
  • the timesheet had no meal break or was shorter or longer than scheduled
  • the timesheet had no rest break or was shorter or longer than scheduled
  • the timesheet's  scheduled meal break was taken outside the start and finish time of what was scheduled
  • the timesheet was clocked in or out beyond the geofence boundary (as set by the optional  clocking far away notification extension)
  • the timesheet was automatically closed by Deputy (after 23h59m) because the employee did not clock out
  • the timesheet contains a shift question response that either prevented clock in or was a response that required manager notification to be triggered

Any timesheet with a warning will need to be reviewed and approved by a manager.

More auto-approval examples

Let's look at some more examples where the manager has specified a 10 minute variance for the auto time-approval timesheet setting:

Clocked in Clocked out Total shift length Variance from scheduled What happens to the timesheet?
3 min early 2 min late 5 min longer than scheduled None of the values in the three previous columns exceeds 10 min Auto-approved
12 min early on time 12 min longer than scheduled clock in and total shift length variance exceeds 10 min NOT Auto-approved
13 min late on time 13 min shorter than scheduled clock in and total shift length variance exceeds 10 min NOT Auto-approved
on time 11 min early 11 min shorter than scheduled clock in and total shift length variance exceeds 10 min NOT Auto-approved
on time 13 min late 13 min longer than scheduled clock in and total shift length variance exceeds 10 min NOT Auto-approved
8 min early 8 min early same as scheduled None of the values in the three previous columns' variance exceeds 10 min Auto-approved
12 min early 12 min early same as scheduled clock in and clock out time varies more than 10 min from scheduled even though the total shift length is the same as scheduled NOT Auto-approved
8 min early 8 min late 16 min longer than scheduled total shift length variance exceeds 10 min even though the clock in and clock out times themselves do not exceed 10min variance individually NOT Auto-approved

 

How does auto-approval work with auto-rounding of timesheets?

If your location also has auto-rounding settings enabled and customised for your timesheets then you need to take that into consideration when using timesheet auto-approval. 

With BOTH auto-rounding and auto-approval of timesheets turned ON, Deputy will:

  • apply the auto-rounding settings first (start or end time of shift or break times depending on what you have configured)
  • then apply the auto-approval criteria

Example:

The timesheet settings of a location have been configured so that:

  • Auto time-approve timesheet option is turned on for when the variance is up to 10mins between scheduled and actual clocking time.
  • Auto-rounding to the scheduled clock on time is toggled ON so that the timesheet will be rounded to the scheduled time later 15min
  • Auto-rounding to the scheduled clock off time is toggled ON so that the timesheet will be rounded to the scheduled time if clock off falls in the earlier 15min interval.

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Abby is scheduled for a shift from 9am to 5pm and clocks into this location at 8:58am and out at 5:14pm, which is a 16min variance in total shift length from scheduled.

According to the timesheet settings configured above for this location, Deputy will:

  • first auto-round the clock on time to 9am (the later 15min)
  • and auto-round the clock off time to 5pm (the earlier 15min)
  • then auto-approve the timesheet as the variance from scheduled is now 0min (less than the 10min variance limit set)

Find out more about what happened with timesheets by reading Timesheet History.

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