About automatic time off processing

When you create a time off plan, you set an allotment of time that will be automatically approved when an agent requests time off. You can set an automatically approved amount of time per day, per staff type, and per coverage group.

Configure accrual rates to show the rate at which groups of agents will get more time off in the specified activity code. Create staff types to group together agents with the same workgroups, interaction types, and skills. This grouping prevents time off from being granted to all agents of a particular type on the same day.

Based on the settings you choose in time off plans, accrual rates, and staff types, the processing engine places the time off request in one of the following states.

Click the state to see a detailed explanation of its automatic processing conditions and requirements:

Approved

In order for the processing engine to automatically approve a time off request and place it in the approved state, the agent and the request must meet the following conditions.

An agent who submits a time off request must:

1 Belong to a scheduling unit and a coverage group when the processing engine processes the time off request.

2 Be associated with a valid accrual plan for the activity code the agent selects in the time off request.

3 Have enough accrued hours to be eligible for the requested time off.

4 Have enough accrued hours to accommodate any previously approved time off requests for a future date.

In addition, to the agent conditions, the time off request must meet the following requirements for automatic approval:

5 All the days in the time off request must be included in an active time off plan.

6 The accrual plan must be configured to allow automatic approval.

7 The days in the time off request cannot be a designated blackout day from the time off plan.

8 Enough allotments, based on length of time off request, should exist on the particular day of time off request based on coverage group. The system makes this calculation by looking at assigned allotments and subtracting approved time off requests for agents who belong to the same coverage group. This is only required if the accrual plan counts towards allotment.

Note: When an agent submits a time off request, and the agent belongs to an accrual plan that does not count toward allotment, the request is bypassed for automatic approval checks. For example, if an accrual plan for Jury Duty is not counted towards allotments, then the time off request could be auto-approved even if no allotments remain for that day.

If the time off request meets the above requirements, the processing engine automatically approves the request.

Pending

In Interaction Optimizer, time off requests in a pending state are considered to be waitlisted.

The processing engine places a time off request in the pending state if the request is still being processed and confirmation of eligibility for approval has not been confirmed. A time off request may be placed in pending status if:

1 No active time off plan exists in the system.

2 An agent does not belong to a scheduling unit or coverage group at the time the request is processed.

3 An agent has not accrued enough time off hours, based on the configured reference date, but the waitlist capping hours still remain on the time off accrual plan.

4 The time off request contains an activity code not defined in the agent’s accrual plan.

5 The agent’s accrual plan is not configured to automatically approve time off requests.

6 The time off request does not meet allotment availability, but enough time remains in the accrual plan’s waitlist capping setting.

7 An agent has accrued enough hours at the time the request is submitted, but that request would invalidate any previously approved time off requests for a future date.

Denied

In some cases, the processing engine automatically denies a time off request. The potential for automatic denials is only available if your site uses the time off planning feature. If you do not use time off planning, automatic denials are unavailable.

A time off request may be automatically denied if:

1 A time off request is not spanned by an active time off plan during any portion of the request. An agent must submit a time off request during a period where an active time off plan exists. A time off request can span multiple active and adjacent time off plans.

2 The agent who submits the time off request does not have enough accrued hours. If the accrual plan requires that the accrual balance be large enough at the time of the submission and the accrual balance is less than the number of hours in the time off request, the request will be waitlisted or denied. If the accrual plan requires that the accrual balance be large enough at the start of the time off request, the system will calculate how many hours will be added to the accrual balance before the time off request starts. If the accrual balance will not be high enough, the request will be waitlisted or denied. The system determines whether to waitlist or deny the request based on the waitlist cap settings on the accrual plan.

3 A lack of enough accrued hours and failing the waitlist cap check happens, based on the time that the request was submitted.

4 The time off requests includes any full or multiple days that fall on a black out date, and the request is submitted by an agent whose accrual plan count towards allotment.

5 A request exceeds the allotment and waitlist cap settings as defined on the accrual plan.

If the agent does not have enough accrued hours, the processing engine denies the request.

For more information, see the Related Topics.