In the Leave Management screen, you can create a period of linked leave where there is a direct association between separate leave periods. Use this functionality to link an existing maternity leave period to safe job or special maternity leave periods, which are described as follows:
- Safe job leave is used when it isn't safe for a pregnant employee to do their normal job, and the employee is temporarily allocated a different job assignment. A safe job leave record must be linked to an existing maternity record. For example, an employee might need to enter safe job leave a few months before their regular maternity leave that is recorded in the system. You would then link the safe job leave to the existing maternity leave.
- Special maternity leave is used when an employee is unable to work due to a pregnancy-related illness or pregnancy not ending in a live birth. A special maternity leave record can be linked to an existing maternity leave record. However, it can also be non-linked in the case where there is no regular maternity leave on file yet. For example, an employee might request special maternity leave before informing the employer of a pregnancy.
A linked record for safe job or special maternity leave can only be created in the Leave Management screen, and not the Request Leave Of Absence form. However, employees can request nonlinked special maternity leave through the form.
You can add a linked leave record by first selecting the existing maternity record (a record with Maternity selected as a reason) that you want to link to. When you do this, the Add button in the toolstrip becomes expandable with the following options:
- Add Linked To Maternity <start date of existing leave>: Create a leave record that will be linked to the existing maternity leave.
- Add With New Inactive Status: Create a leave record that won’t be linked to the existing maternity leave.
When you select Add Linked To Maternity <start date of existing leave>, the process for creating the linked record is the same as for a nonlinked record, except that the Reason drop-down list in the Leave Details section only contains the following options:
When you fill out the required fields and click Save, Dayforce adds a link icon to the Reason column of the linked records. You can hover over an icon to expand a tooltip indicating which record it’s linked to along with the start and end date of the leave:
If you delete a linked record, Dayforce also deletes its linked periods. For example, if a maternity period is linked to a safe job period, and you delete the maternity period, Dayforce deletes both. Conversely, if you delete the safe job period, Dayforce also deletes both.
The following are examples of adding a linked leave period:
- Example 1: The current date is July 26, 2019 and an employee has a maternity leave record with an effective start date of September 9, 2019. It’s determined that the employee needs to enter safe job leave until their maternity leave starts. As such, you can create a linked safe job leave record with an effective start date of July 27, 2019 and effective end date of September 8, 2019 (the day before regular maternity starts).
- Example 2: The current date is July 26, 2019, and an employee's maternity leave has already started, with an effective date of July 15, 2019. Now, say that the employee needs to enter special maternity leave. In this case, you can effective end-date the maternity leave record as of July 26, 2019.
- Note: Because the Leave Management screen allows only one transaction per save, you need to end date the record and save before adding a new record.
- After you end date the regular maternity record, you can add a linked leave record for special maternity with a start date of July 27, 2019.
The Safe Job option is available only for leave that’s linked to a maternity leave record. You can’t create a standalone safe job leave.
When you click Safe Job in the Reason drop-down list in the Leave Details section of the leave record, the section shows the following additional fields:
- Return Notification Date: The date that the employee provided notification of return.
- Actual Return Date: The actual date that the employee returned.
No other sections are shown for this leave reason.
Before You Begin: You can also create a nonlinked record for special maternity leave. You would do this in the case where there is no regular maternity leave already on file.
When you click Special Maternity in the Reason drop-down list of the Leave Details section, Dayforce shows the HR Information and Keep In Touch sections.
The fields in the HR Information section are the same as when you click Maternity in the Reason drop-down list. See Maternity.
Also, for more information, see Add Keep In Touch Days for Australian Employees.