Time Away From Work

Activate User's Guide
Version
2025.2
Time Away From Work

Use the Time Away From Work wizard to load, review, and install historical Time Off request data. If you load any Time Off requests that are associated with entitlement balances, the Time Off requests reduce the balances for employees.

Some countries are required to calculate Leave (TAFW) Pay based on a lookback period of hours worked and time paid. This wizard enables the loading of Time Off requests for a certain period of time before Go Live. The result is the accurate calculation of the rate of pay at Go Live.

Note: You can complete this wizard more than one time.

Before you begin

The employees that you’re loading Time Off records for must have an Active Employment Status during the Start and End dates included in the data template.

Using this wizard

You do the following in the Time Away From Work wizard:

Upload the Time Away From Work Data template

Use the Time Away From Work Data template to upload the historical Time Off request data to be imported into Dayforce.

Data uploaded with this template

  • Employee Identifier
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Start Time
  • End Time
  • Is All Day
  • Pay Code
  • Net Hours
  • Number of TAFW Days (not required)
  • Employee Comments (not required)
  • Manager Comments (not required)

Review the data for errors

If you find any errors or missing information, you can correct the template document and upload it again, or you can correct the data on the review page. You must resolve all errors to continue.

Install the time away from work data in Dayforce

When the Time Away From Work information is complete in Activate, install them in Dayforce.

Messages: Error, Warning, and Information

Activate sorts each generated message by severity:

Error codes

Actively incompatible with the data in Dayforce. If you have a data error, you must resolve the error before you can complete the installation.

Warning codes

Indicate nonstandard setup that could potentially cause an error in Dayforce. For example, if an earning code is defined as Hours x Rate and the data is amount only, the system creates a warning. However, you can still import the data into the system.

Informational codes

A notable occurrence of data in the system. For example, an informational note shows if codes are dropped from the YTD import.

Tasks

To complete and upload the Time Away From Work template:

  1. In Activate Central, click Load Your Data. The Load Your Data wizards are shown.
  2. Click Time Away From Work.
  3. On the Load page, click Download.

    Note: You can also download an empty Time Away From Work template from the Download Template Files page.

  1. Select the location where you want to save the template document.
  2. Open the TimeAwayFromWorkDataTemplate.xlsx template from the location where you saved it.
  3. Populate the relevant columns on the TAFWData tab for the employees in question.

    Note: The Activate release version shows in cell B3 on the Instructions tab of the template. This information helps you later determine the version of Activate you were using when you downloaded the template.

    Note: Instructions for populating the fields are in the Time Away From Work Data Template Fields section (below) and on the Instructions tab of the template.

  4. Click Save and close the template.

    You can use any file name for the template you upload. The file must be an Excel or CSV (Comma-Separated Value) document and contain the data in the required format.

    Important: Don’t change the name of the tab in the template. Activate uses the tab name to validate that the correct template is being uploaded. Also, don’t change the column headings either.

  5. On the Load page, click Upload.
  6. Go to your completed Time Away From Work Data template in the location where you saved it.
  7. Click Open. The Time Away From Work wizard validates the data.

    Note: If the uploaded file has errors, a Validation Failed message shows in red at the bottom of the page. You must correct the errors in the file on your computer and upload the file again.

    Note: When you upload an Excel file, Activate includes the name of the uploaded file into the name of the XML file it generates and loads to the Dayforce File Server. The format of the generated XML file name is <NamespaceName>_<Import Type>_<file name provided>_YYY-MM-DD_HHMM. This information makes it easier to audit files later.

  8. If the file you uploaded has any errors, a Validation Failed message shows in red on the page to indicate what the errors are. You must correct the errors in the file in the location where you saved it and upload the file again.
  9. Click Next.

To review and confirm the data:

  1. Review the information shown in the grid.
  2. To make updates to data on the page:

    • To insert a new row in the grid, click the row where you want to insert it and click New.

    • To delete a row, click the row and click Delete.

    • To download the error message list and save it to your computer, click Download Errors File.
    • To correct errors in the grid, click in the field containing the error. Click Tab to move to the right and Shift+Tab to move to the left in the row. Use the scrollbars on the right side and bottom of the grid to go to other areas of the grid.

    • To save information in the grid to your computer, click Download File and save it to the location you want.

    • To upload the file from your computer, locate the file and click Upload File. The data in the file shows in the grid.

    • To remove changes that you don’t want to save, click Refresh.

  3. When the data is complete, click Load.

    The Load page opens with a list of the steps to complete and an estimate of how long the installation usually takes. During the installation, the current step in the process is bolded so you can monitor the progress.

To install Time Away From Work data in Dayforce:

When the Time Away From Work configuration is complete in Activate, you must install it in Dayforce.

  1. Click one of the following:
    • Add Email and enter your email address to be notified when the installation process ends instead of waiting for it to finish.
    • Next when the installation is complete.
Next Steps

The Next Steps page opens with a recommendation that you do the following when the installation is complete:

  • To recalculate employee balances that are tied to the time off requests loaded, run the Award Entitlements To Employees background job.
  • To recalculate pay summary records that are tied to the time off requests loaded, run the Pay Summary Recalc background job.
  • The recommended date range for these background jobs is from the beginning of the current fiscal year to the end.
  • Click Next.

    Activate Central opens. The Time Away From Work wizard now shows in green text and a green checkmark shows to the left of the wizard name. The day, date, and time of completion show, along with your name as the user who completed the wizard and the environment where the installation was applied (Stage, Config, or Train).

    If you want to add more information, click I want to add more. See “Executing a Rollback When Using the “Add More” Feature in the Payroll Wizards” for additional information.

Results

You can review the Time Off requests in the Message Center in Dayforce. On the Next Steps page, you can run the background jobs described to synchronize the balance and WFM pay data in Dayforce.

Fields populated in Dayforce

The data uploaded from the Time Away From Work template populates Time Off requests and the associated pay adjustments on employee timesheets.

Dayforce fields populated by the Time Away From Work template
Field in Template Field in Dayforce
Employee Identifier Employee
Can also be found at Employee Profile > Personal > Contact Information > Reference Code.
Start Time Start
End Time End
Is All Day Type of Request
Pay Code Reason
Net Hours Time Requested
Number of TAFW Days Not visible.
Employee Comments Employee Comment
Manager Comments Manager Comment

Files generated by the Time Away From Work wizard

After completing the Time Away From Work wizard, Activate automatically generates a single import file and places on the customer's FTP site.

HR Import:

  • FTP Subdirectory: Import/TAFImport
  • Filename: <Namespace> TAFImport <DateTime>.xml

Example illustrating how Activate translates the template data to XML:

Copy 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<EmployeeTAFWImport xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
    -<EmployeeTAFW>
        <Operation>update</Operation>
        <TAFWXrefCode>5296_SICK_202101010900</TAFWXrefCode>
        <EmployeeXrefCode>5296</EmployeeXrefCode>
        <StartTime>2021-01-03T00:00:00</StartTime>
        <EndTime>2021-01-04T00:00:00</EndTime>
        <AllDay>true</AllDay>
        <StatusXrefCode>APPROVED</StatusXrefCode>
        <PayAdjustCodeXrefCode>SICK</PayAdjustCodeXrefCode>
        <NetHours>7.5</NetHours>
        <Days>1</Days>
        <EmployeeComment>Not Feeling Well</EmployeeComment>
        <ManagerComment>Approved</ManagerComment>
    </EmployeeTAFW>
</EmployeeTAFWImport>

Next steps

When the installation is complete, run the Award Entitlement Job and the Pay Summary Recalc in Dayforce at System Admin > Background Jobs > Available Jobs.

Complete the next wizard, as appropriate.

Time Away From Work Data template fields

All templates have the same basic structure:

  • Instructions tab: Helps you understand the purpose of the data and complete the fields in the template.
  • Data tab: Contains headers for the data to be included in the template. The headers remain the same, but you can change the column order. If you add more columns, Activate ignores them.

All number ranges in the templates include the numbers at both ends of the range.

Employee Identifier (Required)

Field information for the Employee Identifier field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
1 Alphanumeric. Unique value between 1–40 characters.

For Canadian pay groups, a unique value between 1-9 characters.

This information enables the system to identify employees uniquely. Use the same number assigned to the employee in the Getting Started HR data loads. 3241245
000000006
abc123499 		The Employee Identifier, First Name, and Last Name help users identify employees when completing the template. Title is used for retirement plans (pensions) in the UK and is required for third party processing of pension plans. These required fields are used to validate that the data being loaded is assigned to the correct employee record. The values given must match an existing employee record in Dayforce exactly.

First Name (Required)

Field information for the Start Time field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
2 String1 between 1-64 characters.

Legal first name of the employee.

Note: Activate‘ compares the First Name and the Last Name with the Employee Identifier in Dayforce. If they don’t match, Activate shows an error message that states that the data is being loaded incorrectly and to check the source data.

 Joe The Employee Identifier, First Name, and Last Name help users identify employees when completing the template. Title is used for retirement plans (pensions) in the UK and is required for third party processing of pension plans. These required fields are used to validate that the data being loaded is assigned to the correct employee record. The values given must match an existing employee record in Dayforce exactly.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Last Name (Required)

Field information for the Start Time field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
3 String1 between 1-64 characters.

Legal last name of the employee.

Note: Activate‘ compares the First Name and the Last Name with the Employee Identifier in Dayforce. If they don’t match, Activate shows an error message that states that the data is being loaded incorrectly and to check the source data.

   The Employee Identifier, First Name, and Last Name help users identify employees when completing the template. Title is used for retirement plans (pensions) in the UK and is required for third party processing of pension plans. These required fields are used to validate that the data being loaded is assigned to the correct employee record. The values given must match an existing employee record in Dayforce exactly.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Start Time (Required)

Field information for the Start Time field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
4 DateTime. The Start time of the employee TAFW. Date formatted cells:
09/24/2015 16:00
2015-09-24 20:30 		This required field defines when an Employee's TAFW begins.

End Time (Required)

Field information for the End Time field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
5 DateTime. The End time of the employee TAFW. The format is the same as the Start Time field. The End time is exclusive. It’s the first date that employees will be back to work. Date formatted cells:
09/24/2015 16:00
2015-09-24 20:30 		This required field defines when an employee's TAFW ends.

Is All Day (Required)

Field information for the Is All Day field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
6 Boolean This field defines whether a request is for a full day. True
False
1
0 		TAFW requests can be partial or full-day requests. If they’re full-day requests, it can change the way the Start, End Time, and Net Hours are saved.

Pay Code (Required)

Field information for the Pay Code field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
7 String1 between 1-10 characters. The Pay Code is a field that goes on an employee's timesheet to identify how time entries are categorized. Sick
Vac
Unpaid 		The pay code controls the type of Time Away From work request that this will be. For example, without a pay code, a TAFW can’t tell if a request is for Sick or Vacation.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Net Hours (Required)

Field information for the Net Hours field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
8 Decimal Unique value between 1-9 characters. Net Hours represent the number of paid hours in a TAFW record. This value can be 0 if a TAFW isn’t paid Time Off. 7.5
15.5
0.5 		Net Hours are the accumulation of paid hours, so they’re important for defining how many hours a request is actually allowing Time Off for.

Number of TAFW Days (Required)

Field information for the Number of RAFW Days field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
9 Number Unique value between 1-9 characters. This field represents the number of paid days for a TAFW record. 1
10
15 		This field represents the number of paid days for a TAFW record.

Employee Comments

Field information for the Employee Comments field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
10 String1 between 1-512 characters. This field is for employee comments on TAFW requests. Not feeling well This field is for employee comments on TAFW requests.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Manager Comments

Field information for the Manager Comments field
Order Data Type Description Example Why This Is Needed
11 String1 between 1-512 characters. This field is for Manager comments on TAFW requests. Approved This field is for Manager comments on TAFW requests.

1 Special characters accepted within the string include: alphanumeric, space, period, apostrophe, dash, number symbol #, comma, underscore, forward slash /, parentheses (), &

Time Away From Work Data Validations

Data Upload Page

Data validations for Data Upload page
Field Validation Severity Message

—

 Data Tab name isn’t correct. Critical Error An invalid TAFW Data Load file was uploaded. Ensure a TAFWData tab exists in the import file and try again.

—

 All Columns must exist in the template file. Critical Error Didn’t find the required column: (Column Name).

—

 Check For Duplicated Employee in XRefCode Dayforce. Critical Error Duplicate Employee XRefCode(s) found: {XRefCode}. Please contact your Implementation Consultant to ensure the Employee XRefCodes are unique in Dayforce.

—

 The imported file must have at least one record. Critical Error No TAFW data in file.

—

 File cannot contain duplicate records. Critical Error File contains duplicate lines - e.g. 1007|20210101 00:00|20210102 00:00|True|VAC|7.5|||

—

 File size is greater than 10MB. Critical Error File size cannot exceed 10MB.

Data Review Page

Data validations for Data Review page
Field Validation Severity Message

—

 Duplicate Entries (Employee Identifier, Start Time, End Time, Pay Code). Error Duplicate Entry.
Is All Day

 

 

 If set to False and Start/End Times are 00:00. Warning The All Day flag is set to False, review Start, and End Times.
Employee Identifier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Value must be between 1-9 characters. Error Employee Identifier must be 40 or fewer characters in length.
Value cannot be left blank. Error Employee Identifier Value cannot be left blank.
Value must exist in HCM. Error An employee could not be found in Dayforce with this employee identifier.
Value must be Alphanumeric. Error Value is not in the correct format: Alphanumeric.
Check if employee has primary record in Dayforce. Error This employee has no current primary work assignment record in Dayforce.
Check if employee has status record. Error This employee has no status record in Dayforce.
Check if employee has pay group. Error This employee has no pay group in Dayforce.
Leading white space check. N/A System will remove the leading white space of the Identifier.
Check if Employee has Time Off Policy. Warning This employee has no Time Off Policy record in Dayforce.
Check if Employee has Entitlement Policy. Warning This employee has no Entitlement Policy record in Dayforce.
Pay Code

 

 

 The Pay Code exists in the instance. Error Pay Code does not exist.
Value must be between 1-128 characters. Error Pay Code must be between 1 and 128 characters in length.
Value cannot be left blank. Error Pay Code cannot be left blank.
Start Time/End Time

 

 

 

 

 

 Start Time must be before the End Time. Error End Time cannot be before Start Time.
Value must be valid date time format. Error (Start or End Time) is not in the correct format (must be MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM).
If All day is set to Y, absences must have an end date 1 day after the start date.

Scenario All Day: Y

Incorrect:
Start - 20/1/2021 00:00 End - 20/1/2021 00:00

Correct:
Start - 20/1/2021 00:00 End - 21/1/2021 00:00

 Error All Day absence End Date must be after the Start Date.
Overlapping periods are flagged. Warning (Start or End Time) overlaps with another period.
Start and End Time cannot be left blank. Error (Start or End Time) cannot be left blank.
Days cannot have negative values. Days field cannot be 0 (Only if Is All Day = True). Error Days must be greater than 0.
# of TAFW Days

 

 

 Days field can only be in integers. Error Value is not in the correct format: Integer.
Days cannot exceed the total hours in the Start/End Time Range. Error Days cannot exceed the TAFW period total hours.
Net Hours cannot have negative values. Error Net Hours must be greater than or equal to 0.
Net Hours

 

 

 Net Hours cannot have more than 5 decimal places. Error Value must have less than 6 decimal places.
Net Hours cannot be left blank. Error Net Hours cannot be left blank.
Net Hours cannot exceed the total hours in the Start/End Time Range. Error Net Hours cannot exceed the TAFW period total hours.