Frequently Asked Questions

LEAVE REPORTING (LR)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
(click on the question to view the answer)

General

1.  What is the purpose of the on-line
      Leave Reporting System?

2.    Do I have to submit a Leave Report if
       I do not take leave?

3.    What is the best way to ensure
       completion of the leave reporting
       process by the deadline?

4.    Why is another party unable to enter
       the time for an employee?

5.    Who should be contacted if there are
       problems with the Leave Reporting
       Activities? 

Employee

1.    When will my Leave Report (LR)
       appear on the WEB?

2.    Why on March 1^st can I not see my
       February LR?

3.    When will be the last day for employees
       to enter their leave on their LR?

4.    Can an employee enter and submit
       their leave report before the end of
       the month?

5.    What is the problem if an employee
       receives a message that reads “You
       have no records available…please
       contact payroll”?

Approver/Proxy

1.    What is the timeframe for approvers to
       approve leave?

2.    What status does a Leave Report have
       to be in to be approved?

3.    Sometimes I cannot access my LR’s
       from the dropdown box to approve...
       why?

4.    When should I use the Comments
       feature?

5.    What steps should be taken when an
       employee takes time off during the
       month, starts their leave report, but
       fails to submit the on-line report by the
       deadline?

6.    What steps should be taken when an
       employee takes time off during the
       month, never starts their leave report
       and they are unavailable?
 

7.    When should an approver return a LR
       for correction?

8.    When is an approver permitted to make
       changes to an employee’s leave report
       that is in the approver’s queue?

9.    What steps should be taken when an
       employee takes time off but makes no
       attempt to complete the on-line report?

10.  What if an employee is out during the
        entire leave reporting period?

11.  What is the best way to see the details
        of the total time-off for an employee?

12.  What do the following error/warning
        messages mean?

13.   If an approver is absent and/or unable
        to approve leave reports by the
        “Submit By Date”, what needs to
        happen?

14.   How do you make approver changes?
 

Questions with Answers 

General  

Question 1:  What is the purpose of the on-line Leave Reporting System?

Answer:   It is very important for each department to report all leave usage of their employees. The purpose of the on-line Leave Reporting System is to collect and process the leave usage for faculty and administrators. It is the responsibility of each faculty and administrator to enter their leave usage each month into the system and it is the responsibility of each approver to ensure all leave has been submitted and is correct.

Question 2: Do I have to submit a Leave Report if I do not take Leave?

Answer: Human Resource Services has left it to the discretion of each department head to determine if leave reports are required to be submitted by employees when no leave is taken within the reporting period.  Please check with your department head for details concerning internal procedures for submitting leave reports.

Question 3: What is the best way to ensure completion of the leave reporting process by the deadline?

Answer: (1) Have departmental internal control processes in place that clearly state how leave should be requested, approved and submitted on the employee’s leave report (2) Make sure everyone understands that the employee’s part is simple and quick. (3) Encourage employees not to wait until the last minute; time can be entered (and SAVED) throughout the month and submitted after the month has ended.

Question 4:  Why is another party unable to enter the time for an employee?

Answer:  Banner’s on-line leave reporting is a SELF-SERVICE feature and requires an individual’s confidential user id and password.

Question 5:  Who should be contacted if there are problems with the Leave Reporting Activities?

Answer:  Questions should be directed to:

Tammie Dye (tdye@mtsu.edu, ext. 5727) 

Susan England (sengland@mtsu.edu, ext. 5791)

Lisa Jones (lijones@mtsu.edu, ext. 2168)

Employee

Question 1:  When will my Leave Report (LR) appear on the WEB?

Answer:  Your LR will always be available on the first day of each month.

Question 2:  Why on March 1^st can I not see my February LR?

Answer:  As stated above, your current month LR will always appear on the first day of each month.  To access your previous month’s LR simply use the drop-down box.  An employee’s drop down box will display the current month and the two previous month’s LR’s if these were started by the employee.

Question 3:  When will be the last day for employees to enter their leave on their LR?

Answer:  Employees are strongly encouraged to enter their leave throughout the month.  The last day to enter leave is the Submit By Date printed on the leave report.  It should be noted that this date is also the deadline for an approver to approve and submit leave to Payroll.

Question 4:  Can an employee enter and submit their leave report before the end of the month?

Answer:  Yes, as long as all leave taken has been entered before submission. 

Question 5:  What is the problem if an employee receives a message that reads “You have no records available…please contact payroll”?

Answer:  There are several answers to this question. (1) the employee may have clicked “Time Sheet” instead of “Leave Report” on the Employee tab (2) there may be a problem with the employee’s position set-up (3) the position that has been established as the “official” approver is vacant (4) all of the various set-ups for an approver are not complete.

APPROVER/PROXY

Question 1:  What is the timeframe for approvers to approve leave?

Answer:  Approvers have until the “Submit By Date” to approve leave for their department.

Question 2:  What status does a Leave Report have to be in to be approved?

Answer:  Approvers can approve Leave Reports in a “PENDING” Status.  Occasionally, a LR will fall into an “ERROR” Status because the employee attempted to submit their LR more than once. A LR in an “ERROR” status can still be approved by the approver. 

Question 3:  Sometimes I cannot access my LR’s from the dropdown box to approve….why?

Answer:  In order to view LR’s for your department, at least one of your employees must have started their LR.

Question 4:  When should I use the Comments feature?

Answer:  Use it to document, document, and document!  Examples include: (1) anytime you enter leave for an employee, you should always use Comments to document the fact you had to enter leave for your employee (2) if you returned the LR for correction, you could document what needs correction.  Always be sure to date and initial any comments you make and to let the employee know comments have been made on their records.  Otherwise, the employee does not know to look for comments.

Question 5:  What steps should be taken when an employee takes time off during the month, starts their leave report, but fails to submit the on-line report by the deadline?

Answer:   This leave report would be in an “In Progress” status therefore, the approver would not be able to access the report to make changes and/or approve the report.  The approver would have to contact Tammie Dye (tdye@mtsu.edu, ext. 5727), Susan England (sengland@mtsu.edu, ext. 5791) or Lisa Jones (lijones@mtsu.edu, ext. 2168) to request that the employee’s leave report be changed to a “Pending” status so the approver can make the necessary adjustments and approve the LR.

Question 6:  What steps should be taken when an employee takes time off during the month, never starts their leave report and they are unavailable?

Answer:  This leave report would be in a “Not Started” status, therefore, the approver would not be able to access the report to make changes and/or approve the report.  The approver would have to contact Tammie Dye (tdye@mtsu.edu, ext. 5727), Susan England (sengland@mtsu.edu, ext. 5791) or Lisa Jones (lijones@mtsu.edu, ext. 2168) to request that the employee’s leave report be changed to a “Pending” status so the approver can make the necessary adjustments and approve the LR.

Question 7:  When should an approver return a LR for correction?

Answer:  Two common examples of when a LR should be returned to the employee for correction include: (1) the employee hits the “Submit for Approval” button before the end of the month or before their leave was correctly entered, (2) the approver finds a mistake and there is time to send the LR back to the employee for correction and have it back by the “Leave Period Leave Entry Status” date on the Department form.  Approvers must let their employees know when a LR has been “Returned for Correction” because there is no automated notification by the system.

Question 8:  When is an approver permitted to make changes to an employee’s leave report that is in the approver’s queue?

Answer: Changes need to be made when an employee submits any hours in error, fails to enter hours, or enters hours on an incorrect day or leave type.  Approvers are strongly encouraged to return the leave report back to the employee for correction.  However, this can only be done if the Submit By Date has not passed and there is time for the employee to make the changes and return it to the approver before this date has passed.  If the approver must make changes, it is recommended that the approver use the “Comments” feature to document what changes were made, the reason changes were made and initial.  This will serve as a permanent record in case questions arise in the future.

 

Question 9:  What steps should be taken when an employee takes time off but makes no attempt to complete the on-line report?

Answer:  The approver should be aware that the employee took leave and remind the employee to complete their Leave Report.  If the deadline date has not passed, the Approver should enter leave for the employee and use the comments feature to document the entry.  In cases where the deadline has passed, the approver will need to send an email to Payroll (tdye@mtsu.edu, sengland@mtsu.edu, lijones@mtsu.edu) and include the name, leave type, number of hours and reason for manual entry.  Also cc the employee.  Manual entries should be the exception and not the rule.  Multiple manual entries for the same employee will be questioned.

Question 10:  What if an employee is out during the entire leave reporting period?

Answer:  If the employee is out for an extended period, the approver should contact HRS and request that the leave report for that employee be started.  The approver should enter the leave and use the comments section to document that they entered leave for the employee, why they entered the leave and initial.  If for some reason the leave does not get entered and the deadline has passed, the approver will need to send an email to Payroll (tdye@mtsu.edu, sengland@mtsu.edu, lijones@mtsu.edu) and include the name, leave type, number of hours and reason for manual entry.  Also cc the employee.  Manual entries should be the exception and not the rule.  Multiple manual entries for the same employee will be questioned.

Question 11:  What is the best way to see the details of the total time-off for an employee?

Answer:  Click on the employee’s name to see the type of leave and hours per day that were taken for that month.

 

Question 12:  What do the following error/warning messages mean?

Answer:  When an approver clicks on an error/warning message they may see the following:

“Warning Possible Insufficient Leave Balance”

·       If the message is for Bereavement Leave, Jury Duty or Military Leave no action is necessary, simply approve the LR. 

·        If the message is for sick or annual leave, the approver should carefully review their employee’s leave balances to determine if their employee is in a Leave Without Pay status (LWOP).  Approver should contact Tammie Dye (tdye@mtsu.edu, ext. 5727), Susan England (sengland@mtsu.edu, ext. 5791) or Lisa Jones (lijones@mtsu.edu, ext. 2168) when LWOP occurs. 

“Error: Submittal Not Allowed”

·       If the employee attempted to submit their on-line report more than once it may end up in a status of ‘Error’.  This is probably due to the browser speed of submitting the report to the database and has been a rare occurrence.  The on-line report, however, can still be approved and the balance should update correctly.  

“Error: Approval Not Allowed”

·       If the approver attempted to approve the LR more than once it may end up in a status of “Error”.  The Payroll Office will take the necessary action to correct the error. 

“Warning: No Hours Entered”

·       If the employee submitted their on-line report with 0.00 hours, Banner will identify this as an error.  If 0.00 is correct, approve that employee and continue with the approvals.  The error will remain even after the approvals are completed but will not cause and processing problems.
 

 

Question 13:  If an approver is absent and/or unable to approve leave reports by the “Submit By Date”, what needs to happen?

Answer:  Established proxies should be used.  Approvers can have two types of established proxies:

·    The approver’s immediate supervisor has been automatically set-up to serve as proxy by Payroll.

·    Each approver may set-up their own proxies (up to two) by completing the Proxy Authorization Form for each designated employee at the following link: http://hrs.web.mtsu.edu/Leave%20Reporting/2008_ProxyAuthorization.pdf

Question 14:  How do you make approver changes?

Answer:  If an approver needs to be changed, please contact Tammie Dye (tdye@mtsu.edu, ext. 5727), Susan England (sengland@mtsu.edu, ext. 5791) or Lisa Jones (lijones@mtsu.edu, ext. 2168).