We are excited to introduce an automatic way to handle public holidays for timesheet employees! This new feature eliminates the need for manual data entry, reduces errors, and ensures accurate payroll calculations by automatically applying the correct "Public Holiday Not Worked" or "Public Holiday Worked" pay type.
This article covers how to use the feature when creating timesheets (as an employee) and when approving timesheets (as an administrator).
For Employees: Apply a Public Holiday not worked
If a public holiday falls within the period you are creating a timesheet for, the system will prompt you to apply it.
- Navigate to the Create Timesheets screen.
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Look for the prompt: A line will appear above your timesheet summary (similar to approved leave requests), stating: "Public Holidays".
- Click this line to expand the details.
- The section will drop down and display a message: "There is X public holidays for this period" and list the Public Holiday Name(s) and Date(s).
- Click on the specific public holiday you wish to apply.
The system will automatically:
- Perform the "Otherwise Working Day" test to determine if you are entitled to the holiday pay.
- If you pass the test, a timesheet entry will be created for that day with the work type set to "Public Holiday Not Worked."
- The hours will be automatically populated based on your employment type (daily hours, advanced work pattern hours, or calculated average daily hours).
If you clock in or out on a gazetted public holiday:
- The system will automatically apply the "Public Holiday Worked" work type
- If your shift crosses midnight (e.g., from a regular day to a Public Holiday, or vice versa), the system will automatically split the timesheet entry to ensure only the hours on the public holiday are assigned the "Public Holiday Worked" work type.
For Administrators: Bulk Apply Public Holidays
For full-time, part-time and casual employees set to submit all time via timesheets, you can quickly apply public holidays during the approval process.
- Navigate to the Approve Timesheets screen.
- If a public holiday falls during the period you are approving, a new option will appear: "Apply Public Holiday".
- Click the “Apply Public Holiday" option.
The system will perform the following checks and actions for all applicable employees:
- Eligibility Check: The feature only applies to employees whose Timesheet Setting in their Pay Run Defaults is set to "Use timesheets to submit all time worked."
- Otherwise Working Day Test: The system will check if the public holiday falls on a day that would otherwise be a working day for the employee.
Note on Mondayisation: The system correctly handles "Mondayisation" by first checking the original weekend date. If the employee doesn't usually work weekends, the system then applies the otherwise working day test to the Mondayised date.
- A summary confirming the outcome will appear above the timesheets.
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Timesheet Population (Public Holiday Not Worked): If the employee passes the test and has not worked that day, a timesheet entry is automatically created with the work type "Public Holiday Not Worked" and the appropriate hours are based on:
- Basic Work Pattern: Daily hours.
- Advanced Work Pattern: Hours defined in their AWP.
- Irregular Hours: Calculated average daily hours based on their review period.
This bulk process ensures all eligible employees are paid correctly for unworked public holidays, reducing your review time significantly.
Things to note:
The automation uses the system pay categories for Public holiday not worked and Public holiday worked and as such these pay categories must be mapped to the Public holiday not work and Public holiday worked Work types.
Rule sets used for the automation of public holidays will no longer be needed so they should be made inactive.
A leave category for Public holiday not worked is not required so should not be used.
Extra pay categories setup for public holidays are not required and will not pay the correct rate as per legislation so these should not be used.