Within the framework of this article, we would like to point out the highlights that go hand in hand with this release.Â
Facilitating ConfigurationÂ
Helpful Permission AdjustmentsÂ
With regards to permissions, the 2H 2021 release brings some new features. One of these features relates to the Mobile Time Off user interface. It is now possible to set custom fields to read-only in the Field Level Overrides permissions.Â
Figure 1 – Extended Read Only PermissionsÂ
In addition to the target population, it is also possible to define target criteria on the employee time object via role-based permissions. This addition has the advantage that it is technically feasible that, for example, the works council can only see the absence type for overtime for its area of responsibility. Nevertheless, it should be considered that the permissions only refer to access to the information. It is therefore not possible to restrict who can create certain absences.
There are also improvements with regards to the Team Absence Calendar. First of all, the calendar can now be accessed via “View Team Absences” using one of the new quick cards. Furthermore, it is now possible to grant permission to access the team absence calendar for specific user groups, which leads to increased flexibility.
Improvements for Administrative TasksÂ
In the area of Time Off, a large part of the 2H 2021 release is intended to avoid incorrect data gathering and configuration errors. This set of enhancements will be beneficial, as many mistakes can be addressed from the beginning at the point of capture. In addition, the administrators are to be supported in their tasks, and simplified handling is to be ensured.
One of these modifications concerns the time type field “Not To Count As Time In Service”. Whereas in the past, the field could be used regardless of the classification, this is now only possible for time types whose classification field is set to absence.
Furthermore, absence rule functions can only be used for absence time types. The last adjustment to be highlighted in the Time Off area is implementing the contract end date as an accruable end date parameter. This feature is particularly relevant for clients who do not use “Add New Employee for Fixed Term” but still hire temporary contract employees and therefore use the Contract End Date field in the Job Information.
Figure 2 – Contract End Date as Accruable End Date ParameterÂ
For reporting and traceability reasons, it is worth mentioning that approved payout requests that are cancelled will from now on be displayed with the corresponding status, as shown in the following screenshot. Previously, it was only possible to delete the whole object, which meant that it could not be tracked.
Lastly, there are two useful improvements. Firstly, in the past, there were some problems for administrators when several collisions were detected. If a correction was made, the next error message was raised, and it was not possible to save the previous corrections. With the change from error to warning message, this problem can now be overcome. Secondly, two correction scenarios for external time data have been implemented. External time data can be corrected either in the external system and the Time Sheet or exclusively in the source system. On the one hand, the restricted correction scenario helps administrators avoid inconsistent data when users change imported data. On the other hand, if employees can make corrections, it can be beneficial for them to keep track of this data themselves, which means less manual effort for administrators.
Early Adoption Outlook
With the 2H 2021 release, some early adoption functions will once again be introduced. I have selected three that I feel are of particular interest.
The first is that it is now possible to book overlapping absences (e.g., holiday and illness) without getting an error message. The feature is only available for the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Spain.
The second is specific to Germany. The system can calculate and propose dates for continued pay and the sick pay supplement by configuring some date rules for the Set Sick Pay Dates button. The system takes into account the German legal requirements as well as company policies to ensure compliance at all levels.
The third is that workflows can now be used to approve or decline time events that employees create or delete manually in Clock In Clock Out. Once the workflow is triggered, the approval status is visible for the administrator, the manager and the employee.
Figure 3 – Approval Status Clock In Clock Out WorkflowÂ
Functional EnhancementsÂ
Improved User Experience
There have also been several improvements to the layout and design of the user interface (UI).  Let us start with an improvement in the Time Off user interfaces concerning the Time Off Employee-Self Service and Team Absence Calendar. The colours of the Absence status have been adjusted.
The Declined status is now red, while Pending and Cancellation pending statuses are displayed together in orange. The adjustment should help in the consistency and visual cues for the way the status is displayed in the Time Off UI.
Figure 4 – Updated Absence Calendar ColoursÂ
The 2H 2021 release also contains adjustments that affect the Time Sheet. Two points will be briefly outlined here. Firstly, while the Time Sheet UI consisted of three columns, of which one was the calendar, it now consists of only two. This reduction is intended to accommodate users who only want to concentrate on the time sheet summary and the day view. The calendar can be opened separately. Secondly, users who record their times manually had to record hours, minutes and seconds, which is now, fortunately, limited to hours and minutes only.
Beyond the layout and design, another enhancement is worth mentioning. In the past, there have been a lot of duplicate time sheets in the database because there was no restriction to employees being able to change their time sheet during an ongoing recalculation. Now, during such periods, a message appears telling the employee to refresh their time sheet.
Increased Flexibility for Shift Work
One issue that has been extended over a longer period is the management of shift work. Now that it is possible to record shifts overnight, there are further improvements to look forward to. The new feature enables users to work flexibly with night shifts through the use of flextime bandwidths even if the cross-midnight flag is set. This means that flextime bandwidth and cross-midnight processing can be used in combination. Another improvement comes along with the extension of the holiday class filter. Different holiday classes can now be maintained on the previous and next days. This facilitates the calculation of correct premium rates for complex holiday scenarios, such as night shifts that include public holidays.
ConclusionÂ
In this release, SAP makes it clear that it is continuously working on the further development of its solution and trying to implement customer requirements in the best way possible. This is particularly evident in the area of shift work. SAP has already shown in previous releases that it wants to achieve improvements here and continues to add value.
Hopefully, you were able to get a good overview of the highlights of the latest release based. We are always available for advice and support in the implementation of updates and enhancements or even full implementations. Please do reach out to us if you need help with your Time Management.