Cascading Policies

Cascading policies define the pay codes used to trigger cascading accrual takings.

Cascading policies define the paycodes used to trigger cascading accrual takings. For example, you can create a cascading policy that allows the system to take time from both vacation accruals and sick accruals if an employee does not have an adequate amount of vacation time accrued.

Note:
  • If paycodes in the Cascading Policy permit overdrafts, the corresponding accrual codes must permit the same overdrafts. The accrual codes must be in the employee’s accrual policy.
  • Any amount that remains uncascaded after the last step is considered “in overdraft" and is subject to validation.
  • When you create a new cascading policy, it is automatically assigned a status of Active.

Use cascading paycodes to enter a single paycode edit, which charges or debits amounts across multiple accrual codes. Cascading paycodes hold either hours or days and have corresponding accrual codes, which also hold hours or days. If the associated accrual code allows overdrafts, you can also allow the cascading paycode to allow overdrafts.

For example, you enter a paycode edit for 8 hours of vacation for an employee who has only 4 hours of vacation, but 16 hours of sick time. A cascading paycode edit can use the 4 vacation hours and then 4 sick time hours. Cascading policy rules specify the accrual codes that are used in the cascading paycode edit.

Cascading paycodes in the timecard

Cascading paycode edits can be made in the timecard and also as a group edit in Schedule Editor. A single cascading edit produces one or more system-generated cascaded takings, which reduce the accrued amounts in the accrual codes associated with the cascading paycode.

You can add comments to the first paycode edit in a cascade (parent), but the comments are not copied to the subsequent paycode edits in the cascade (children).

Cascading paycode edits appear as purple, non-editable items in the timecard.

Note: If a cascading day-based paycode edit generates an associated day and duration paycode combination, the associated paycodes appear in the timecard as follows:

Cascading paycode edit

Day paycode 1

Day paycode 2

Duration paycode 1

Associated with Day paycode 1

Duration paycode 2

Associated with Day paycode 2

Cascading overdrafts

Cascade edits can include overdrafts. The cascade overdraft limit is less than or equal to the accrual warning overdraft limit defined in the associated Accruals policy. The cascading configuration controls whether the accrual balance corresponding to a given step is left with a positive balance, a zero balance, or is allowed to be a negative balance. Any amount that remains uncascaded after the last step is considered to be in "overdraft" and generates an error message.

When the cascade overdraft limit is greater than the accrual warning overdraft limit, the request is honored as long as the entire request falls within the amount allowed by the accrual warning overdraft limit. When the requested amount falls outside the accrual limit, the cascade goes to the next cascade step without taking any amount for this step.

Note: The accrual overdraft limit (the warning amount if it exists, otherwise the disallow amount) is the governing limit for all takings.

Configure Cascading Policies

Select Administration > Application Setup > Pay Policies > Cascading Policies to open the Cascading Policies page. You can do the following.

Filter the policies displayed

Select All, Active, or Inactive in the Filter drop-down box.

Add a cascading policy

  1. Click New or select a policy in the table and then click Duplicate.
  2. Enter the policy name and, optionally, a description.
  3. Select a Cascading Pay Code that, when used in a paycode edit, triggers the cascade.
  4. Select Disregard taking limits in accrual policy if the cascading policy should bypass accrual validation for the Taking Limit.
    Note: The Disregard taking limits in accrual policy option is only available for Minimum Taking. It is not available for Maximum Taking. This setting should be used in conjunction with the Bypass individual taking restrictions option.
  5. Select a paycode in the Apply uncascaded balance to list. After all other paycode takings have been exhausted, any leftover balance is applied to this paycode.
  6. To add a step:
    1. Select Add Cascading Step from the Select an Action in the Cascading Policies Editor.
    2. In the New Cascading Step section, select a paycode. The corresponding accrual code appears.
    3. Select a Warning option:
      Warnings are processed only if Disregard taking limits in accrual policy is not selected.
      • Enforce for Maximum Taking Limits — The cascade engine cascades to the next lower node in the policy. If that is the last node in the policy configuration, cascading moves to the paycode selected in Apply uncascaded balance to. If no overflow paycode is configured, the edit does not cascade.
      • Ignore for Maximum Taking Limits — The cascade engine bypasses the warning amount in the accrual policy and cascades from that node until the disallow amount is reached. After the disallow amount is reached, the cascade engine starts taking from the next lower node or from the paycode selected in Apply uncascaded balance to. If no overflow paycode is configured, the edit does not cascade.

      • No warning or a disallow messages about enforcing or ignoring maximum taking limits ever appear.

    4. (Optional) Select Bypass individual taking restrictions to ignore the accrual policies' minimum taking limit for the step.
      For example, an employee’s cascading policy has 3 steps, sick, vacation, and personal. The employee has the following accrual balances (and restrictions):
      • Sick – 2 hours (increment 2, minimum taking 3)
      • Vacation – 4 hours (increment 4, minimum taking 5)
      • Personal – 6 hours (increment 2, minimum taking 3)
      For a taking amount of 8 hours, if the option is selected for all steps in the cascading policy, then the following hours are taken from the accrual balances:
      • 2 from sick
      • 4 from vacation
      • 2 from personal

      If the option is not selected for any of the steps, then the increments and minimum takings are respected; nothing is taken from the sick or vacation accrual balances, and 6 hours are taken from the personal accrual balance.

    5. (Optional) Select Taking Limit to specify the balance at which the takings in the cascading policy should end. Then, specify a limit on the takings that occur in the cascade.
    6. Enter the amount of time (in hh:mm format for hours or D.dd format for days) at which the takings in the cascading policy should stop. If the corresponding accrual code allows overdrafts, you can enter a negative number. This entry is required if Taking Limit is selected.
    7. Click Save.
  7. Click Save or Save & Return on the Cascading Policy Editor page.

Activate or inactivate a cascading policy

Activate a cascading policy to make it available for use throughout the system. New cascading policies are automatically assigned a status of Active.

Note: You cannot associate an inactive cascading policy with a cascading profile when you are configuring a new cascading profile. If you inactivate a cascading policy that is already associated with a cascading profile that has been assigned to an employee, the cascading policy continues to work in that cascading profile.
  1. Select the check box for the policy that you want to activate or inactivate. You can select multiple cascading policies.
  2. Click Activate or Inactivate. Select All in the Filter drop-down list to see whether a cascading policy is active or inactive.

Delete a cascading policy

Note: You cannot delete a cascading policy that is being using within an assigned cascading profile.
  1. Select the check box to the left of the cascading policy that you want to delete. You can delete multiple cascading policies.
  2. Click Delete. A confirmation box appears.
  3. Click OK.

Add a cascading step

  1. Select Add Cascading Step from the Select an Action in the Cascading Policies Editor.
  2. In the New Cascading Step section, select a paycode. The corresponding accrual code appears.
  3. Select a Warning option:
    Warnings are processed only if Disregard taking limits in accrual policy is not selected.
    • Enforce for Maximum Taking Limits — The cascade engine cascades to the next lower node in the policy. If that is the last node in the policy configuration, cascading moves to the paycode selected in Apply uncascaded balance to. If no overflow paycode is configured, the edit does not cascade.
    • Ignore for Maximum Taking Limits — The cascade engine bypasses the warning amount in the accrual policy and cascades from that node until the disallow amount is reached. After the disallow amount is reached, the cascade engine starts taking from the next lower node or from the paycode selected in Apply uncascaded balance to. If no overflow paycode is configured, the edit does not cascade.

      No warning or a disallow messages about enforcing or ignoring maximum taking limits ever appear.
  4. (Optional) Select Bypass individual taking restrictions to ignore the accrual policies' minimum taking limit for the step.
    For example, an employee’s cascading policy has 3 steps, sick, vacation, and personal. The employee has the following accrual balances (and restrictions):
    • Sick – 2 hours (increment 2, minimum taking 3)
    • Vacation – 4 hours (increment 4, minimum taking 5)
    • Personal – 6 hours (increment 2, minimum taking 3)
    For a taking amount of 8 hours, if the option is selected for all steps in the cascading policy, then the following hours are taken from the accrual balances:
    • 2 from sick
    • 4 from vacation
    • 2 from personal

    If the option is not selected for any of the steps, then the increments and minimum takings are respected; nothing is taken from the sick or vacation accrual balances, and 6 hours are taken from the personal accrual balance.
  5. (Optional) Select Taking Limit to specify the balance at which the takings in the cascading policy should end. Then, specify a limit on the takings that occur in the cascade.
  6. Enter the amount of time (in hh:mm format for hours or D.dd format for days) at which the takings in the cascading policy should stop. If the corresponding accrual code allows overdrafts, you can enter a negative number. This entry is required if Taking Limit is selected.
  7. Click Save.

Move a cascading step

  1. In the Cascading Policy map on the left side of the page, select the appropriate paycode.
  2. In Select an Action, select Move.
  3. In the Cascading Policy map on the left side of the page, select the parent paycode to which you want to move the paycode.
  4. Click the Finish Move box above the map. The paycode is moved in the map.
  5. Click Save.

Delete a cascading step

  1. On the Cascading Policies page, select the appropriate cascading policy, and then click Edit, or double-click the cascading policy name.
  2. In the Cascading Policy Editor, select the cascading paycode, or step, to be deleted.
  3. Select Delete in the Select Action drop-down list. A confirmation message box appears.
  4. Click OK.