Activity Codes

The Activity Codes screen is used to define employee schedule codes for an organization unit. Activity codes can be associated with either productive (worked) time or non-productive time, such as vacation/sick. These codes establish the attributes of an activity, including start time, length of activity, and shift coverage. Each different combination of a start time/length of activity needs a unique activity code.

The organization structure level where activity codes are created can be viewed on the Organization Link Levels screen. One set of activity codes is shared by this organization unit where the codes are set up and all its child organization units. For example, if the activity codes are created at level 4, a specific level 4 organization unit and its children at levels 5-9 use this same set of activity codes.

Once a set of activity codes is created, it can be copied to another organization unit. All attributes of the original activities are copied.

Existing activity codes can be copied to the same organization unit, with a different Code. They can then be modified.

Record Management

Depending on the user's authorization level, the following actions may be available.

Note  

The options listed below are not available for some screens.

Depending on the page displayed, the following fields may be available.

Active

Code

Description

Display Color

Length (Hours)

Lunch Length (Hours)

Organization Unit

Pay Code

Start Time

The following related topics are available:

Steps for Adding an Activity Code

Steps for Copying Activity Codes to Another Organization Unit

Steps for Copying Activity Codes Within the Same Organization Unit

Activity Code Indicators

Activity Code Parameters

Active

Indicates whether this activity code is currently being used by the system and can be assigned (Yes/No).

Activity codes that are no longer valid but have been previously assigned cannot be deleted from the system. This is to maintain historical integrity of data. An activity code can be deactivated by setting this value to No, so it can no longer be assigned.

Code

The alphanumeric short name or abbreviation identifying this activity code.

Activity codes can be up to 16 characters in length. The system is not case sensitive so you cannot have both a D1 (upper case D) and a d1 (lower case d) code, with upper and lower case letters the same.

Do not use a space, comma, or semicolon in the code, as these are used as delimiters (characters that mark the beginning or end of a unit of data) when entering activity code/profile strings into the schedule grid.

Description

The label describing the activity code.

Display Color

The color this activity code displays on the schedule screen and on printed reports when using a color printer.

Example 

Colors can be used to denote time of day, such as day (blue), evening (green), and night (purple). Colors can differentiate types of work, such as on call, productive, and nonproductive. These colors make it easier to identify patterns or an unusual shift on the Schedule screen.

Length (Hours)

The length in hours of this activity without lunch length, entered in whole/decimal hours. If an activity runs from 07:00 to 15:30 with a half hour lunch, enter 8.0 hours for the length and .5 for the lunch. The system adds these together to make an 8.5 hour activity code.

Lunch Length (Hours)

The total time of the lunch break expressed in whole/decimal hours. For example, a half hour lunch break should be entered as .5 hours. The Lunch Length value is added to the Length value to determine the ending time of the activity.

For example, if the activity code has a start time of 7:00 and a Length of 8 and a Lunch Length of .5, the end time of the activity is calculated to be 15:30. If this same activity code has a Lunch Length of 1.0, the calculated end time is 16:00.

Organization Unit

Enter the appropriate organizational codes for this activity code. The corporate structure determines the organization level where activity codes are configured, and also the number of levels and label names available.

Pay Code

The Time and Attendance pay code associated with this activity code. For example, a VAC (vacation) activity code may be associated with a PTO (paid time off) pay code.

Start Time

The time of day that this activity code begins, expressed in 24-hour time.

Action Buttons

The following Action buttons may be available in the left pane, depending on the page that is open: