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Responsibilities of Time & Absence Approvers

Confirming Accuracy

Approvers are responsible for confirming accuracy of time card and absence submissions prior to approving the submission.

When reviewing time cards, it’s important to verify accuracy of the:

    • Assignment Number,
    • Time Reporting Code(s),
    • Dates and Hours entered and
    • Costing segments. Approvers should confirm the costing segments (fund, department, cost center, supplemental and project) are blank on the time card unless the employee must override the costing due to sponsored programs/grant related work.

Line managers should work with their direct reports to ensure all time cards are submitted on time and with accurate information.

Correcting Inaccurate Submissions

If a time card or absence is inaccurate, use the “Request More Information” action to send the submission back to the employee to edit and resubmit. If you must reject the time card, send an email to the employee letting them know why it was rejected and that they need to create and submit a new time card.

  • If needed, approvers can edit time cards on behalf of employees by following these instructions. If you edit another employee’s time card, send them an email (or talk to them in person) to let them know what edits were made, why they were made and any next steps for the employee. If you edit and submit a time card for another employee, you must still approve the time card before it will route to the Payroll team. 
  • If a time card is fully processed with incorrect information, employees can edit their time card within 28 days to update the entries as needed. If corrections to payroll are needed beyond 28 days, visit the Correcting Entry Matrix for information about next steps to correct the activity.

Meeting Time Entry & Approval Deadlines

Use Time Management > Team Time Cards search functionality to confirm every hourly employee on your team submits their time card for each pay period. If you can’t locate an employee time card when searching in Time Management, it means the employee hasn’t submitted their time yet.

  • If the approval deadline is nearing, create and submit a time card on their behalf to ensure they are paid on time. If you create and submit a time card for another employee, you must still approve the time card before it will route to the Payroll team. 

Time cards must be submitted and approved no later than the Monday following pay period end date. Add this calendar to your calendar view to stay up to date on time entry and approval deadlines.