Workflow is a hierarchical notification and approval function in Jarrison Time.
It can be applied to:
- Overtime Pre-Authorizations
- Overtime Authorizations
- Manual Clockings
- Adjustments
Workflow allows you to enforce multiple levels of approval before a transaction is finalized and processed. Once the final level approves the transaction, it exits Workflow and becomes an approved system transaction.
Before configuring Workflow, ensure:
- The module is licensed correctly (selected on the Registration window)
- All users who form part of Workflow, have access to Jarrison Time
- SMTP (email) is configured and working (this is used for notifications).
- User ‘Reports To’ relationships are configured where required.
- Supervisors are linked to employees.
- ‘User Group’ permissions for Workflow are assigned.
- ‘User Filters’ are setup and assigned.
How Workflow works (Overview)
- A task is initiated (e.g., Overtime Authorization).
- The task moves to the next approver in the hierarchy.
- The approver must ‘Accept’ or ‘Reject’ the task.
Accepted → moves to next level
Rejected → returns to initiator
- If not processed within the Escalation Schedule, escalation notifications are sent via email.
- Final approval → transaction exits Workflow.
Two ways to set up Workflow:
There are two reporting structures available:
- One-to-One Reporting (User reports to one Supervisor)
- User Reporting to Multiple Supervisors
For either way, employees need to be correctly assigned to Supervisors. If no supervisor is assigned to the employee, the task will go the initiator’s “Reports To” user instead.
To Link Supervisors to Employees:
- Open Employee Details
- Assign the relevant Supervisor from the drop-down menu
- Save
Remember, supervisors can be bulk assigned through Third Party (CSV) import.
1) Navigate to Setup → System Configuration → Workflow, in order to enable the functions you want included in Workflow, and set the approval levels per function. The below configuration is for the one-to-one reporting option.
2) To include a function into Workflow, tick its Use…Workflow option and assign the number of levels of approval required. The first level is the task initiator, not an actual approval level. In the image above all functions are included and any authorized or pre-authorized overtime will require three approvals while adding or removing clockings or adjustments will require one approval.
3) The Escalation Schedule determines when Workflow notifications will be sent. The above configuration will allow for notifications to be sent from Monday to Thursday, between 06:00 and 18:00, Friday 06:00 to 14:00. A holiday calendar may also be set to align Public Holidays if notifications are required on public holidays as well.
User Setup
1) Users who should be included in Workflow can be added in two ways: if they are employees then they should be marked Is a Supervisor in Employee Details.
If the user is not an employee in Jarrison Time then from User, Details tab, a selection should be made in the Reports To dropdown menu.
Once all supervisors have been activated and assigned to their superior, where applicable, navigate to Setup → System Configuration → General1 and tick the Link Supervisor to User checkbox.
You can also tick the setting to ‘Use Dynamic User Filters’. Once you have the relevant checkbox selected, click on the ‘Link Now’ button. The system will generate users that can be located in the ‘User Profiles’ window, based on the supervisor assignments that were made previously.
Linked profiles will initially be disabled (licence unaffected). Any other supervisor profiles that aren’t part of Workflow, can safely be deleted. The relevant profiles must then be enabled by removing the Disabled tick.
When using the Link Supervisor option, user names will be generated according to the employee numbers as populated within the system. This means users will have to login with their employee numbers as their user names once Workflow is enabled and initiated. This will become evident once you navigate to the User Profiles after the Link Now button has been selected.
When setting user filters, dynamic user filters can be applied as a way to limit each supervisor to only view the subordinate employees and supervisors who are linked beneath them. So, if supervisor A has supervisors B and C linked underneath their user profile, then supervisor A will have the ability to view and/or modify the employees of supervisors B and C from the moment they log into Jarrison Time with their profile.
2) Once users have been created and linked the next step will be to link appropriately-configured user groups, which will dictate the access allowed for each user. Navigate to User → User Groups and either create a new group, or copy from the existing groups and modify the access accordingly. Click on the View tab and select the applicable checkboxes (as per the image below).
The ‘Workflow Administrator’ setting will allow viewing all tasks that have been initiated and require approval.
The ‘Reassign Workflow Tasks’ setting will allow the users to reassign tasks to other users within the Workflow hierarchical structure (useful when someone is absent).
Lastly, the relevant user group must be assigned to the users in order for them to have access to the tasks.
Escalation Settings
Workflow tasks must be processed within the Escalation Schedule in system configuration.
If not completed in time, a notification is sent to the user who did not action the task, and their supervisor.
Escalation Controls:
- Escalate Workflow setting – controls timing
- Escalation Override – can be set per user in User Profiles
- Escalation Process Schedule – controls when notifications are sent (Example: Monday–Friday, 06:00–18:00)
- Holiday Calendar – can include Public Holidays, if required
Option 2: Reporting to Multiple Supervisors (Employee Supervisor to process)
This allows workflow tasks to go to the Supervisors linked to employees instead of the ‘Reports To’ user. The same steps as option 1 are used when setting up, with a few additions.
Enabling Employee supervisor to Process means when a task’s initiated for an employee it will move to the person assigned as their Supervisor in Employee Details (this person must have a Jarrison Time profile). If no Supervisor is assigned, then the ‘Reports To’ person will be used instead.
Setup Steps
Step 1: Decide Task Routing
Then under System Configuration Workflow:
If tasks of a function should go to Assigned Supervisors (per Employee Details) → Tick Employee Supervisor to Process. In the above image, Overtime Authorization has been selected to allow tasks to go to employee supervisors.
Step 2: Enable users
If the ‘Employee Supervisor to process’ option is being used, there must also be a permission added to the User Groups of Supervisors who will be working with Workflow. On the Users tab of User → User Groups, Workflow Initializer should be ticked.
How Workflow Appears in the System
When a transaction enters Workflow:
- It appears in Daily Details View
- It appears in Daily Summary View
- It appears in Overtime Authorization screens
- It appears in Pre-Authorized Overtime screens
- It is marked in orange/peach
- Status shows: Captured or Pending Approval
Pending transactions are visually highlighted differently from approved ones.
Processing a Workflow Task
Open Task List
- Go to View
- Select Task List
Entries, each containing a weekly collection of transactions, will appear per task with these columns:
- User (Initiator)
- Approver
- Task Type
- Week No & Date Range
Open a Task
- Double-click a task to process
- The transaction screen opens
- Select the relevant rows
On the lower right, Accept or Reject
- Click Accept → moves to next level
- Click Reject → must enter a Reason
If rejected:
- The task returns to the initiator
- Email notification is sent
- Initiator may amend and resubmit, or cancel
Viewing Pending Transactions
If enabled in User Groups, users can view Clockings and Adjustments still waiting for attention.
Go to:
View → Pending Clockings
View → Pending Adjustments
Example Workflow Structure
Example hierarchy (one-to-one reporting):
- User ‘Ivan Stanley’ → Reports to User ‘Sefiso Dlamini’
- User ‘Sefiso Dlamini’ → Reports to User ‘Lumi Yoshida’
- User ‘Lumi Yoshida’ → Reports to User ‘Jen Chang’
Flow:
- User ‘Ivan Stanley’ initiates tasks
- User ‘Sefiso Dlamini’ approves / rejects transactions captured by ‘Ivan Stanley’ (rejected tasks return to Ivan)
- User ‘Lumi Yoshida’ approves / rejects transactions approved by ‘Sefiso Dlamini’ (rejected tasks return to Ivan)
- User ‘Jen’ approves / rejects transactions approved by ‘Lumi Yoshida’ (final level) (rejected tasks return to Ivan)
- After Jen’s approval, transaction exits Workflow
Reminders
- Workflow module is enabled (Registration Window)
- SMTP must be configured
- Supervisors must be linked (if using Supervisor option)
- User Groups must include Workflow permissions
- Escalation schedule must be configured
- Tasks not processed within the configured hours, escalate
- Email addresses of each user must be captured in User Profiles
