Setting Up Swiss Absence Rules

This chapter provides an overview of Swiss absence rules, absence setup steps for Switzerland, delivered absence rules, modification of take elements, entitlement calculation for paid vacation, and discusses how to:

• Set up absence entitlement plans.

• Set up scale codes.

Understanding Swiss Absence Rules

In Global Payroll for Switzerland, an entitlement plan is a record of all absence entitlements that are required, such as the number of days of vacation and the number of paid sick days.

The number of vacation days to which employees are entitled may be linked to weekly working hours, age, length of service, a specific function, canton of employment, or other factors.

The entitlement plan that you create here can be assigned directly to an employee. If you do not assign a specific plan, the system uses the default entitlement plan from the Tariff Factors component, since every employee is normally assigned to a tariff, tariff area, and employee category. You can make individual assignments and overrides at the employee level using supporting element overrides (SOVRs), by assigning the relevant entitlement plan to the element CH_AB_EE_ENTL_PLAN.

See Also

Entering and Processing Absences

Viewing Delivered Elements

The PeopleSoft system delivers a query that you can run to view the names of all delivered elements designed for Switzerland. Instructions for running the query are provided in the PeopleSoft Enterprise Global Payroll 9.0 PeopleBook.

See Also

Understanding How to View Delivered Elements

Absence Setup Steps for Switzerland

Before you can enter and process absences, you must complete various setup steps. The general setup steps are described with the Absence Set-Up and Management Tasks in the PeopleSoft Enterprise Global Payroll 9.0 PeopleBook. Following are the specific steps applicable to Global Payroll for Switzerland.

To prepare Global Payroll for Switzerland for absence processing:

1. Define work schedules and assign a schedule to each payee.

   Instructions for creating a assigning work schedules are in the Using Schedules section of the PeopleSoft Enterprise Global Payroll 9.0 PeopleBook.

2. Define holiday schedules.

   Instructions for creating a assigning work schedules are in the Using Schedules section of the PeopleSoft Enterprise Global Payroll 9.0 PeopleBook.

3. Define or modify entitlement and take elements.

   Use the predefined absence entitlement and absence take elements delivered with Global Payroll for Switzerland, modify some attributes of these elements, or create your own absence elements. This chapter lists the delivered absence elements and describe the attributes you can change.

4. Create entitlement plans.

   Entitlement plans provide a convenient way to define the amount of paid time off to which payees are entitled for vacation, sickness, accidents, or other reasons that you define. You can base entitlement on weekly work days, age, length of service, or other factors. When you run the absence process, the system retrieves the entitlement plan associated with the payee to determine the entitlement that is appropriate for the absence that is being processed.

5. Assign entitlement plans to payees.

   After you define your entitlement plans, associate them with pay entity, pay group, or payees using supporting element overrides.

6. Assign absence elements to payees and process lists.

   As with all primary elements, you must assign absence entitlement and take elements to payees and include them in the process lists that you use when you run the absence processes. (This step is not necessary for per-absence entitlement elements.)

   The system delivers predefined sections and process lists for absence processing. Use these, modify them, or create your own.

Delivered Absence Rules

The following table lists the absence take elements that included with Global Payroll for Switzerland and identifies the units in which the absence take is calculated (hours or days).

The Earning Units Paid and Earning Units Unpaid columns identify the formulas that populate the units paid and units unpaid values used by the earning calculation. The columns show only the suffix of the formula name. The full name of each formula is CH_AB_COUNT followed by the unique suffix.

If a count formula appears in the Earning Units Unpaid column, but not in the Earning Units Paid column, the absence is always unpaid. If a formula appears in both columns, the absence is unpaid only when the entitlement balance is zero or less.

The Priority column shows the relative priority of the absence when a payee has more than one absence event for the same date. Lower number outrank higher numbers.

Delivered Entitlement Elements

Global Payroll for Switzerland delivers three entitlements:

• CH_AB_VACA: vacation.

• CH_AB_SICK: sick entitlement.

• CH_AB_VACA_A: additional vacation entitlement.

Entitlements for vacations and additional vacations are frequency-based; entitlement for sickness is defined per absence.

See Also

Defining Absence Take Priorities

Modification of Take Elements

You can elements delivered with Global Payroll for Switzerland and most of the count formulas and earning elements that these take elements use with the exception of the PeopleSoft-maintained elements described below.

Changing Count Formulas

The take elements delivered with Global Payroll for Switzerland use predefined formulas to calculate the day count and to calculate the number of units the system uses to generate positive input for earnings. You can select a different formula for the day count or for the calculation of positive input.

The suffix for each absence count formula is unique and can provide information about the count formula; for example, it can tell you how the formula interprets absences that are less than one day as explained in the following table:

The table below lists the count formulas included in the system. An X in the Day Count column indicates that the formula is an appropriate selection for the Day Count field on a take element's Day Formula page. An X in the Earning Units column indicates that the formula is appropriate for the Element Name — Unit field in the Units tab of the Day Formula page. Use the Formula View page to view a formula.

Two conditions can cause a formula to count an absence as a half day: Select the Half Day check box when you enter the absence on the Absence Entry page or enter a number of hours that is less than the payee's scheduled hours.

Example of Count Formula CH_AB_COUNT_H1B (Scheduled Hours Paid)

The scheduled hours paid formula works as follows:

IF SCHED HRS > 0
		THEN
			IF PARTIAL HOURS > 0
				THEN
					PARTIAL HOURS * (DAY COUNT PD / DAY COUNT) to formula
				ELSE
					SCHED HRS * (DAY COUTN PD / DAY COUNT) to formula
			ENDIF
ENDIF

Entitlement Calculation for Paid Vacation

You can use formula CH_AB_VAC_ENTCALC1 to calculate entitlement paid vacation. The formula calculates entitlement monthly and prorates entitlement when a payee works less than a full month. It automatically increases entitlement for new hires and grants entitlement annually for existing employees.

The formula does the following:

1. Calculates entitlement for the current month, taking calendar segmentation into account. It prorates entitlement based on calendar days and stores the result in the month-to-date accumulator CH_AB_VAC_ENTMONTH.

2. Calculates entitlement for the remaining months of the calendar year and stores the result in the variable element CH_AB_TEMP2.

3. For the last slice or segment in the calendar, the formula does the following:

   • Calculates the new annual entitlement by taking the entitlement for the current month (CH_AB_VAC_ENTMONTH) and adding to it the entitlement for the previous month (stored in the year-to-date accumulator CH_AB_VAC_MONSUM) and entitlement for the remaining months of the year, until year-end or the payee's termination date (CH_AB_TEMP2).

   • Determines whether the calculated annual entitlement represents a new entitlement (January or a new hire) or an adjustment to the previous month's calculation.

Setting Up Absence Entitlement Plans

To set up absence entitlement plans, use the Absence Entitlement Plans CHE (GPCH_AB_ENTITLEMNT) component.

This section discusses how to:

• Set up entitlement details.

• Perform background processing.

An entitlement plan specifies the number of paid absence units to which payees are entitled for variety of absence reasons, such as vacation time, sickness, and accidents. For each entitlement reason, you can enter the number of entitlement units that should be granted based on the number of workdays per week, the payee's age, years of service, and/or job function. Absence entitlement plans provide a convenient method of grouping a set of entitlement rules into a single plan.

Assigning Entitlement Plans to Tariffs

The absence entitlement plan is automatically set to the Tariff Table. The default plan will set vacation entitlement to 22 (as calculated by the formula CH_AB_VAC_ENTFORM).

Individual assignments and overrides at the employee level are possible with supporting element overrides by assigning the relevant entitlement plan to the element CH_AB_EE_ENTL_PLAN.

See Setting Up Tariffs.

Assigning Entitlement Plans to Payees

Assign an entitlement plan on the pay entity, pay group, or payee level using the Supporting Overrides page.

You can assign an entitlement plan directly to a payee by using the variable CH_AB_EE_ENTL_PLAN on the Supporting Element Overrides page. Otherwise, the system will use the default entitlement plan from the tariff factor table.

Note. When you assign an entitlement plan to a payee, you must still associate the individual entitlement elements that are within the plan to payees. The entitlement plan simply specifies the number of entitlement units to which the payee is entitled. It does not specify that the payee is eligible to receive the entitlement.

To override a payee's default entitlement plan:

1. Access the Payee Supporting Element Overrides page for the payee.

2. On the Elements/Dates tab, enter the following values. In the Element Type field, select Variable. In the Element Name field, select CH_AB_EE_ENTL_PLAN.

3. On the Values tab, enter the name of the entitlement plan that you want to assign to the payee.

Adjusting a Payee's Number of Workdays per Week

The system refers to the payee's number of workdays per week to retrieve the correct row from the entitlement plan table.

The number of workdays per week comes from the Tariff Factor Table. You can use the variable element CH_AB_EE_DAYS_WEEK to override this number for individual payees. Use the Supporting Element Overrides page to enter the override amount for the variable.

Pages Used to Set Up Absence Entitlement Plans

Setting Up Entitlement Details

Access the Entitlement Details page.

Element

Absence Entitlement Plan Details

Performing Background Processing

At the beginning of the Absence process, the system retrieves the following information:

• Tariff, tariff area, and employment category for the payee.

• Entitlement plan and workdays associated with the Tariff table.

• Entitlement plan and workdays for payees, if different from the Tariff table.

• Disability data.

• Entitlement from entitlement plan.

Absence Process List and Sections

Use the absence process list (CH AB ABSENCE) delivered with Global Payroll for Switzerland, modify this process list, or build your own.

The sections within CH AB ABSENCE are as follows:

• CH_AB_INIT: Initializes sections. Executes multiple counts in preparation for absence calculations. For example, the system counts scheduled days, scheduled hours, and public holidays (days and hours).

• CH_AB_ENTITLEMENT: Calculates entitlement.

• CH_AB_TAKE: Calculates take.

• CH_AB_TERM_SECT: Calculates vacation payoff for terminated payees.

• CH_AB_GEN_PI: Generates positive input for earnings and deductions.

Setting Up Scale Codes

This section discusses how to:

• View Canton scale codes.

• Set up salary continuances.

The Scale Codes component contains the Canton Scale Codes CHE and Salary Continuance pages. The Canton Scale Codes CHE page lists all the cantons that belong to a selected scale. The Salary Continuance page shows the pay continuance, in weeks, that is assigned to a scale depending on the employee's length of service.

When it is necessary to calculate a salary continuance due to accident, sickness, military/civilian service, or maternity, consider the following:

• If salary continuance isn’t provided for in a general work agreement or cross-company regulation, under certain circumstances the employee may be entitled to salary continuance for at least three weeks, possibly longer, depending on length of service.

• When determining the duration of the salary continuance, individual cantons apply the Basel, the Bern, or the Zurich scale. The scales have been developed on the basis of case histories and legal decisions. Employee and employer are free to agree on the scale to be applied. If no individual agreement is reached, the scales assigned to the respective cantons as reflected in the Canton Scale Code CHE page are applied.

Pages Used to Set Up Scale Codes

Viewing Canton Scale Codes

Access the Canton Scale Codes CHE page.

Note. PeopleSoft delivers and maintains the data on the Scale Codes component.

Use this page to view the members of a scale code. The system includes the three scale codes: Basel, Bern, and Zurich.

Setting Up Salary Continuances

Access the Salary Continuance page.

Note. PeopleSoft delivers and maintains the data on the Scale Codes component.

Service Years	Displays the number of years an employee has been employed with a company.
Salary Continuance in Weeks	Displays the number of weeks during which an employee’s salary can be paid if salary continuance isn’t provided for in a general work agreement or cross-company regulation.