Workforce Management Terminology

The following table defines usage of terms in Workforce Management.

Term	Definition	Related Terms
Access Group	A permission structure in WFM that assigns users to specific roles or access levels, determining their capabilities within the WFM platform.
Activation Code	A one-time code used in WFM for employee or device registration and activation of mobile or time clock applications.
Allowance	A set additional amount awarded to employees via WFM when certain shift conditions are met. You can establish rules, such as for the first shift of a given day, and associate allowances to them, such as for uniform or laundry.
API Keys	Unique identifiers provided to customers for securely accessing WFM APIs, granting integration capabilities with external systems or custom applications. These are requested from the NetSuite Support team.
Attestation	A WFM feature that allows employees to accept or dispute their approved hours with their manager.
Audit Logs	System-generated records in WFM that capture user activities, configuration changes, and key events for compliance and troubleshooting.
Automatch	A WFM approval feature that automatically approves punches falling within defined tolerance limits of a scheduled shift.	Rounding
Availability	An employee request or specification of their preferred or available times for scheduling. Managers can approve, deny, or change employee availability. In a wage agreement, it's a setting used to assign the region where the agreement applies.
Biometric or Fingerprint Functionality	An optional feature in WFM, available for Windows, that enables employee identification and time capture using fingerprint data, subject to legal compliance responsibilities for biometric data collection.
Brand	A top-level grouping that can be set up for organizations to segregate across their different product or service offerings. Every location has to be associated to a brand and will inherit its settings.
Classification	A component of a wage agreement, which is used to assign employees specific pay rates and conditions based on factors like level, employment status, location, or job.
Condition	A component of a wage agreement, which specifies when particular pay rates, penalties, or allowances apply to employee shifts. The four types of WFM conditions are: Regular Rate, Penalty Rate, Overtime Rate, and Allowance or Penalty.	Rule
Contract Hours	A feature available for customers in Australia, which allows organizations to define, track, and enforce employee contractual working hours within shift scheduling and payroll calculations.
Cross-Agreement Linking	A feature allowing the connection of multiple wage or employment agreements for an employee. Linking allows employees to be paid against separate wage agreements at different WFM locations. This feature supports complex scheduling and payroll scenarios involving more than one agreement.
Daily Shifts	A WFM scheduling view for one location and one day used to create and edit shifts, set breaks, and manage daily staffing against KPIs and forecasts.	Weekly Shifts, Multi-Location Shifts, Employee Scheduling
Day Parts	Defined segments of the day, such as morning or evening, used for more granular labor forecasting, staffing, or wage application.
Drop Pre-Approval	A feature that requires a manager to authorize an employee’s request to release a scheduled shift before it is offered to others.
Employed User or Active WFM Employee	A user whose WFM employment status is not Terminated.
Employee PIN Code	A unique numeric code assigned to employees for secure login or time capture on WFM time clocks or portals.
Employee Scheduling	A core functionality in WFM used to plan, assign, and manage employee shifts, enabling efficient and compliant workforce deployment.	Shifts: Daily, Weekly, Multi-Location
Enhanced Timesheets Using WFM Wage Rules	A WFM feature that enables employees to enter time in weekly timesheets, automatically calculate regular and overtime hours based on configured wage agreements and rules, and integrate approved time entries with SuitePeople U.S. Payroll for accurate, automated payroll processing.
Extra Hours	Additional scheduled staff coverage beyond labor model forecasts, either fixed or dynamic, to support operational needs such as preparation or closing tasks.
Financial Configuration	Settings available for customers in Australia, which are used for managing wage-related financial data. Settings include bank details, superannuation funds, tax file details, visa details, and term breaks.
Forecasting or Sales Forecasting	A WFM planning feature that imports or references POS sales or unit data to generate forecasts that drive labor deployment and scheduling targets. WFM customers must configure and manage data to build forecasts.
Job	A predefined field assigned to shifts to indicate the work an employee performs and to control shift eligibility. Employers can map the job field to NetSuite records on the employee record for time allocation.
Junior Validation Rules	Validation rules designed to assist with compliance to specific state regulations that apply to employees classed as juniors by age.
KPI (Key Performance Indicators)	A metric displayed in dashboards and reports to help management evaluate performance. These include total hours, wage cost and sales, labor percent, productivity, and labor efficiency.
Labor Analytics Dashboard	A visual display of various real-time insights into labor metrics or KPIs (key performance indicators), which you can configure for single or multiple locations to manage multi-level operations. Labor metrics include hours worked, wage costs, labor cost percentage, and others.
Labor Deployment Model	A configuration that translates forecast metrics, such as sales and units, into shift suggestions for each time interval for different stores. Models can be assigned to locations.	Forecasting
Leave or Time-Off Type	A WFM record that categorizes employee time off and defines settings such as default hours per day, multiplier or loading, weekend costing, and payroll or integration mappings to NetSuite Time-Off types. The three default leave types are: Annual Leave, Sick Leave, and Unpaid Leave. You can configure other leave types, including Time in Lieu (TIL) or Flexitime.
Location	A predefined field typically representing a physical work site whose schedules, employees, and sales data are managed in WFM. Employers can map the location field to NetSuite records on the employee record for time allocation.	Primary Location
Maximum Hours	A scheduling constraint in SuitePeople WFM that sets the upper limit of hours an employee can be scheduled or can work within a defined period.	Minimum Hours
Minimum Hours	A scheduling constraint in SuitePeople WFM that sets the lowest number of hours an employee can be scheduled or can work within a defined period.	Maximum Hours
Mobile Applications	Native apps for WFM, including NetSuite Workforce Management and NetSuite Time Clock, that support employee and manager self-service, shift management, and time capture on iOS and Android devices.
Multiplier	A percentage applied to base pay rates, used for overtime, penalty, or allowance calculations.
Multi-Location Shifts	A WFM scheduling view that consolidates shifts across multiple locations to enable cross-site planning and management from a single screen.	Daily Shifts, Weekly Shifts, Employee Scheduling
Opening Hours	The business or departmental operating hours used to guide labor deployment and scheduling.
Open Shift	An unscheduled or unassigned shift in WFM that needs to be filled, allowing managers or eligible employees to select and assign themselves as needed.
Over-Unders	Metrics in WFM scheduling that highlight the variance between forecasted labor requirements and scheduled hours, helping to optimize staffing.
Paid Rest Break	A short, scheduled interval during a work shift in WFM, which you can configure as hours worked. These breaks can help organizations support compliance and employee wellness.
Payroll Integration	The process of mapping and exporting approved WFM shift and wage data into NetSuite Payroll or external payroll systems, enabling streamlined payroll processing.
Penalty	A fixed or percentage-based increase to employee pay rates applied for shifts meeting specific nonstandard conditions, such as late hours or weekend work.
Pre-configured Wage Agreement	Convenience-based wage rule sets within WFM that customers can use as templates for compliance with specific labor awards, subject to customer verification for legal accuracy.	Region-Based Wages
Primary Location	The main workplace assigned to an employee that is used for scheduling and reporting. The primary location also determines the managers who can approve employee availability and leave requests.
Region-Based Wages	A set of convenience conditions built into WFM that are loaded by default into customer’s accounts within the United States. These conditions do not guarantee compliance with laws and regulations. You must validate that these rules meet your needs and own the process of configuring additional rules you need based on your local labor laws.	Pre-configured Wage Agreement
Revision	A version of a region-based wage rule or wage agreement that you can use to track changes to conditions and rules. Revisions allow historical rates, conditions, and rules to be retained for wage calculations and reporting.
Rounding	A time-and-attendance setting that adjusts approved punches to scheduled start or finish times based on set intervals or multiples.	Automatch
Rule	A specific parameter or threshold within a condition in WFM that defines the precise criteria for when the condition is triggered.	Condition
Salary Splits	A configuration enabling the allocation of a salaried employee’s pay across multiple locations or departments worked during a pay period.
Schedule Validation	A WFM feature that checks schedules against configured rules, such as required employee counts, qualifications, or compliance thresholds. This feature helps prevent publishing or printing schedules with errors or violations.
Shift Template	A preset configuration of shift times and roles, used to streamline scheduling by quickly assigning common shift patterns.
Short Breaks	A feature that prevents employees from punching back in during a break before the meet minimum required break time.
Suggested Shifts	System-generated recommendations indicating optimal staffing times or shift allocations based on sales, labor models, and scheduling rules.
SuitePeople Time Clock	Cloud-based time and attendance app, previously referred to as AdiClock, used to capture employee punches by using a mobile (Android or iOS) or a Windows device.
SuitePeople WFM Integration Role	A predefined NetSuite role granting permissions required to configure and run the WFM integration.
SuitePeople Workforce Management SMS	A messaging feature that enables sending SMS notifications (subject to usage caps) from WFM to employee mobile phones, supporting shift and time management communications.
Target Hours	The scheduled number of working hours assigned to an employee for a given scheduling period. Hours are used for shift validation and reporting.
Teams	Groupings used to organize employees by function, location, or department for scheduling and reporting purposes.
Timesheet Uploader	A tool that imports timesheet data from a CSV file into WFM, with header mapping and error validation.
Unpaid Meal Break	A designated and unpaid break period during a work shift that is excluded from total hours worked. These breaks assist organizations with meeting labor compliance requirements.
Wage Agreement	A set of rules or conditions available to customers in Australia and New Zealand, which define employee pay rates, overtime, and penalties. Wage agreements can be configured in WFM for accurate payroll processing.	Region-Based Wages
Wage Rule Engine	A calculation engine in WFM that applies customer-configured or pre-configured rules to determine wages, overtime, penalties, and allowances based on conditions, schedules, and regional requirements. The engine is provided as a convenience tool and does not guarantee legal compliance. Customers are responsible for validating wage rules against applicable labor laws and business needs.
Wages	Pay amounts calculated and managed within WFM, determined by configured wage rules, wage agreements, and mapped NetSuite payroll items.
Weekly Shifts	A WFM scheduling and approval view for a location across a week that displays scheduled shifts, timesheets, and approved shifts for payroll processing.	Daily Shifts, Multi-Location Shifts, Employee Scheduling
Workforce Management Portlet	A dashboard panel with configuration options, which gives users access to WFM features in NetSuite.

General Notices