Manage Employee Unavailability using the Employee Roster

Learn how to add, edit or delete unavailabilities to the employee roster as a manager on behalf of an employee. The employee roster is a feature provided in QuickBooks Online Advanced Payroll subscriptions.

Before you start, make sure the manager user has the correct permissions:

1. Go to Payroll.
2. Select Employees, then select Payroll Settings.
3. Select Manage Users under the Business Management column.
4. Select the pencil icon next to the user you want to give the permissions to.
5. Select the Location or Employee group that the manager has access to, then tick Manage employee rosters under the Rosters section.
6. Select Save.

Now, the manager can:

• edit an employee’s existing unavailability record. If a record is edited, the employee should receive a notification advising as such;
• delete an existing employee unavailability record. If a record is deleted, the employee should receive a notification advising as such, including the details of the unavailability that was deleted;
• add unavailability on behalf of the employee. When adding unavailability, the details needed include:
  • Frequency: select whether on an ongoing basis or not. If yes, select the specific day of the week and enter an end date (if there is one). If not, select the specific date.
  • Duration: is it all day or from a specific start/finish time?
  • Reason: enter any relevant notes (this is not a mandatory field to complete).

Note: If the manager user has full access according to the Manage Users screen in Payroll Settings, then they have access to all of the above by default.

Managing employee unavailability via the roster

1. Navigate to the Rostering screen by selecting Employees, then the Manage Employees dropdown and selecting Rostering.
2. Select Roster actions on the top left of the screen, then select Employees. An employees panel will show up on the right side of the screen.
3. Select the relevant employee from the list.
4. To add an unavailability, select the Availability tab, then next to Unavailability, select Add.
5. Enter the employee’s unavailability details, then select Save. This will now show up in the employee’s Unavailability tab, and also create a red block on the employee roster.
6. To delete an unavailability, select the employee’s Unavailability tab again and select the bin icon next to the date. Then, select Delete to confirm.

Notifications

When an employee's unavailability is changed by a manager, employees will receive a notification letting them know via email and/or Swag (if they have it installed).

Managers can also receive an email notification when an employee's unavailability changes. To set this up:

1. Navigate to the Employees homepage, then select Manage Employees.
2. Select Notifications. 
3. Tick Email me when an employee that I supervise is unable to work.
4. Select Save.