Workforce Engagement Management

Hello community,

This question came up within our WFM team and we are unsure of how to handle requests of extended LOA or FMLA. Is there any best practices in how to plan schedules for long term absences? 

Currently, if an agent gives notice that they will be out on an extended leave of absence, we used to manually update schedules. We generate and publish schedules for 2 months (current month and next month). This means if we have someone out for 3+ months, we will need to manually update upon schedule generation. 

Does anyone have another process to add extended leave besides these?

• Manual schedule updates.
• Temporary work plan assignments- Assign a work plan that is the agent's normal schedule but instead of "On Queue" we schedule with the "Leave" activity. One drawback is that there is a date range limit (6 months I believe)
• Adding in Time Off Requests- We can add in as a full day with the date range. The team doesn't use the "Full day" time off request because when Genesys updates schedules it blocks out a full 24hr period instead of just the agent's true shift. This throws off our intraday numbers. 

Appreciate any insight as to your common practices for this. 

#Scheduling

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Miguel Morales
Workforce Analyst
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We use the time off option; we have one named "Time Off- Other" and it's used for longer LOA and FMLA. We don't have a problem with the 24hr thing you mentioned though. 

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Shannon Hellner
WFM manager
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Thanks Shannon. It appears that this will be the route we have to take. 

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Miguel Morales
Workforce Analyst
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-31-2025 15:20
From: Shannon Hellner
Subject: Managing extended Leave of Absence/FMLA scheduling

We use the time off option; we have one named "Time Off- Other" and it's used for longer LOA and FMLA. We don't have a problem with the 24hr thing you mentioned though. 

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Shannon Hellner
WFM manager
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Good morning, we typically us this process for agents that are on an extended leave:

In Genesys, you'd set an agent to inactive when they are expected to be out for an extended period, such as a leave or seasonal employment, preventing them from logging in and removing their roles. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Extended Absence:

Inactive status is primarily used for agents who are on extended leave (e.g., maternity leave, extended vacation) or whose employment is seasonal, and they are not expected to be actively working in the system. 

• Preventing Login:

Setting an agent to inactive prevents them from logging into the Genesys Cloud platform, ensuring they are not available for interactions or accessing sensitive information. 

• Role Removal:

When an agent is set to inactive, all roles assigned to them are removed, further limiting their access and capabilities within the system. 

• Not Visible in Directory:

Inactive users will not appear in the directory. 

• No Impact on Metrics:

Whether agents are active, inactive, or deleted does not impact metrics in views based on queue metrics. 

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Robert Gacula, Manager, Workforce Management Team
American Specialty Health
RobertG@ASHN.com CA, San Diego.
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Hi Robert,

I appreciate your input. In my contact center, our IT department does inactivate teammates if they do not login after 60 days I believe. But we do not remove them from the agent list within Workforce Management or their assigned management unit. They will show up in schedules as inactive and we can still schedule LOA or FMLA activities into their schedule. We like this as we can still keep track of our headcount. 

I assume you still would like to keep agents in their schedule? Or is there another way you track headcount? 

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Miguel Morales
Workforce Analyst
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2025 11:34
From: Robert Gacula
Subject: Managing extended Leave of Absence/FMLA scheduling

Good morning, we typically us this process for agents that are on an extended leave:

In Genesys, you'd set an agent to inactive when they are expected to be out for an extended period, such as a leave or seasonal employment, preventing them from logging in and removing their roles. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Extended Absence:

Inactive status is primarily used for agents who are on extended leave (e.g., maternity leave, extended vacation) or whose employment is seasonal, and they are not expected to be actively working in the system. 

• Preventing Login:

Setting an agent to inactive prevents them from logging into the Genesys Cloud platform, ensuring they are not available for interactions or accessing sensitive information. 

• Role Removal:

When an agent is set to inactive, all roles assigned to them are removed, further limiting their access and capabilities within the system. 

• Not Visible in Directory:

Inactive users will not appear in the directory. 

• No Impact on Metrics:

Whether agents are active, inactive, or deleted does not impact metrics in views based on queue metrics. 

------------------------------
Robert Gacula, Manager, Workforce Management Team
American Specialty Health
RobertG@ASHN.com CA, San Diego.
------------------------------

A possible solution might be to submit this as a time off request. Whilst agents can only do this for selectable time off, admins can do this for all time off, and it means the next schedule will generate with the time off already assigned on the schedule. You can choose the code, number of days, and also the dates of choice.

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Heather Henderson
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This will most likely be the easiest route for us to take. Our only concern was having LOA show up in schedules as 24hrs instead of the agent's actual shift. 

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Miguel Morales
Workforce Analyst
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-02-2025 03:31
From: Heather Henderson
Subject: Managing extended Leave of Absence/FMLA scheduling

A possible solution might be to submit this as a time off request. Whilst agents can only do this for selectable time off, admins can do this for all time off, and it means the next schedule will generate with the time off already assigned on the schedule. You can choose the code, number of days, and also the dates of choice.

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Heather Henderson
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If it helps, and if the time off is paid, the daily paid hours column on the schedule will still show as the number of hours to match the workplan. The schedule itself looks like the time off is 24hrs, but it reads the daily paid time from the work plan. If the time off is not paid, this column won't give you what you need.

You won't be able to see the actual shift that was generated originally, but if the time off was requested after generation, you can use View Agent History. Where the time off was requested before generation, you'd need to refer to individual workplans to get this info.

Hoping that may help get you what you need.

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Heather Henderson
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-04-2025 16:02
From: Miguel Morales
Subject: Managing extended Leave of Absence/FMLA scheduling

This will most likely be the easiest route for us to take. Our only concern was having LOA show up in schedules as 24hrs instead of the agent's actual shift. 

------------------------------
Miguel Morales
Workforce Analyst
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 04-02-2025 03:31
From: Heather Henderson
Subject: Managing extended Leave of Absence/FMLA scheduling

A possible solution might be to submit this as a time off request. Whilst agents can only do this for selectable time off, admins can do this for all time off, and it means the next schedule will generate with the time off already assigned on the schedule. You can choose the code, number of days, and also the dates of choice.

------------------------------
Heather Henderson