A well-structured configuration is essential for smooth operations in any organization. This guide provides an overview of key configuration elements and their purpose. Each section includes real-world examples to illustrate how these settings impact daily workflows.
Organizational Structure
The structure is built using Positions, Teams, Contract types, and Roles.
People can belong to multiple teams (e.g., an engineer working in both the development and research teams).
Each employee has only one position and one contract type (e.g., a software developer on a full-time contract).
Positions
A position defines an employee’s role in the organization. It helps structure teams, assign responsibilities, and determine reporting lines.
Example: Positions could include "Software Engineer," "HR Specialist," or "Customer Support Representative."
To add Positions, go to Configuration →Positions. Click on the + button at the top of the screen to add positions and assign people.
Tips: Positions can be automatically created though import of people data or directly in user profile when adding new users in Configuration → People.
Example of the structure based on positions:
Benefits of defining positions:
Enables calendar filtering in the Time Off module.
Simplifies searching and filtering employees in the Core HR module.
Helps store key employee details, with export options for reporting and metrics.
Helps employees to identify key responsibilities in the organization.
Note: Positions are visible to all employees in the account.
Teams
An employee can belong to multiple teams, which supports cross-functional collaboration. Teams can be organized by company entity, location, office, department, function, or project.
Example: An employee could be part of both the "Development" and "Research & Innovation" teams.
To add Teams, go to Configuration → Teams. Click on the + button at the top of the screen to add team structure and assign people and team managers.
Tip: Teams can be automatically created though import of people data or directly in user profile when adding new users in Configuration → People.
Example of the structure:
Benefits of adding teams:
Allows calendar filtering to track team availability.
Simplifies permissions management by logically grouping employees.
Time-off policies can be tailored to specific teams related to their role in the company or location.
Allows filtering of reports by team, enabling tailored data exports for location, department, or business unit.
Note: Teams are visible to all employees in the account.
Check more details:
Contract Types
Contract types define the terms of employment, such as full-time, part-time, freelance, or fixed-term. This is useful for tailoring time off policies and other settings based on the specific employment terms.
To add Contract types, go to Configuration → Contract types. Click on the + button at the top of the screen to add contract type structures and assign people.
Tip: Contract types should be created in your account before importing people data or can be updated through an import file.
Example of the structure based on contract types:
Contract types can be helpful as well to define different leave policies, even if employees fall under the same contract type, like full-time employees.
Benefits of defining contract types:
Allows targeted filtering in reports.
Time off policies can be tailored to specific contract types, such as part-time or freelance.
Helps organize employees based on contract type for better management.
Enables customized filtering in reports, making the data more relevant.
Note: Contract type visibility can be customized through permissions in the Core HR module. If Core HR is not used, contract types are visible only to Admins.
Check more details:
Roles & Approvals
Roles define an employee's access level and authority within the organization, ensuring that approval workflows and decision-making processes are streamlined.
The roles of the direct manager and team manager can also help establish who is responsible for approval processes.
Roles can be assigned to specific teams (e.g., a manager in the HR team) or individual employees (e.g., John reports to Joanna), ensuring that responsibilities and access levels align.
Benefits of defining roles:
Establishes clear approval workflows, ensuring only the relevant people are involved (e.g., vacation or timesheet approvals).
Direct managers and team managers can view reports for their direct reports or team members.
Admins can view reports for all employees and manage configuration.
Organizational managers can view data for all users but do not have access to configuration.
Check more details:
Flexible Approval Flows
Calamari allows you to set up flexible approval workflows for different employees. For example:
Direct manager approval: (e.g., an employee requests leave, and their manager approves it).
Multi-step approvals: (e.g., a team manager reviews absences after the direct manager’s approval).
Automated approvals: Certain absence types (e.g., sick leave) may require no approval, only notification about such approval sent to HR and direct manager
Substitute approvers: If a manager is on leave and, when requesting time off, selects the deputy, another person can approve requests in their place.
How work schedules, breaks, and abnormalities shape attendance management
To effectively manage employee attendance and ensure smooth operations, it's essential to understand how work schedules, breaks, and abnormalities interact in Calamari. By configuring these elements correctly, you can optimize the tracking of hours worked, manage employee punctuality, and enforce company policies consistently. Here are some examples to help you set everything up in line with your company’s needs.
Work Schedules: defining hours and flexibility
Work schedules are the foundation of time tracking and time-off calculation in Calamari.
Time Off
The system calculates leave duration based on the work schedule.
Example: If an employee works 5 days a week and requests 2 weeks off, the system deducts 10 days from their leave balance.
Example: If an employee works 3 days a week and requests 2 weeks off, the system deducts 6 days from their leave balance.
If planned from-to hours are defined and leave can be taken in hourly increments, these hours will be available for employees to choose from when requesting time off.
Time and Attendance
Work schedules define expected working hours and help track attendance accuracy.
Real-time attendance tracking – The system allows you to set a fixed weekly work plan. Reported working hours are compared to this plan to detect any irregularities in work time or shift duration.
Timesheet management – Reported working hours are verified against the scheduled work plan to identify discrepancies. The scheduled work hours will also be suggested as default values when filling out the timesheet.
Work Schedules: four models of setting up a work plan
Here’s how different work schedules can be set up:
Standard Schedule
Employees work fixed hours on specific days, and you can track lateness or early departures based on the abnormalities you define.
Example: If your company works from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, you can set these hours for your employees, and Calamari will automatically flag any deviations, such as late arrivals or early departures.
Flexible Schedule
Employees have a window or core hours within which they can work, as long as they meet the required hours.
Example: If an employee’s core hours are 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, they can start and end their shift at any time but must work 8 hours in total within that window. This allows flexibility while ensuring the required working hours are met.
Example: An employee should work 8 hours daily, from 05:00 am to 8:00 pm. This allows flexibility while ensuring the required working hours are met.
Daily Schedule
You define a set number of working hours per day, without specifying the start and end times.
Example: If employees need to work 8 hours a day but there is no fixed start or end time, you can configure this schedule to reflect the daily hours without specifying the exact working hours.
None
For employees who work flexible hours without a fixed schedule. When assigning absences, ensure you use calendar days, as the system doesn’t recognize working days.
Example: If employees have irregular working hours, like freelancers, you can assign them to this schedule. However, when calculating absences, you’ll need to create a request type based on calendar days, as it won’t track specific workdays.
More details about work schedule configuration:
Abnormalities
Abnormalities are key to tracking deviations from expected work hours. Calamari automatically flags any deviations, helping you enforce attendance policies. Here’s how abnormalities work:
Shift Duration Abnormalities:
Worked Too Short: If an employee works fewer hours than required, it will be flagged as "Worked Too Short."
Example: If an employee is scheduled to work 8 hours but only logs 6 hours, the system will flag it as "Worked Too Short."
Worked Too Long: If an employee exceeds their scheduled shift, it will be flagged as "Worked Too Long."
Example: If an employee is supposed to work 8 hours but works 10, the system will mark it as "Worked Too Long" to prevent excessive overtime.
Scheduled 'From-To' Hours Abnormalities:
Late: If an employee arrives after their scheduled start time, it will be flagged as "Late."
Example: If your company requires employees to start work at 9:00 AM, and an employee logs in at 9:15 AM, the system will flag it as "Late."
Finished Too Early: If an employee leaves before their scheduled end time, it will be flagged as "Finished Too Early."
Example: If the end time is 5:00 PM and an employee logs out at 4:30 PM, it will be flagged as "Finished Too Early."
Started Too Early: If an employee clocks in before the scheduled start time, it will be flagged as "Started Too Early."
Example: If the scheduled start time is 9:00 AM, and an employee clocks in at 8:45 AM, it will be flagged as "Started Too Early."
Work on Day Off: If an employee works on a designated day off, such as a weekend or holiday, it will be flagged as "Work on Day Off."
Example: If an employee works on a public holiday, the system will flag this as "Work on Day Off," which is important for tracking compliance with labor laws.
Other Abnormalities:
Autoclosed: If an employee forgets to clock out, the system will automatically close the time entry.
Absence: If an employee doesn’t log any work hours on a scheduled workday and has no planned leave, it will be flagged as an "Absence."
Check more details about the abnormalities setup:
Breaks
In Calamari, breaks can be configured to ensure employees take the necessary time away from their tasks. Here’s how to set them up:
Paid or unpaid breaks: Breaks can be either paid or unpaid, depending on your company policy.
Example: If your company offers a 30-minute unpaid break, you would configure it as unpaid, so it will be deducted from the employee's worked hours. If the break is paid, it counts as working time.
Automatic breaks: You can set up automatic breaks that start after a certain number of working hours or at a specific time.
Example: If your company policy dictates that after 4 hours of work, employees are entitled to a 15-minute break, you can configure Calamari to start the break automatically after 4 hours of work.
Manual break adjustments: Even with automatic breaks, employees can manually start or stop breaks, providing flexibility if they need to adjust the timing.
Example: If an employee needs to start their break earlier or later than planned due to an urgent task, they can manually adjust the break timing in the system.
Multiple breaks: You can configure several breaks during the day to match your work schedule.
Example: If your company offers two 15-minute breaks in addition to a 30-minute lunch break, you can configure all of them in the system.
More details about break configuration: How to configure a break?
Example of the configuration of work schedules combined with breaks and abnormalities overview:
If your company works from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, employees have 30 minutes of unpaid break at 01:00 pm every day. You can set these hours for your employees, and Calamari will automatically flag any abnormalities, such as late arrivals or early departures.
You can add a work schedule definition that assumes 30 minutes of unpaid break, with defined hours:
Break automation allows you to define that break will be added automatically to their timesheet at 1:00 pm every day:
To make sure that the system will flag all the abnormalities you would like to track, you can configure them with selected buffers:
