Description 

Alert groups allow for users, authorisers, or administrators to be notified when certain criteria are met for certain users or a subset of users on a template level. This can also be applied based on a particular absence type to save you time on running reports within edays and seeing when users have hit trigger points in real time. i.e. 3 occurrences in the last 12 months.  

This video covers how to set up Alert Groups and the individual Alerts within them. It also shows how to assign these to specific absence types where required. 

Example Configurations

After a bad year of stress related absences in the Netherlands, Ott & Grant want to be more proactive about how they support staff when they are absent, not just with stress, but any instance of unplanned absence. They set up an alert group to notify senior managers in the following instances: 

• When any users have had more than 5 days off with stress in the last 12 months. 
• When any users have had more than 5 days off with an unplanned absence in the last 12. months.  
• When any users have had more than 3 instances of unplanned absence in the last 12 months.  

Ezekiel is amongst the users flagged for users who have had more than 5 days off with stress in the last 12 months. Ezekiel’s line manager is aware that he has been looking after his elderly parents which is taking a toll on him both emotionally and physically, and it means that some weeks he calls in sick to have a day to sleep and recover citing his personal circumstances. Ott & Grant want to help Ezekiel and after discussions with him, he decides to temporarily go part time and take Wednesdays off to give him extra time to deal with his personal circumstances. Once Ezekiel’s situation has changed and he feels ready, they can look at returning to his usual rota. The company have also offered Ezekiel support in the form of counselling to help deal with the emotions surrounding the care of his parents.  

Cleo is also amongst users flagged by the system as she has had 7 instances of absence in the last 12 months with notes that indicate it is due to pain. Cleo is awaiting an operation, which is due to happen next month. Ott & Grant saw an improvement in Cleo’s attendance and engagement when they identified the reoccurrence of pain and amended her working environment to almost completely remote as she is able to better manage her pain at home. They are expecting a significant absence in the future when she is recovering from her operation, and they are putting a plan in place which will see her return to remote working immediately after her operation and then several weeks down the line increasing the frequency of her days in the office.  

Flynn has been flagged as a user who has had more than 3 instances of unplanned absence in the last 12 months. He has had 5 individual days of absence and upon investigating, Ott & Grant find that these individual days are all on a Monday. After having a conversation with Flynn, Ott & Grant learn that Flynn’s line manager has encouraged an overly relaxed approach to work and standards within the team are slipping. Flynn is a relatively new member of staff and one who initially showed a lot of promise, however disagreements between Flynn and another member of staff have meant that Flynn dreads coming to work due to mounting admin work that his teammates are not doing and calls in sick, saying he has a headache or a stomach bug. Action is taken to rectify the culture within the team by providing the manager with training and additional monitoring. Flynn and the other member of staff are encouraged to work more productively together and accountability is set within the team to prevent any one member of staff taking on too much work. Flynn himself is empowered by having realistic goals set out and a more structured approach within the team.  

Taking a proactive approach, Ott & Grant also send an email to staff when they hit these criteria to remind them of the support available within the company and to encourage them to reach out for support if they need help with something. 

Timestamps 

• 00:04 – Where to find alert group settings 
• 00:25 – Adding a new alert group 
• 00:57 – Configuring Alerts within an Alert Group 
• 03:10 – Other Alert Group Types 
• 06:28 – Assigning Alert Groups to Absence Types 

Related Articles

• https://support.edays.com/support/solutions/folders/77000156787