Action Definition

The Action Definition page enables you to define employee expenses that are beyond salaries. For example, overtime, mileage reimbursement, FICA tax, state unemployment tax, and 401K employer contribution. The Action Definition page enables you to define actions that are needed by your company to plan additional employee expenses.

Action definitions specify the behavior for calculating Workforce Budgeting data. The calculated data is then stored in action groups. Each action, with a few exceptions, has a corresponding action group that contains the associated data for that action. Each action group also has a corresponding database view that contains the summary data for all of its included actions. An action group is a grouping of action definitions that are then summarized. The summarized action group is used for reporting and as a base for calculating other actions.

The predefined summarized action groups are:

Base Salary tracks base salary.
Rate Change - Step & Grade tracks rate changes due to Step & Grade Schedule effective date changes.
Base Hours tracks base hours only.
Total Hours tracks base hours and hours from other actions such as overtime.
FTE tracks total full time equivalents.
Headcount tracks headcount.

There are a number of standard actions included in Workforce Budgeting. See "Action types" for a detailed explanation. These standard actions are fully configurable to better fit your company's requirements.

For example, you can use the Fixed Amount action to define a bonus of $5,000 that can be applied without regard to salary. Alternatively, you can set up a bonus as a percentage of salary. Additionally, you can create new events such as mileage reimbursement or 401K contribution.

We recommend that you define actions as generically as possible for use among all users, instead of define an abundance of granular actions. This keeps the module simple for budgeters to use and improves performance.

The options available on this page change according to the selected action type.


Option	Description
	Save any changes.
	Add a new action definition.
	Refresh the page to the last saved state.
	Delete the current action. Actions assigned to vacant positions cannot be deleted.
	Copy the selected action definition.
	Assign the selected action definition to multiple position definitions.
Existing Definition	List of previously saved action definitions. Action definitions assigned to vacant positions cannot be changed.
Action Type	List of actions types. See "Action types".
Name	Specify a name for the action definition.
Description	Optional. Specify a description for the action definition.
Based On	Select an action group on which to base the calculation. You cannot specify any of the predefined action groups.
Include In	List of action groups. Action groups are database views which sum data from multiple actions or action groups. The predefined action groups are: Benefits: Empty by default, but includes any actions included in the group. Position Summary: Includes Total Compensation, Benefits, and any other actions included in the group. Salary: Includes Base Salary, Rate Change - Step & Grade, and any other actions included in the group. Total Compensation: Includes Salary group and any other actions included in the group.
Action Date	Specify a date for the action. Choose from: Calendar Date Any active date attribute. Use this option to always apply the action based on a specific date attribute.
Spread Calculation Method	Specify how to spread the calculation. You can apply to a single period or proportionally spread the amount across the budget cycle. You can choose to: Apply across the budget cycle Apply the annual amount to a single period
Allow budgeter to apply	Select this check box to let the budgeter apply this action. If this check box is not selected, only the administrator can apply the action.
Shift differential only	Select this check box to calculate only the shift differential.
Include in Distribution	Select this check box to set the action as distributable. This check box does not display if allocation dimensions are used.

Action values

The Action Values section is displayed when a default value is specified for the selected action type. The options shown in this section depend on the selected action type.


Option	Description
Default Action Value	Specify a value to use as the default value for new actions.
Allow budgeter to override default value	Select this check box to let the budgeter override the default value.
Percent	Specify a percent value to use as the default for new actions.
Based On Start	Specify a numeric value as the start of the range. Any number greater than the start value is included in the range.
Based On End	Specify a numeric value as the end of the range. Any number less than or equal to the end value is included in the range.
Default Rate	Specify the rate. For example, this may be the rate for mileage so you would specify 0.3244.
Default Quantity	Optional. Specify the annual quantity or measure.
Maximum Action Value	Specify a maximum value for the action. If an action is defined with a maximum value, data is not calculated for that action beyond the maximum year-to-date value specified for the year.
Calculation Cycle	Specify if the calculation is based on the fiscal year or the calendar year.
Maximum Action Value by	By default, Position is selected. To enable the calculate data by Employee option, perform these: Action type. Select Percent. Spread calculation method. Select Apply across the budget cycle. Maximum Action value field. Specify a value. This field must not be empty. Clear the Allow budgeter to override percent check box.