Each pay period, before the published approval deadline, Stanford managers are required by university policy to review and approve non-exempt employee time cards in Sequoia. Additionally, managers of SLAC employees are required to approve effort reporting. This is a critical step in ensuring that non-exempt employees are paid correctly and effort, as applicable, is allocated correctly. Entry errors can result in under- or over-payments to the employee and misallocations to financial accounts.
Employees are advised to Save their Time Cards as they make entries throughout the pay period and Submit once for approval at the end of each pay period. If employees adjust their entries after the manager has approved, the manager will receive a new Workflow approval notification.
As employees submit Time Cards, their managers will receive a Workflow approval notification. Pending approval notifications are available via the bell icon in Sequoia.
While it is recommended that managers review and approve time cards from individual Workflow notifications as they arrive, managers can also review, approve and manage time cards for their entire team by accessing Team Time Cards.
Learn more in the How To: Manage Time Card and Absence Approval Delegations on accessing Absences for approvals that have been delegated from another manager.
Review and Approve Time Cards
Before You Start
This content is relevant for managers of employees who enter time and absences.
- Go to Sequoia
- Select Sign in with SUNet ID
- Enter SUNet ID and password, if prompted
- Select the My Team tab
- Under Quick Actions menu, select Team Time Cards
- Your team’s Time Cards will display. Utilize the search filters to narrow your search as needed
- Select the hyperlinked Period Start Date to view a Time Card in more detail
- Review the Time Card
- You can edit the Time Card directly to make changes as needed by selecting the appropriate box
- The Calculated Totals view is a good way to see a summarized version of work hours and absences to review for accuracy and completeness
If you have made changes to the time card you must select submit, and then reopen the time card to accurately track its approval history.
- Select Approve on the upper right side of the Time Card to approve the employee’s Time Card.
You may reject Time Cards via the time card notification. Select the Bell icon to view the Time Card notification and reject it. You may not reject a Time Card from within the Time Card itself.
- When reviewing a Time Card, select View Time Totals to review entered quantities for each day
- Select X to return to the Time Card
- Select the View Calculated Time button to see calculated totals including overtime, meal period penalties and shift premiums
All error / warning messages must be cleared before this button becomes available.
- Confirm accuracy before final submission
- Select the My Team tab
- Under Quick Actions menu, select Team Time Cards
- Enter the employee’s name or number and time period to locate the correct time card. Select the hyperlinked Period Start Date to view a Time Card in more detail
- Make necessary changes to time types, hours, or comments by selecting the appropriate box
Enter corrections, like updated Start or Stop times, as they should have been originally entered. You do not need to calculate the time difference; the system will calculate it.
On Time Cards for SLAC employees, the Retro Entry field must be updated to Yes for at least one row in the time card. An error message will be triggered as a reminder.
- Select Submit to update the Time Card
Re-open the time card to approve it.
Managers and administrators must ensure all time and absence are accurate, complete and submitted on time to avoid payroll delays.
Review and Approve Absences
Before You Start
This content is relevant for managers of employees who report absences.
Absences are requested by employees as they are planned and can be modified as needed as plans change. Stanford University Managers are responsible for reviewing and approving absences as they are requested. Each pay period, before the published approval deadline, any remaining unapproved absences for the pay period, including corrections from prior periods, must be reviewed and approved.
While manager approval of absences is required for both exempt and non-exempt employees, this is an especially critical step in ensuring that non-exempt employees are paid correctly. Entry errors can result in under- or over-payments to the employee and misallocations to financial accounts.
As employees submit Absences, their managers will receive a Workflow approval notification. Pending approval notifications are available via the bell icon in Sequoia.
While it is recommended that managers review and approve absences from individual Workflow notifications as they arrive, managers can also review, approve and manage Absences for their entire team by accessing Absence Planning.
Learn more in the How To: Manage Time Card and Absence Approval Delegations on accessing Absences for approvals that have been delegated from another manager.
- Go to Sequoia
- Select Sign in with SUNet ID
- Enter SUNet ID and password, if prompted
- Select the My Team tab
- Select Show More under Quick Actions
- Scroll down and select Absence Planning
- Select View Details
- Confirm the dates, type of leave, comments, and supporting documentation if provided
When an employee requests an absence for a range of dates that includes a weekend or a holiday, an additional step is necessary to remove the absence from the weekend and holiday days. Monitor for this common error when completing approvals.
- Approve or reject the request by selecting Approve or Reject
If you approve a Time Card with an absence, then you have approved the absence.
Managers and administrators must ensure all time and absence are accurate, complete and submitted on time to avoid payroll delays.
Retroactively Approve Time Cards or Absences
Before You Start
This content is relevant for managers of employees who report time and/or absences.
- Go to Sequoia
- Select Sign in with SUNet ID
- Enter SUNet ID and password, if prompted
While it is recommended that managers review and approve retroactive time cards and absence requests from individual Workflow notifications as they arrive, managers can also review, approve, and manage time cards for their entire team by accessing Team Time Cards.
- Select the My Team tab
- Select Team Time Cards from the Quick Actions menu to view employees’ Time Cards
- Search by person name or number to view an individual employee or enter the date range to view all employees
- Select the check mark of the employees you want to view Time Cards for
- Select the Actions button
- Enter the desired action from the drop-down menu for the Time Card
- To edit the Time Card, select Edit
- Enter Time Type, Start, and Stop Times
- Select Approve to submit a Time Card or select Save and Close to save any updates made to the Time Card
Managers and administrators must ensure all time and absence are accurate, complete and submitted on time to avoid payroll delays.