Use the Scheduler

With the Organizer open, click the Add Item to Scheduler button on the toolbar to open the Scheduler.

Click the appropriate radio button, either Task or Information, for the type of item you are scheduling.

When you select Information, the Activity and Product fields are disabled because they do not apply to information items.

This field specifies the activity containing the task. For example, if you schedule the Mass Update task, select Process. Or if you are scheduling the Rehire Employee task, select Action. These two tasks, Mass Update and Rehire Employee, are a process and an action, respectively.

All Sage HRMS products appear in this list, as well as System. System includes activities pertaining to your entire system rather than an individual product.

This field contains the task you are scheduling. The list contains all the tasks included in the selected task's activity and product. The list changes when the task's activity and product change.

If you are scheduling an information item, the Task field is disabled.

Some tasks have associated sub-tasks. A sub-task is simply another level of task within the task you select. If sub-tasks do not apply to your selected task, the field is disabled.

For most tasks, you are required to select an employer. For example, if you are working with Sage HRMS and select the Record Performance Review task, you must select which employer contains the employee for whom you want to record a performance review.

The Employer field is disabled if there is only one employer set up in your enterprise or if the task is an Information item.

Tasks require specific information before they are processed. For example, the Rehire Employee task requires an employee's name. The items in the list change according to the task you select. If you forget to select a subject, the system warns you when you click OK to close the Scheduler.

If you are scheduling an information item, the Subject field is disabled.

This is a short description of the task, information item or system event. The description appears on the Organizer of the user for whom the item is scheduled. If you are scheduling a task, the system fills in the description automatically by combining the task (or sub-task, if one is selected) and the subject.

You can change the Description field as necessary, but you cannot leave it blank. If you accidentally leave the Description field blank, the system fills it in for you.

The Notes text area of the Scheduler enables you to fully describe the item. You can enter an unlimited number of characters. Use the scroll bars as necessary.

When you work with the Organizer and want to see the note associated with a task, information item or system event, right-click the item to read and edit the note.

This is the date on which the item is scheduled for completion. The item appears on the Organizer on this date. Sage HRMS automatically schedules the item for the day currently selected in the calendar, but you change the date.

Enter the To Be Done date in mm/dd/yyyy format. For example, enter March 27, 2017 as 03272017 (dashes are preformatted).

The Scheduled date is the date on which the item is being scheduled. It defaults to the current date and cannot be changed.

If tasks or information items are not completed on the scheduled dates, the system automatically rolls them over to the next time the user logs into the system. For example, a task on Lynn’s Organizer should be completed on the 18th, but Lynn cannot complete the task on the 18th. She doesn’t use her system again until the 23rd. The task rolls over to the 23rd and stays on her Organizer until she either completes or deletes the task.

The Scheduled For list contains users who are assigned user IDs and passwords when security was set up for your system. If you are scheduling a task, only the users who have security rights to perform that task appear in the list. For more information, see Setting Up Security.

You can choose from five levels of item priority: very high, high, medium, low, and very low. This indicates the importance of the item you are scheduling. The selected priority determines the order in the Organizer’s tasks and information lists.

The Frequency indicates how many times the item should occur. The list includes Once, Daily, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Bi-Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly. If you want the task to repeat, select any frequency other than Once.

For example, you might want to archive terminated employees once a month. In this case, select Monthly as the frequency.

When you select a frequency, the Repeating Task dialog box automatically opens for you to describe the task's repeat frequency.

The text entered in the Scheduler's Description text area appears in the Task Information field. The Scheduled Date and Repeat Frequency carry over from the Scheduler. These three fields cannot be changed.

Repeat Items

The Repeat This Item field lets you specify the number of times to repeat this item. Except for a Repeat Frequency of Daily, you can repeat an item as many times as required up to a five year limit. For a daily repeat frequency, you can repeat an item up to 365 times.

The Repeat Frequency is the number of times an item will appear on the Organizer in addition to the first date you schedule. For example, if you schedule an item to be done on Tuesday, 4/12, and the repeat frequency is weekly and the number of times you want to repeat the item is three, then your Organizer shows the item on 4/12 (the first occurrence), 4/19, 4/26, and 5/3.

Use the arrows to select the repeat number or type a number in the text box. However, if you type a number exceeding the Repeat Frequency limit, the number automatically changes to the allowable limit. For example, if you type 6 for the number of years an item is to occur, the number automatically changes to 5, the allowable limit.

Maintain the Day of the Week

You can choose to maintain the day of the week the item repeats. For example, if you always want to repeat the item on a Thursday, select the check box and select Thursday from the drop-down list.

If maintaining the day of the week does not matter, clear the check box. The item then repeats on the same numerical date of the month. For example, if you schedule an item on April 15 and you want it repeated every month, the next occurrences will be May 15, June 15, July 15, and so on, regardless of the day of the week.

If the box is selected, the Move to Closest Date, Forward to Next Available Date, and Backward to Last Available Date options become enabled.

Move to Closest Date

This selection instructs the Scheduler to repeat the task on the date falling closest to the next date to repeat the task while at the same time maintaining the day of the week. This selection lets the Scheduler choose the next date to repeat the task. It either chooses a date previous to or following the scheduled repeat date. Move to Closest Date is the default value.

For example, suppose you want to repeat an item monthly and always want it to be done on Wednesday. Schedule the first task for Wednesday, 11/17. In December, the 17th falls on a Friday. The Move to Closest Date selection tells the Scheduler to move this task to Wednesday, 12/15 because it is only two days from the 17th, whereas the 22nd, also a Wednesday, is five days from the 17th.

Forward to Next Available Date

This selection instructs the Scheduler to repeat the task on whatever the date is that matches the specified day of the week and follows the date on which the task is to be repeated. Unlike Move to Closest Date or Backward to Last Available Date, the Scheduler must move forward to select the repeat task date.

Using the same example as above, you want to repeat an item monthly and always want it to be done on Wednesday. You scheduled the first task to be done Wednesday, 11/17. In December, the 17th falls on a Friday. The Forward to Next Available Date selection tells the Scheduler to move this task to Wednesday, 12/22, because it must move forward to the 22nd, not backward to the 15th.

Backward to Last Available Date

This selection instructs the Scheduler to repeat the task on whatever the date is that matches the specified day of the week and precedes the date to repeat the task. Unlike Move to Closest Date and Forward to Next Available Date, the Scheduler must move backward to select the repeat task date.

Using the same example as above, you want to repeat an item monthly and always want it to be done on Wednesday. You scheduled the first task to be done Wednesday, 11/17. In December, the 17th falls on a Friday. The Backward to Last Available Date selection tells the Scheduler to move this task to Wednesday, 12/15, because it must move backward to the 15th, not forward to the 22nd.

When you complete setting values for the Repeating Task dialog box, click OK to save the changes and return to the Scheduler.

When you schedule a task in the Scheduler, you can also schedule it in Outlook. User Preferences enables you to set the check box as always selected.

When the Schedule Task in Microsoft Outlook check box is enabled, an email of the task is sent to the person for whom it is scheduled. When they accept the task, it is scheduled in their Outlook Task Manager.

If the person declines the task in Outlook, an email is sent to the person who scheduled the task; however, the task is not updated in the Scheduler.

After the task is completed in Sage HRMS, it is automatically marked as completed in Outlook.

You can schedule a system-wide item, a System Event, pertaining to all users on the system. To schedule a System Event, select System Event from the Priority drop-down list.

Scheduling a System Event is a bit different from scheduling a Task or Information item. When you schedule a System Event, it is automatically placed on your Organizer in the System Event list and it is placed on every Sage HRMS user's Organizer as well. This allows you to convey a message to all other users on the system.

Here are two examples of a system event:

Suppose you want to perform the Mass Update process in Sage HRMS on December 5 at 5:00 p.m. You need all other users on the system to exit Sage HRMS before 5:00 so you can run the process.

1. In Sage HRMS, schedule the Mass Update process for yourself (the default) with the Priority as System Event. Schedule the process to be done 12/5/16. Add a message in the Note text area: "Mass Update will occur at 5:00 today, December 5. Please exit Sage HRMS by 4:55 p.m."
2. The Mass Update process appears on everyone's Organizer in the System Event section on December 5. Each user can view the note by clicking the + button next to the item to open the scheduler, or by right-clicking the item. That way, all users know to exit Sage HRMS before 5:00 p.m. However, the Mass Update process only appears in the Task section of the person scheduled to complete it.

Let's say you routinely perform email maintenance every Friday at 5:30 p.m. and want all users to exit email before you begin maintenance work.

1. Since this is not a system task, schedule this as an Information item. Specify the Frequency as Weekly and the Priority as System Event. Add a message in the Note text area: "Please exit email by 5:30 today for weekly maintenance."
2. The Information item is placed on everyone's Organizer each Friday. Users can view the note by clicking the + button next to the item to open the scheduler, or by right-clicking the item.