Use this article to create and configure notifications that are used in timesheet workflows, including notification types, triggers, delivery options, grouping, secondary recipients, and initiator settings. Once created, users can select these notifications when defining a timesheet workflow.
⚠ Important: You must have the appropriate maintenance or system administrator permissions to create and edit notifications.
📌 Note: If your system enforces mandatory notifications for timesheet workflows, a job order cannot be submitted to timesheet unless notifications are selected for each workflow stage.
Open Notifications
Go to Maintenance, then click Notifications.
Use any available filters, then click Add or New Notification to create a notification.
Ensure the required notification templates already exist so that you can assign them to each delivery method.
Configure Basic Notification Details
Enter a clear Name and Description for the notification, then select the applicable Timesheet Workflow or context if required.
Set the Active flag, then decide whether to enable the Do Not Send Notification option.
Active flag
The Active flag determines whether a notification can be selected in a timesheet workflow.
Notifications are active by default when created.
You can clear the Active flag if you want to temporarily stop using a notification or if it has become obsolete.
Only notifications flagged as active appear for selection when configuring timesheet workflows.
Do Not Send Notification flag
Use Do Not Send Notification when the system enforces mandatory selection of notifications, but you do not want a particular workflow participant to receive any messages.
The notification can still be selected in the workflow, but no message is sent to the participant.
If Do Not Send Notification is enabled, the following settings do not apply to that notification:
Delivery frequencies.
Delivery methods.
Grouping intervals.
Secondary recipient delivery methods.
Initiator settings.
⚠ Important: Use the Do Not Send Notification option carefully so that critical approvers and timesheet initiators still receive required messages.
Set Notification Type and Trigger
In the notification setup, choose the Notification Type, then select an appropriate Notification Trigger.
Review who should receive the notification and at what point in the workflow, then save the trigger settings.
Notification types
The notification type determines how and when the notification is triggered:
Immediate notification
Triggered by a specific event in real time.
Example: A notification is sent as soon as a timesheet initiator submits a timesheet for approval.
Scheduled notification
Triggered after a defined period of time has elapsed.
Example: A notification is sent if a timesheet approver has not approved or rejected a submitted timesheet within a set number of hours.
Scheduled notification triggers
For scheduled notifications, the following triggers are available:
Reminder
For a Timesheet Initiator, the trigger is relative to the week ending date of a timesheet.
For an Approver, the trigger is relative to the date and time the timesheet was submitted.
The notification reminds the timesheet initiator to submit a timesheet or reminds the approver to approve a timesheet.
Escalation
The trigger is based on the time elapsed since a timesheet was submitted.
The notification is sent to the escalation contact defined in the timesheet workflow if the timesheet has not been approved or rejected within the specified time.
Immediate notification triggers
For immediate notifications, the following triggers are available:
Rejected
Triggered when an approver rejects a submitted timesheet.
Sent to the timesheet initiator.
Submitted
Triggered when a timesheet initiator submits a timesheet for approval.
Sent to the timesheet approver or approvers.
In multi-stage workflows, the trigger also fires when an approver at a previous stage approves the timesheet, sending a notification to the next-stage approver(s).
Recalled
Triggered when a timesheet initiator recalls a timesheet.
Sent to the approver(s) of the timesheet.
In multi-stage workflows, an approver at an earlier stage can recall a timesheet, and the notification is then sent to the approver(s) at the current approval stage.
Approved
Triggered when an approver approves a timesheet.
Sent to the timesheet initiator.
In multi-stage workflows, this trigger applies only when the timesheet is approved at the last approval stage.
🤓 Tip: Use immediate notifications for real-time status updates and scheduled notifications for reminders and escalations that follow up on outstanding actions.
Configure Delivery Frequency and Recurrence (Scheduled Only)
Set the Notification Type to Scheduled, then choose Reminder or Escalation as the trigger.
Define the Delay Frequency, then optionally set a Reoccurrence Frequency if the notification should be resent.
Delivery frequency
The delivery frequency has two components:
Delay frequency (mandatory).
Reoccurrence frequency (optional).
Both delay and reoccurrence frequencies can be defined in hours or days.
The delay frequency can be a negative value (for example, sending a reminder before the week ending date).
Examples
Timesheet Initiator reminder (relative to week ending date)
Week ending date: 18 July 2010.
Delay frequency: -2 days.
Result: A reminder is sent on 16 July 2010 to the timesheet initiator.
Timesheet Approver reminder (relative to submission time)
Submitted on: 18 July 2010.
Delay frequency: 1 day.
Result: A reminder is sent on 19 July 2010 to the approver.
Escalation notification (relative to submission time)
Submitted at: 10:00 on 18 July 2010.
Delay frequency: 1 day.
Result: An escalation notification is sent at 10:00 on 19 July 2010 if the timesheet is still not approved or rejected.
Reoccurrence frequency
The Reoccurrence frequency is measured relative to the last time the notification was sent.
If the reoccurrence frequency is set, the notification continues to be resent at that interval until the corresponding timesheet is approved or rejected.
Example
Reoccurrence frequency: 2 hours for an escalation.
First escalation is sent at 10:00.
Additional messages are sent at 12:00, 14:00, and so on, until the timesheet is approved or rejected.
📌 Note: Delivery frequency settings do not apply if the Do Not Send Notification option is enabled.
Configure Delivery Methods
In the notification, go to the Delivery Methods section, then select one or more delivery methods.
For each selected delivery method, choose the appropriate Notification Template, then save your changes.
Available delivery methods
A notification can be delivered using the following methods:
Email: Sends the notification to the workflow participant’s email address.
SMS: Sends the notification as an SMS to the workflow participant’s mobile number.
Message: Sends the notification as an in-application message in the participant’s Notifications pane within the Time and Attendance application.
📌 Note: You can select different notification templates for each delivery method so that the content matches the channel.
⚠ Important: At least one delivery method and corresponding template must be selected for a notification, unless Do Not Send Notification is enabled.
Configure Grouping for Notifications
In the notification’s delivery settings, enable Grouping if available, then select the required Grouping Interval.
Confirm that the appropriate Group Notification template is configured for the chosen delivery methods.
Grouping intervals
Grouping intervals help prevent users from receiving an excessive number of separate notifications.
All notifications triggered within a grouping interval are combined into a single grouped notification.
Supported grouping intervals are 3, 6, 12, or 24 hours.
Example
Group interval: 6 hours.
Notifications are sent at 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00 each day.
All notifications triggered between 00:00 and 06:00 are grouped and sent at 06:00, between 06:00 and 12:00 are grouped and sent at 12:00, and so on.
Grouping and delivery frequency
For scheduled notifications, you must still define a delivery frequency, even when grouping is used.
The delivery frequency triggers the creation of the notification; the grouping interval determines how notifications are combined and when they are sent.
Delivery methods supported for grouping
Grouping is available only for notifications sent via Email or SMS.
To use grouping, a dedicated Group Notification template must be configured for each delivery method.
To configure these templates, go to Maintenance, then click Group Notifications and create templates for Email and SMS.
Configure Secondary Recipient Delivery Methods (Scheduled Reminders Only)
Create a scheduled Reminder notification that is sent to an approver, then review the Secondary Recipient options.
Select the applicable Approver Type, then choose one or more delivery methods and templates for the secondary notification.
How secondary notifications work
Secondary notifications apply only to scheduled Reminder notifications sent to approvers.
When the approver does not approve the timesheet within the defined time, a secondary notification can be sent to the timesheet initiator.
This informs the initiator that the timesheet is still awaiting approval and prompts them to follow up with the approver.
Approver types
You can control when a secondary notification is sent based on the type of approver:
Client
The secondary notification is sent to the timesheet initiator only when the reminder is sent to a client approver.
Agency
The secondary notification is sent to the timesheet initiator only when the reminder is sent to an agency approver.
Client & Agency
The secondary notification is sent to the timesheet initiator whether the reminder is sent to a client or an agency approver.
When you enable secondary notifications, you must select one or more delivery methods and assign templates for the secondary notification sent to the timesheet initiator.
Configure Initiator Settings (Immediate Approved Notifications Only)
Create an immediate Approved notification, then scroll to the Initiator Settings section.
Select one or more Initiator Types, then save the notification.
Initiator types
Initiator settings apply only to immediate notifications that are triggered when a timesheet is approved.
You must choose one or more initiator types:
Payee
The notification is sent when the approved timesheet was submitted directly by the payee.
Agency
The notification is sent when the approved timesheet was submitted by an agency staff member on behalf of the payee.
Client
The notification is sent when the approved timesheet was submitted by a client contact on behalf of the payee.
This configuration allows you to create different approval notifications depending on whether the timesheet initiator is a payee, an agency user, or a client contact.
🤓 Tip: Use separate Approved notifications for payees, agencies, and clients so that each audience receives wording that matches their role and responsibilities.
💡 Best Practices
Align notification types and triggers with your timesheet workflow so that participants receive timely and relevant updates.
Use Do Not Send Notification for workflow stages where notifications are mandatory but not operationally useful, while still sending critical messages at approval and escalation points.
Configure grouping for high-volume approvers so that they receive concise summary notifications instead of many individual messages.
Test scheduled reminders and escalations in a non-production or limited environment to confirm that timing and recurrence settings work as expected.
Review active notifications regularly to retire obsolete configurations and keep the list manageable for workflow designers.