EC Time Off Mobile Platform: Very common workaround solution for condition based custom fields on leave application screen

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EC Time Off Mobile Platform: Very common workaround solution for condition based custom fields on leave application screen

Author: Sandip Biswas, Certified Employee Central Consultant

Background: In SuceesFactors Employee Central Time Off solution we can add some condition based custom fields on the leave application screen (Object Employee Time) & also we can set the property whether the custom fields would be mandatory/optional based on business requirement. Condition based custom fields solution works fine when we access the time off solution from any browser (like google chrome, safari, internet explorer, Fire Fox etc.). Unfortunately, any condition based custom time off field does not appear in the mobile app (iOS or Android), as of now. But don’t worry, we have very good workaround solution for that.

Business Example: Let’s take a very simple example for any time off business scenario. As per business requirement, for Sickness leave there should be a mandatory attachment field named as “Documentation” on the leave application screen. The attachment field is not mandatory for any other leave types (except Sickness Leave) which are available to the employees. To achieve this, we can create some attachment type custom field in the Employee Time object & we can also add condition for Field id “timeType.externalCode”, so that the attachment field will appear only for leave type Sickness.



Limitation as per the above solution: If we add condition for Field id “timeType.externalCode”, it works fine when we access the leave application from any browser (like google chrome, safari, internet explorer, Fire Fox etc). In the below screen, we can see there is one attachment field named as “Documentation” for leave type Sickness but for leave type Vacation there is no custom attachment field named as “Documentation”.





If the same time off application is accessed from mobile app (iOS or Android), it does not show any option for custom attachment (Documentation) for Sickness Leave but during data submission it throws error message (as “Documentation” is set as mandatory field for leave type Sickness).







Workaround Solution: To overcome the above-mentioned issue/limitation we can apply a small trick with the use of Take Rule functionality of Time Off Solution which will provide a workable solution for custom attachment field.

Step I: Remove the condition of Field id “timeType.externalCode” from Employee Time object for the custom attachment field & also set the attachment field as optional. If we do so, the custom attachment field named as “Documentation” will appear for all the leave types both in browser & mobile app. We will use Take Rule functionality in such a way that the attachment field will be mandatory only for Sickness leave type. For other leave types except the Sickness leave the custom attachment field will not be applicable & in fact if employee adds any attachment for other leave (except Sickness) system will throw error message.

Removed the Condition from Custom attachment field:



Set the Required field value as “No” for attachment field.



Step II: Create a new Take Rule to check the attachment field value during leave application.

Sample Rule:



Step III: Add the rule in the time type configuration for all the applicable leave types.



Now let’s see the behavior: When employee applies Sickness leave from browser without any attachment system throws error message.



For Other leave types if employee add any attachment, system again throws error message.



Mobile App Screen Shots:

Documentation is available as attachment field for Leave Type Sickness.



If employee submits Sickness Leave without any Attachment system throws error message.



For other leave (like vacation) if employee adds any attachment system throws error message.