Overview

This article explains how to record an absence with a confirmed end date in People First. You must complete these steps for each role the employee has. 

If you use People First Payroll (HRIS for Payroll), do not record family leave yourself. Select one of the following types of family leave to view further guidance: Maternity, Adoption, Shared Parental Leave, Paternity Leave or Neonatal Leave.

Instructions

Follow these steps to record an absence with a confirmed end date:

1. Select Org chart:

   

2. From the Organisation Chart, select the employee for whom you want to record absence.
3. From the employee's Profile, select the Absence & Calendar tab:
   
4. Select Book Absence:
   
5. Using the calendar:
   
   1. Select the start date for the absence.
   2. Select the end date for the absence.

   3. Select the Absence type.

      The following guidance should be adhered to when selecting an Absence type:

      Absence type	Notes
      Leave	Select to record annual leave for support staff.  Only full-time, 52-week support staff have bookable leave. This is set up against their employment record.
      Sickness	Select to record sickness / illness. If you don't know the end date, follow the steps in the People First Payroll: How do I record absence with an open end date? article.
      Absence types relating to family leave	If you use People First Payroll (HRIS for Payroll), do not record family leave yourself.  Select one of the following types of family leave for further guidance: Maternity, Adoption, Shared Parental Leave, Paternity Leave or Neonatal Leave.
      Other Absence types	If the leave you are reporting does not fall into one of the three previously listed Absence types, select the most appropriate reason for the absence, for example, compassionate leave, jury service and strike action.  Where applicable, select the appropriate Paid or Unpaid option.

   4. Select Next.
6. From the Book absence for window:
   
   1. Review the dates and select whether the absence is for the whole days (All Day), or whether it starts on the afternoon (PM) of the first day and ends on the morning of the last day (AM).
   2. If the employee has returned to work and the actual end date has been entered, make sure This is the actual end date is selected (not shown on screenshot).
   3. Optionally, select / enter a Reason for the absence. You may require your staff to provide certain information that you can record here. 
   4. Complete any other fields requiring completion (some absence types have additional fields that need to be completed that are not shown in the example screenshot).
   5. Add any supporting attachment(s).
   6. Select Book Absence.
7. When completed, select Submit.

Outcome

A message is displayed confirming that the absence has been recorded:

The absence is listed in the Absence list in the Absence & Calendar tab (you will need to scroll down to see this):

Correcting an absence

To edit / make changes to an absence:

1. Select the absence.
2. From the Absence details for window, select Edit. 
3. Change / edit the details as appropriate. 
4. Select Save Changes. 
5. In Key Actions, select Re-evaluate absence.

Deleting an absence

To delete the absence:

1. Select the absence.
2. From the Absence details for window, select Delete. 
3. When prompted, select Yes to confirm the deletion.

Related information

• People First Payroll: How do I record absence with an open end date?
• People First: How do I report / record maternity leave?
• People First: How do I report / record adoption leave?
• People First: How do I report / record paternity leave?
• People First: How do I report / record shared paternity leave?
• People First: How do I record / report neonatal absence?

Updated 05 February 2026 09:04