Using Your FlexSheet

Go to Today’s Row

Open your FlexSheet. (Unless you’ve moved it, you’ll find it in the top level of your Google Drive area: My Drive.)

If necessary, switch to the FlexSheet tab by clicking it.

Scroll down the FlexSheet to reach the row you want to fill in. The row for today is highlighted by having its date shown on an orange background.

A Magical Shortcut

Near the top of the FlexPeriod column there is a Green Arrow. Wait for a few seconds after opening your FlexSheet for it to get ready. Then click the arrow to jump to the next empty timeslot for today, ready for you to fill in.

The first time you click the Green Arrow it will ask you for permission to run and manage your spreadsheet. This is because it uses a script to jump to the right place. You will need to allow this for the Green Arrow button to work.

If you’re unsure what this should look like you can see step-by-step instructions in Authorising the Green Arrow.

Record Your Start/End Times

For each day, enter the start and end times for each of your work sessions during that day. Make sure you enter these as 24-hour times — ie, use 13:30 and not 1:30pm.

Use the +ve Adjust column if you work some additional time separate from your two main sessions — for example if, after your morning and afternoon work sessions during the day, you then do some extra work in the evening.

Use the -ve Adjust column to record any time you took out within a working session — for example, if you had to go out mid-session for an hour to a doctor’s appointment.

Colour Coded to Help You

The cells you enter session start/end times, +ve and -ve Adjust times and Absence Codes into are colour coded:

Light green areas are dates you are scheduled to work on (eg, a weekday). You should enter either session start/end times or an Absence Code for these.
Darker grey/green areas are dates you are not scheduled to work on (eg, at a weekend, or other days depending on your working pattern. You might still enter session start/end times for these dates if, say, you work part-time and as a one-off and have agreed to swap days and come in on what is usually your day off. (See also about “Lieu Days” below.)
Yellow backgrounds suggest the cell(s) you probably want to enter a time into (eg, the end time for a session once you’ve entered its start time)
Pale red backgrounds show a possible problem with a cell (eg, text entered instead of a number, a start/end time outside of your FlexBands, too long or short a lunch break)
Strong red background indicate a more serious problem (eg, entering start/end times for a day you’ve booked off as leave, exceeding the maximum FlexBalance credit or deficit at the end of a FlexPeriod)

Enter Absence Codes and Notes

Use the Absence Code column to indicate any days you take Annual Leave or FlexLeave, were on sick leave, away at a conference, etc. Use the Notes column to add any notes about the day — for example, the name of the conference you were attending.

Expand the sub-heading below to see a list of the absence codes.

The Absence Codes and Their Meanings

- — A normal day (Your working hours are calculated from the start/end times you enter along with any +ve/-ve adjustments.)
L — A full day’s Annual Leave (You are credited with your standard hours for the day, resulting in none of your FlexBalance being used.)
HL — half a day’s Annual Leave (You are credited with half your standard hours for the day, resulting in none of your FlexBalance being used for it, and your remaining working hours calculated from the start/end times along with any +ve/-ve adjustments.)
Flx — A full day’s FlexLeave (You are not credited with any of your standard hours, meaning your day off is instead “paid for” from your FlexBalance.)
HFlx — A half a day’s FlexLeave (You are not credited with any of your standard hours, meaning your half day off is instead “paid for” from your FlexBalance, and your remaining working hours calculated from the start/end times along with any +ve/-ve adjustments.)
HFHL — A full day off, where half is FlexLeave and half Annual Leave (You are credited with half your standard hours for the day to cover the HL part, but not for the HF part meaning that part is instead “paid for” from your FlexBalance.)
S — A full day’s Sick Leave (You are credited with your standard hours for the day, resulting in none of your FlexBalance being used.)
HS — A half a day’s Sick Leave (You are credited with half your standard hours for the day, resulting in none of your FlexBalance being used for it, and your remaining working hours calculated from the start/end times along with any +ve/-ve adjustments.)
Cr — Credit for a full day, for when you need to be credited with your standard day’s work but without entering any start/end times — eg, for a day at a conference, or when granted a day of Compassionate Leave. (You are credited with your standard hours for the day, resulting in none of your FlexBalance being used.)
HCr — Credit for half a day, as above (You are credited with half your standard hours for the day, resulting in none of your FlexBalance being used for it, and your remaining working hours calculated from the start/end times along with any +ve/-ve adjustments.)
Lieu — A day off in lieu, ie, a day you would normally be working but are taking off in lieu because you instead worked on one of your Non-Working Days. (See below for more detail on this.)

Have you previously used an old version of the FlexSheet and are looking for the PH Absence Code?

This was exactly equivalent to the L Absence Code in meaning and behaviour, so has been removed to avoid the duplication and confusion. Use the L code to use Annual Leave to book a Public/Bank Holiday off.

Many of the Absence Codes cover a half or a full day, either crediting you with your standard hours (so as not to use up any of your FlexBalance) or not (so as to “pay for” the time off from your FlexBalance). This means:

You must not enter any start/end times for days that have one of the full-day codes — ie, L, Flx, HFHL, S, Cr or Lieu
You must enter only one set of start/end times for days that have one of the half-day codes — ie, HL, HFlx, HS or HCr
You must enter two sets of start/end times for days that use the - code
If the University gives any you extra days of annual leave over and above your usual allowance (eg, as happened during 2020 and the Coronavirus pandemic) the best way of handling this is to use the Cr Absence Code. This will ensure that your FlexBalance remains unchanged: that none is used up by taking these “free days” off.

If you’re interested, the page on The Effects of Absence Codes describes in more detail how each affects your FlexBalance.

About the “Lieu” Absence Code

Sometimes people need to swap a working day with a non-working day. Some examples:

You usually work Monday–Friday but as a one-off need to work on a Saturday and take one of your usual working days off instead.
You usually work Tuesday–Thursday but need to attend a three-day conference on Wednesday–Friday, so take the Tuesday off instead.

When you need to do this:

Agree the swap-around of the days with your line manager, booking them off in your leave recording system as usual.
For the non-working day that you‘re working on record the start and end times of your sessions as usual. Because the FlexSheet isn't expecting you to be at work (ie, your standard hours are 00:00) it credits you with Flexitime for all the hours you work on the day.
For the working day you’ve swapped with and are taking off instead don't enter any start or end times for sessions. Instead set the Absence Code to Lieu. Because the FlexSheet is expecting you to work it will debit your FlexBalance by your standard hours.

The result is that the swapped days balance out: you are credited with the full hours you worked on the day that’s usually a Non-Working Day, but have them debited for the day you usually worked but took off in lieu.

The “Lieu” code actually behaves the same as an ordinary day’s “-” code would. It’s provided to help you remember when you have swapped days around, and also makes the date appear on the Annual Leave Summary tab if you use it. (This is one of the Adventures for the Braver-Hearted features you might like to try.)

Made a Mistake?

If you make a mistake in entering any times, codes or notes it’s safest if you correct them individually because trying to copy-and-paste but getting it wrong risks messing up all the formulæ and special formatting rules the FlexSheet uses.

It is possible to copy-and-paste if you really, really need to — for example, if you’ve entered several days’ worth of data in the wrong week after a holiday. Here’s the best way to do it to avoid problems:

In the FlexSheet tab select the block of cells you want to copy. Make sure you only select cells in the green area! Remember to include not only the time entries but also the absence codes and notes.
In the Edit menu choose Copy to copy the cells you’ve selected.
Click the cell at the top-left area you want to copy the data to select it.
In the Edit menu place your mouse pointer over Paste Special, then in the sub-menu that appears choose Paste Values Only. This will make sure only your data values are pasted, and leave the formatting and formulæ untouched.

Need More Help?

If you have any further questions about the Flexitime Scheme or the FlexSheet please talk with your line manager in the first instance, or a member of your department’s Admin Team.

This FlexSheet was developed by Mike Brudenell of IT Services at the University of York, and is now maintained by Steph Jesper of the Library’s Teaching & Learning Team. If something seems to be wrong with the calculations in your FlexSheet that neither you nor your colleagues can fix please try contacting Steph to see if she can help.

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