Overview
Multiple features in the Equus Platform support the ability to add approvers to the workflow process. With Approval Rulesets, those approvers can be automatically determined and the approver list automatically populated, thereby requiring no further input from the user requesting the approval.
Most Approval Rulesets are required but default Rulesets exist of every type for every company. They have many potential uses including acting as a simple convenience, allowing users to no longer need to reference outside information, or as a method of allowing self-service by other departments and service providers while still enforcing appropriate approval processes.
Ruleset Configuration
Rulesets are created on the Company level Approval Ruleset Details screen. Navigate to the screen by utilizing the Global Search.
Click on
to create a new Approval Ruleset, or on
to view or edit existing rulesets.
Basic information includes the following fields:
Type – Approval Rulesets require a type that indicates its intended area of use in the system. These are the areas of the product that are supported by Approval Rulesets:
Remote Work - Specific to the International Remote Work Self Service Form
Mobility Record - Specific to the Mobility-initiated requests
Name – Required and must be unique among active rulesets of the same type.
Inactive – Prevents the rulesets from being shown in ruleset selection lists. Features already using rulesets that are marked as inactive will continue to use that ruleset.
Rules
Rules can be configured on the Approval Ruleset Details screen when creating or viewing/editing Approval Rulesets. Create a new rule by clicking on
under the Rules section.
The screen will then change to the Approval Rule Details screen, where the approver information and rule logic can be defined.
Defining the Approver
Round – This specifies the place in the approval process this approver will appear among other approvers. Multiple approvers can exist in the same round. Starting at round 0, approval requests are sent to all approvers in the round and when all approvals in that round are received, approval requests are sent to all approvers in the next round. Blank is the equivalent of 0.
Description – For reference only. Only shown on the Approval Ruleset Details
Person by Role – Enables the Resource Role list that displays potential Authorization and Assignment roles. Since roles are assigned as part of the Authorization or during Assignment creation, the Name and Email are unknown when creating the rule but, if the chosen role is assigned for the current Authorization or Assignment at the time the rule is executed, the appropriate approver will be retrieved. Always be sure that the selected Role makes sense for the Ruleset type and will actuallyT have a value when the rules execute. For example, Authorization and Core Flex Policy Exception Rulesets must use Authorization roles whereas Assignment Extension and Policy Field Exception Rulesets must use Assignment roles.
Resource – Enables the Resource list where all resources in the system is listed. Selecting a resource will populate the Name and Email fields with the resource’s information. Changing that resource’s information elsewhere in the system after the rule is saved, will automatically update any future approvals requiring that resource.
Other – Used for approvers that are not resources, nor have assigned roles, or for approvers that are not Equus Platform users. When selected, the Name and Email fields are enabled and required. This does not give the user access to the Equus Platform and only enables a link that allows approval/denial of request.
Note: If “Approvers must be authorized with SSO/Login” is enabled in the System Preference, an email address associated with an Equus Platform user is recommended. A warning message will be displayed if this condition is not met. The link that the approver will be receiving is accessible only by their account in the Equus Platform.
Adding Rule Conditions
Add a new rule condition by clicking
. The following fields are available for configuration:
Delete – Check and save the rule to delete the condition.
Sequence – Used to sort the rule order for ease of use. Logic condition order of operations determine ultimate execution order.
Parenthesis – Use parenthesis to create logic components in more complex condition equations.
Field – The field in the system that will contain the first comparison value. This is a comprehensive list of fields throughout the system including Authorization fields, Assignment fields, Company fields, custom fields in any of the previous locations, and User Table fields. Take note that it’s possible to select a field that will not have any stored value given the context in which the rule executes. Generally, Authorization rulesets should only operate on “Authorization *” fields and User Table fields.
Comparison – The comparison operator for the condition equation.
Compare To – Only shown for certain Comparison Defines the second comparison value. Select Value to specify a known value (e.g. “Job Grade Field Is Greater Than 8”). Select Field to show another field selector to compare to another field in the system (e.g. “From Country Field Is Not Equal To To Country Field”). If you wish to change from Value to Field or vice versa clear the field of data and save the rule.
And/Or – Used to combine multiple condition lines to form complex rules. Follows standard Boolean logic conventions. No entered value is equivalent to “And” meaning if no And/Or values are selected, all conditions in a rule must be true for the approver to be selected.
Settings
Depending on the Approval Ruleset type, specific rules may be available that change the behavior of the approval routing. See the Supported Ruleset Types section below for information.
Executing Rules
When an approval request page is loaded for a given policy or authorization that is configured to use a ruleset, that ruleset is loaded and all rules within the set are executed. For each rule, if the logic condition equation evaluates to true then that rule’s approver or approver role’s name, email, and round are automatically added to the approver list.
If any of the following are true, the approver for a given rule will not show in the list:
The combination of logic conditions did not evaluate to true
A resource was selected that was marked inactive in the system
A resource role was selected but not assigned for the current situation
Note, a rule with no conditions will always evaluate to true.
Supported Ruleset Types and Settings
Ruleset Types
The following Ruleset types are associated with an Authorization Template, are not required, and are set on the General tab of the Authorization Template page:
Authorization (Rule conditions must be based on Authorization fields)
The following Ruleset types are associated with an Assignment Policy, are required, and are set on the General tab of the Assignment Policy page:
Assignment Extension (Rule conditions must be based on Assignment fields)
Policy Field Exception (Rule conditions must be based on Assignment fields and Exception fields)
Core Flex Policy Exception (Rule conditions must be based on Authorization, Benefit Set, and Exception fields)
The Remote Work (Rule conditions must be based on Assignment fields) type is associated with a Mobility Type Policy Defaults with International Remote Work type, is not required, and is set on the Mobility Type Policy Defaults page.
The Mobility Record (Rule conditions must be based on Assignment fields) type is associated with a Quick Workflow with Data Type of Assignment, is required, and is set on the Quick Workflow Automation tab.
Every company that is created has its own default versions of each Ruleset type. Each default Ruleset type has setting values that are slightly different to reflect behavior that best matches typical use cases. These Rulesets cannot be deleted but they can have their settings edited, can have approver conditions added, and can be marked inactive which prevents them from being selectable on configuration screens.
Settings
Final Approval - If set to ‘User finalizes (manual)’, the approval requester will need to click the ‘Final Submit’ button on the approval request screen after all approvals have been received in order to complete the overall approval status.
If set to ‘All required approvals received (automatic)’ the request will be approved automatically when the number of required approvals has been reached, without the need to click the ‘Final Approval’ button. Note this is available for: Assignment Extension, Policy Field Exception and fixed for Remote Work and Mobility Record.
Document Visibility – When set to ‘Viewable - Allow Overrides’, approval documents uploaded to the Extension Details page will be viewable by approvers by default. The approval requester will have the ability to override the default setting for each extension approval request.
If set to ‘Viewable – Do Not Allow Overrides’, approval documents will be viewable by approvers. The approval requester will not have the ability to override the setting,
If set to ‘Not Viewable – Allow Overrides’, approval will not be viewable by Approvers by default. The approval requester will have the ability to override the default setting for each extension approval request.
If set to ‘Not Viewable – Do Not Allow Overrides’, approval documents will not be viewable by approvers by default. The approval requester will not have the ability to override the default setting for each extension approval request. Note this is available for: Assignment Extension, Policy Field Exception, Remote Work, Mobility Record.
Approvers See Other Approvers - If checked, each approver will be able to see the full list of approvers for the approval. They will also see the Status of each approver – whether approved, denied, or not yet responded. Note this is available for: Assignment Extension, Policy Field Exception, Core Flex Policy Exception, Remote Work, Mobility Record.
Enable Shared Approver Comments – Only if the Approvers see other approvers option is enabled, this option allows each approver to submit comments when approving or denying the request and allows all other approvers left in the approval sequence to see those comments. The approval requester sees all comments. Note this is available for: Assignment Extension, Policy Field Exception, Core Flex Policy Exception.
Require Shared Approver Comments for Denials - Only if both the Approvers see other approvers and Enable Shared Approver Comments options are enabled, this option requires that approvers submit comments when denying an approval. Note this is Available for: Assignment Extension, Policy Field Exception, Core Flex Policy Exception.