The fourth lesson in this Learning Series, Staff Portal Settings, is designed to get you familiar with the Staff Portal and how to manage staff with it. You may wish to review the articles listed below before beginning.
The review articles in the bullet list below will open the Help article in a new tab. When you are finished reviewing the material, close the tab and return to this page to access the next article using the links below.
Permissions control the ability of your Users to see certain data and take specific actions. Before moving forward, review Staff Portal User Permissions.
The Staff Portal provides a secure place for your staff to: view their class and events schedules, record time worked in the time clock, enter their availability, record student attendance or skills/levels, view Lesson Plans, and create and view Resources.
- Be Secure -The Staff Portal is isolated from your Jackrabbit database, allowing your staff to manage their classes and time outside of Jackrabbit without needing access to sensitive data such as contact and financial information.
- Be In Touch - The Staff Portal is a great way to communicate with your staff. Use the Staff and Department News to broadcast messages in the Staff Portal. A login message can be entered into an individual staff member's record, and it will display on their News tab in My News.
- Be Mobile - Jackrabbit's Staff Portal is 'responsive', which detects the size of the device being used and will adjust to fit the screen size. This makes using the Portal much easier on a smart device!
Set Up and Explore the Staff Portal
Why should you use the Staff Portal for your organization? Let's have a look at the setup, functionality, and reporting options available to you with the Staff Portal.
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Set Up Your Staff Portal |
Ready to get started? Use the Guided Staff Portal Setup to get going in 5 easy steps! Staff can access the Staff Portal in multiple ways:
If a staff member forgets their password, they can click the Forgot Your Password? link at any time to generate a new one. See Reset a Staff Portal Password for more details. |
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Staff Portal Settings |
Once you have gone through the Guided Staff Portal Setup (above), there are additional settings that control staff access and features they can use in the portal:
Need to make some updates to individual settings for multiple staff members? Check out these additional articles: |
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Staff Portal Features |
These are the features (tabs) included in the Staff Portal.
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Reports |
Staff Portal reports are an excellent way to keep track of staff members and their required tasks. These reports include: |
Share our video tutorial, Use Our Staff Portal, with your staff to get them familiar with using their Staff Portals.
Jackrabbit offers a guided setup process that steps you through 5 tasks to quickly get your staff ready to log in to the Staff Portal. Go to the Gear icon > Set Up > Guided Staff Portal and click the Start Guided Setup button.
Each step of the setup is saved individually. If you start the setup and need to finish at a later time, simply go to the Gear icon > Set Up > Guided Staff Portal and click through to the step where you left off.
Step 1 in the Staff Portal setup is to customize the Staff Portal Settings. When enabled, these settings are global and will affect all staff members.
Remember to click the Save button to save the settings. Once you have completed this step, the next step is to Match Staff to User ID (step 2).
| Staff Session Timeout Limit | Set the length of time the Staff Portal will automatically log out with no activity. The Timeout Limit can be adjusted from 5 minutes up to 8 hours. |
| Features | Select the Features the staff can use in the Staff Portal. These include Attendance, Skills/Levels, Time Clock, and Lesson Plans. To allow staff to update information for a feature in the Portal when it has been launched remotely, set Allow Remote (feature name) to Yes (the default is No). For example, to allow a staff person to not only view and print their schedules but also enter their time when they are accessing the Portal remotely, set Allow Remote Time Clock to Yes. The Launch the Staff Portal topic covers remote access in more detail. |
| Family & Student Display Options | Select which information should be listed in the Staff Portal about the student. Visit General Staff Portal Settings to learn more about where the family and student information appears in the Staff Portal. |
| Attendance Options | Define whether or not staff can save partial attendance. Visit Settings for Staff Portal Attendance to review all settings related to taking attendance in the Staff Portal. |
| Skill/Level Options | Define which skills you want to display in the Staff Portal and how you want to manage emails for student skill progress. Visit Settings for Staff Portal Skills/Levels to review all settings related to working with Skills/Levels in the Staff Portal. |
If you use the Time Clock to track staff hours, the setup for Time Clock Departments, Time Clock Pay Periods, and Time Entry Settings is located at the bottom of the Staff Portal Settings page.
In order to open and log into the Staff Portal, a staff member must have 1 of the following:
- Jackrabbit User ID - A Jackrabbit User ID allows access to your database and is controlled by user permissions. If you have a staff person who works in your database (has a User ID) and will also be using the Staff Portal, you can match their User ID to their staff record in this step. The benefit of this is that they will be able to use the same username and password to work in your database and to log into the Staff Portal; they will not have to remember two sets of login information. See Match Staff to their Jackrabbit User ID below.
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- Staff Portal Login ID - For any staff who do not have a Jackrabbit User ID and will need access to the Staff Portal, they will need to have a Login ID. A Staff Portal Login ID is used to access the Staff Portal only; it cannot be used to access your database. Staff who do not need to work with anything beyond class attendance, student skill management, and time clock should be assigned a Staff Portal Login ID as opposed to a Jackrabbit User ID. See Staff Portal Setup Step 3 - Auto-Assign Portal Login ID.
Match Staff to their Jackrabbit User ID
Step 2 of the setup is to match any staff who already have Jackrabbit User IDs to their staff record so they can use the same login information for both the Staff Portal and your database.
- Select the User ID from the drop-down next to a Staff Name to match the User ID to that staff person's record.
- If you have staff who have existing database User IDs that are already matched to their staff record, their User ID will be shown next to their name. Note: Revoked User IDs will not appear in the drop-down list.
- Match as many as are required, you do not have to match all staff to User IDs.
- Click SAVE and OK in the confirmation window.
- Click GO TO STEP 3: AUTO-ASSIGN PORTAL LOGIN ID → to advance to the next step. See Staff Portal Setup Step 3 - Auto-Assign Portal Login ID, or you can opt to leave the setup and continue at a later time.
You can 'un-match' the User ID and Staff Name by selecting the blank value in the User ID drop-down and saving your changes.
Step 3 of the guided setup gives you the option to auto-assign Portal Login IDs for those staff members that are NOT matched to a Jackrabbit User ID. For staff members that will have a Jackrabbit User ID and need Staff Portal access, see the previous step, Staff Portal Setup Step 2 - Match Staff to User ID for additional information.
The automatically assigned logins are in the format of the first initial and last name.
All Portal Login IDs must be unique within your database. When there are two (or more) staff members with the same last name and first initial, Jackrabbit will add a number behind the second Staff Portal Login ID. Example: Sandi Olson and Stephanie Olson would be added as SOlson and SOlson1.
- Click the Auto-Assign Portal Login ID button to generate the IDs.
- If you do not want to use the auto-assign feature and would prefer to manually assign Portal Login IDs, click into the text box after the Staff Name to enter the preferred Portal LoginID.
- If you wish to change a previously assigned, or auto-assigned, Portal Login ID click into the text box to edit.
- Click SAVE and OK in the confirmation window.
- Click GO TO STEP 4: STAFF SETTINGS → to advance to the next step. See Staff Portal Setup Step 4 - Staff Settings, or you can opt to leave the setup and continue at a later time.
There are two groups of customizable settings that control how your staff interacts with the Staff Portal.
- Settings that are applied to your database as a whole and affect all staff (see Step 1: Staff Portal Settings).
- Settings that are applied to individual staff on the Portal Settings tab of their Staff record.
Step 4 in the Staff Portal Setup applies to the individual settings:
Staff Settings
Edit All Staff Portal Settings (Step 4 of the Staff Portal Setup) enables you to set up or edit these settings for your staff in bulk (versus individually for each Staff record > Portal Settings tab).
- Select the checkbox next to the staff name(s) whose Staff Portal Settings you want to set up or edit. Select the Check All button if the changes will apply to all staff listed. Use the Uncheck All button to reset.
- In the My Schedule Tab section, define whether you want the staff to be able to view and manage their availability in the Staff Portal or only view it.
- Make the selections in the My Time Card Tab section for the settings that you want to change. If a setting does not need to be changed, leave the drop-down as No Change. Learn more about Settings for the Staff Portal Time Clock.
- Make the selections in the Manage Classes Tab and Attendance Page sections for the settings that you want to change.
- If a setting does not need to be changed, leave the drop-down as No Change. Learn more about Settings for Staff Portal Attendance.
- If a setting does not need to be changed, leave the drop-down as No Change. Learn more about Settings for Staff Portal Attendance.
- Save your changes.
- Select Go To Step 5: Send Portal Login Email → to advance to the final setup step. See Staff Portal Setup Step 5—Send Portal Login Email, or you can leave the setup and continue later.
In the example below, Livy Wallace’s Time entry method will change from Manual In/Out to Clock In/Out (see image above). The Manage Classes tab will now display All Active Classes at the Staff Portal Location, instead of only her assigned classes, and she will now be able to update student sizes in the Staff Portal. All other settings will remain unchanged.
Step 5 of the Staff Portal Guided Setup will send selected staff an email containing their staff portal login information. The email will be sent to the email address on the Summary tab of their Staff record.
Different emails are sent based on whether the staff person was assigned an Auto-Assigned Portal Login ID (Staff Portal Setup Step 3) or if their Jackrabbit User ID was matched (Staff Portal Setup Step 2) to their staff record.
- Mark the checkbox for the Staff you want to send the email to, or use the Check All button to select all the staff members. In this example, a single staff member is selected and Dianne Harris was auto-assigned a portal login ID of DHarris.
- Click SEND PORTAL LOGIN EMAIL.
- Staff who are linked to their Jackrabbit User ID receive an email stating they can log in to the Staff Portal using their current User ID and password.
- When the Portal Login ID is auto-assigned, an email is sent containing the Staff Portal Login ID and a link for the staff person to create their password. The link is time-sensitive and expires in 24 hours.
- Click CLOSE SETUP GUIDE.
The link to create the password is time-sensitive and expires in 24 hours.
When you have worked through all of the articles outlined in the lesson, select the Take the Quiz button to be taken to the Lesson #4 Quiz where you can test your understanding of the concepts in this lesson. You will be asked to enter an email address for quiz results to be sent. The quiz includes Review questions.
Quiz #4 - Staff Portal Settings
| Number of Questions | Total Possible Points | Points Needed for an "A" | Points Needed for a "B" | Points Needed for a "C" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
Return to Supervisors and Managers Menu to continue to next lesson
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There are several settings that affect your staff's use of the Staff Portal for Attendance and control what they are able to see and do.
Some of these settings are at the organization level and affect all staff (global), while others can be set at the individual staff level.
Organization Settings (Global - affect all staff)
These settings are global and apply to all staff. Edit these settings from the Staff (menu) > Staff Portal > Portal Settings.
Features
To use the Attendance feature of the Staff Portal, select Attendance in the Features section. Save Changes.
Remote Access
The Staff Portal is always available at your facility when you, or another User, has launched it from within Jackrabbit (see Launch the Staff Portal from within Your Database).
The Staff Portal can also be launched via a URL. The Staff Portal URL link can be placed on your website or saved to a smart device, allowing staff to log in from anywhere with internet access. See Launch the Staff Portal Remotely for full details.
When the Staff Portal is launched remotely (through a URL) as opposed to from within your database (Staff menu > Staff Portal > Launch Staff Portal), staff are automatically able to:
- See all News (My News, Department News, and Staff News)
- View and print their schedule of classes and events
- View details of their classes (no information on enrolled students or contact information)
- Email the contacts of enrolled students (if their individual Staff Portal Settings allow them to send emails)
To allow staff to take attendance in the Portal when it has been launched remotely, set Allow Remote Attendance to Yes (the default is No).
Attendance Options
In this section, you can determine whether staff can save partial attendance (to return later and complete) or if they must mark every student as either present or absent before saving.
Partial attendance allows you to take attendance as students come in while managing other classes at the same time. These classes will be marked with an orange checkmark to indicate partial attendance. If partial attendance is not permitted, you must mark every student as either present or absent before you are able to save the changes.
Staff Settings (Individual)
On the Portal Settings tab of the Staff record, several settings affect what that specific staff person can do in the Staff Portal in terms of class management.
Manage Classes Tab
What classes should this staff person see?
This setting allows you to select the classes that are shown in the Staff Portal when the staff person logs in.
| Their Classes Only |
The staff person will see the classes they are assigned as an instructor or substitute at all Locations. |
| Their Classes with option to Show All of Today's Classes |
The staff person will see the classes they are assigned as an instructor or substitute at all Locations, with an option to show all classes for that day at the Location the Staff Portal has been launched for. |
| Their Classes AND All Classes with Category 1 |
The staff person will see the classes at all Locations to which they are assigned as an instructor or substitute or that have a specified Category 1. This is helpful for staff who enter attendance for all classes of the same Category 1, even though the staff person isn't assigned as an instructor for each class. |
| All Active Classes at Staff Portal Location |
The staff person will see all classes at the Location the Staff Portal has been launched for. This is helpful for staff who aren't assigned as an instructor for classes but enter attendance for all classes (for example, gym floor manager or swim deck manager). |
| None |
No classes will be shown for this staff person. |
Allow staff person to enter attendance
To enable a staff person to take attendance in the staff portal, set Allow this staff person to enter attendance to Yes. When set to No, the staff person will not have access to take attendance in their Staff Portal.
Allow staff person to update skills/levels
To enable a staff person to edit skills/levels in the staff portal set, Allow this staff person to update skills/levels to Yes. When set to No, the staff person will not have access to the skills/levels information in their Staff Portal.
Allow staff person to send emails
Set this to Yes if you would like the instructor to be able to send emails from the Staff Portal.
When an email is sent from the Staff Portal, you can choose who will get the reply.
- Select Organization email if you want all replies to be sent to the organization email listed in your Notification Settings.
- Select Staff person's email if you want replies to be sent to the staff person who sent the email. This option is only available if the staff person has an email address listed on the Summary tab of their Staff record.
Note: Staff can see where replies will go when they compose the email in the Staff Portal.
Allow staff person to view lesson plans
Set to Yes for an instructor to be able to view existing lesson plans for classes in the Staff Portal. Lesson plans can be found under Manage Classes in the Staff Portal. See Lesson Plans - An Overview for more details about adding lesson plans to classes.
Allow staff person to manage resources
Set to Yes for an instructor to be able to add, edit, and delete resources in the Staff Portal. See Resources in Jackrabbit for more details.
Attendance Page
Allow staff person to mark absent students eligible for a make-up class
When your database is set to track absences, the Allow this staff person to mark absent students eligible for a make-up class setting determines whether or not the staff person marking the student absent is permitted to allow a makeup for the absence.
There are several settings that affect how your staff uses the Staff Portal for Skills/Levels and control what they are able to see and do.
Some of these settings are at the organization level and affect all staff (global) while others can be set at the individual staff level.
Organization Settings (Global - affect all staff)
These settings are global and apply to all staff. Edit these settings from the Staff (menu)> Staff Portal > Portal Settings.
Features
To use the Skills/Levels feature of the Staff Portal check Skills/Levels in the Features section and Save Changes.
Remote Access
You have the choice to allow staff to manage their classes through the Staff Portal both on-site and remotely. The Staff Portal is always available at your facility when you or another User has launched it from within Jackrabbit (see Launch the Staff Portal from within Your Database). It is an optional setting to also have it available remotely (off-site). You can turn on remote access and the Staff Portal URL link can then be placed on your website for staff to log in from their home, smartphone, tablet, etc. in a mobile-friendly environment.
To allow remote access:
- Go to the Staff (menu)> Staff Portal > Portal Settings.
- Set Allow Remote Skills/Levels to Yes in the Features section.
- Click Save Changes.
- Provide a link on your website for staff to access the Staff Portal launch page. See Launch the Staff Portal Remotely for full instructions.
Skills/Levels Options
In this section, you determine which skills to display (assigned to classes or students) and whether skill/level progress emails are sent when updates are made to skills/levels.
Skills/Level Options
Choose which skills to display in the Staff Portal:
- Display skills assigned to classes - Select this option when you have skills added to classes.
- Display skills assigned to students - Select this option when you add skills to students.
Email Skill/Level Progress Options
| Never send emails |
No skill/level progress emails will be automatically sent for skills/levels updates. No pop-up window will display to give the staff person the option to email.
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| Staff option to send email |
No skill/level progress emails will be automatically sent for skills/levels updates. A pop-up window will give the staff person the option to send the email.
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| Automatically send email |
Skill/Level progress emails are automatically sent for skills/levels updates regardless of whether the staff person is enabled to send emails in the Staff Portal or not.
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You can also customize the email by selecting from the following options:
- Include Skill/Level Notes - When set to Yes, notes will be included in the email.
- Include Class Location - When your classes are offered at different locations, include the class location.
- Header - Add header text to the email.
- Footer - Add footer text to the email.
Staff Settings (Individual)
On the Portal Settings tab of the Staff record, there are a few settings that affect what that specific staff person is able to do in the Staff Portal in terms of class management. They are found in the Manage Classes Tab section.
Manage Classes Tab
What classes should this staff person see?
This setting allows you to select the classes shown in the Staff Portal when the staff person logs in.
| Their Classes Only |
The staff person will see the classes they are assigned as an instructor or substitute at all Locations. |
| Their Classes with option to Show All of Today's Classes |
The staff person will see the classes they are assigned as an instructor or substitute at all Locations, with an option to show all classes for that day at the Location the Staff Portal has been launched for. |
| Their Classes AND All Classes with Category 1 |
The staff person will see the classes at all Locations to which they are assigned as an instructor or substitute or that have a specified Category 1. This is helpful for staff who enter attendance for all classes of the same Category 1, even though the staff person isn't assigned as an instructor for each class. |
| All Active Classes at Staff Portal Location |
The staff person will see all classes at the Location the Staff Portal has been launched for. This is helpful for staff who aren't assigned as an instructor for classes but enter attendance for all classes (for example, gym floor manager or swim deck manager). |
| None |
No classes will be shown for this staff person. |
Allow staff person to enter attendance
Set to Yes to allow the staff member to take attendance in the Staff Portal.
Allow staff person to update skills/levels
To enable a staff person to edit skills/levels in the staff portal set Allow this staff person to update skills/levels? to Yes. When set to No, the staff person will not have access to the skills/levels information in their Staff Portal.
Allow staff person to send emails
This must be set to Yes for an instructor to be able to send emails from the Staff Portal. If Staff option to send email is selected in your Skill/Level Options the Allow staff person to send emails setting will affect their ability to generate a skills/levels progress email.
When an email is sent from the Staff Portal, you can choose who will get the reply.
- Select Organization email if you want all replies to be sent to the organization email listed in your Notification Settings.
- Select Staff person's email if you want replies to be sent to the staff person who sent the email. This option is only available if the staff person has an email address listed on the Summary tab of their Staff record.
If you don't see the option to send replies to the staff person's email, check the Summary tab of their Staff record to make sure there is an email address for them.
Allow staff person to view lesson plans
Set to Yes for an instructor to be able to view existing lesson plans for classes in the Staff Portal. Lesson plans can be found under Manage Classes in the Staff Portal. See Lesson Plans - An Overview for more details about adding lesson plans to classes.
Allow staff person to manage resources
Set to Yes for an instructor to be able to add, edit, and delete resources in the Staff Portal. See Resources in Jackrabbit for more details.
Attendance Page
Allow staff person to mark absent students eligible for a make-up class
When your database is set to track absences, the Allow this staff person to mark absent students eligible for a make-up class setting determines whether or not the staff person marking the student absent is permitted to allow a makeup for the absence.
Knowing when staff is available to work and when they need time off is important for scheduling classes and finding substitutes. By tracking Staff Availability in Jackrabbit, you can see at a glance who is available and who isn't on the Daily Calendar, simplifying your planning.
Increase efficiency by allowing staff to communicate their availability to office administrators through their Staff Portal. Entering their own hours of availability and time off in the Staff Portal ensures there are fewer errors and more timely updates.
Settings for Staff Availability in the Staff Portal
Once you have customized your general Staff Availability settings (Gear icon > Settings > General > Organization Defaults), you will need to give your staff access to their availability in the Staff Portal.
The options are:
Allow staff person to view availability | Set this to Yes to allow them to view their available time and time off. |
Allow staff person to manage availability | In order for this to be set to Yes, the staff member must already have the ability to view their availability (above). This setting allows them to add, edit, and delete their availability and time off (i.e., manage availability). |
Manage Settings for Individual Staff
The Staff Availability settings for the Staff Portal can be managed at the individual staff level from the Staff record > Portal Settings tab > My Schedule Tab section.
Note: If a staff member is set to only be able to view their availability but not manage it, they will not see the manage options above their schedule cards (availability and time off).
Manage Settings for Multiple Staff at Once
To work with the Staff Availability Staff Portal settings for multiple staff at once:
- Go to the Staff menu > Staff Portal > Edit All Staff Settings.
- Check the boxes next to the names of the staff whose Staff Portal Settings you want to set up or edit. Click the Check All button if the changes will apply to all staff listed. Use the Uncheck All button to reset.
- In the My Schedule Tab section, define whether the selected staff will be able to view and manage their availability in the Staff Portal, or if they should only be able to view it. Save your changes.
View and Manage Availability in the Staff Portal
Availability is managed from the My Schedule page of the Staff Portal.
- Log in to the Staff Portal and open the menu (if you are working on a larger screen, go to the My Schedule tab).
- Select My Schedule.
- Click the View Availability button.
On the My Schedule > Manage Availability page you will see schedule cards displaying scheduled availability and time off.
When you have access to manage availability, you will also see:
| Add Availability (button) | Use the Add Availability button to open the Add Availability window.
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| Add Time Off (button) | Use the Add Time Off button to open the Add Time Off window.
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| Edit (link in schedule card) | Opens the availability or time off modal where you can edit the individual time blocks in the schedule card or delete all of them. |
| View Comment (link in schedule card) | Allows you to see any comments that were added when the availability or time off was scheduled. |
| Delete (link in the schedule card) | Deletes all of the time entries in the schedule card. |
Export/Print | Use the Export/Print icon |
button to add another time block for the day. 
button to delete additional time blocks.
button to delete the entry.
button to add another time block for the day if needed. 
button to delete additional time blocks.
button to delete the entry.
When a Time Off entry is created, edited, or deleted, a corresponding Substitute record is created, edited, or deleted. Learn more about the 
to select Print or Export to Excel all the availability information on the page.Keep Track of Availability Changes Made in the Staff Portal
It's important to know when staff have made changes to their availability through their Staff Portals. There are a couple of ways to monitor this activity.
Staff Availability Notifications
Whenever a staff member makes changes to their Availability or Time Off through their Staff Portal, you can opt to have a notification email sent to a specific email address with the details of any changes made.
Go to the Gear icon > Settings > General and scroll down to the Staff Availability Settings section. Select the Yes radio button to turn on the notification emails. The email address defaults to your organization's email address (Gear icon > Account > My Account > Organizational Defaults) but can be changed if needed.
User Activity
All activity in the Staff Portal is captured in User activity and you can run a report on that activity to see what changes were made to your staff's availability.
Use Search User Activity to generate the report:
- Go to Reports (menu) > Find Reports.
- Enter User Activity in the Keyword Search and click the magnifying glass to search.
- Search User Activity will display with a link to take you there.
All User activity is logged and can be searched, the trick is in knowing how to sift through it all!
Each action a User takes creates an Event in the log. Each time that action is in the Staff Portal, the Event will include the term Staff Portal in the Event description.
To narrow the report to only activity in the Staff Portal, enter that term in the Event criteria field. The report that is generated gives a detailed description of the changes made.
Permissions control the ability of your Users to see certain data and take specific actions. Before moving forward review Time Clock Administrator - Required User Permissions.
Jackrabbit's Time Clock feature is designed to assist your organization in managing employee hours and preparing for payroll processing. There is no additional fee for this feature.
| Record Time Staff enter and track their hours worked in the Time Clock through the Staff Portal. |
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| Administer Staff Hours A Jackrabbit User manages your Time Clock information, including resolving incomplete time entries, approving time, closing pay periods, exporting to payroll, and reporting. |  |
Jackrabbit's Clock does not: calculate overtime wages with a multiplier (time and a half, double time, etc.), calculate any withholding, deductions or payroll taxes, or process payroll.
To enable the Time Clock feature, go to Staff (menu) > Staff Portal > Portal Settings. In the Features section, check the box next to Time Clock and click Save Changes. The remote access setting is covered in more detail in the Time Clock Settings section.
The Time Clock offers the following:
- Departments that act as “buckets” for staff hours.
- Multiple methods of time entry.
- Location and Department per time entry.
- Hour Type (regular, overtime, holiday, sick, vacation, PTO).
- Staff Pay Rates.
- Time entry approval, at either individual or department level.
- Optional “Time Buffer” that adds to scheduled class hours to identify overages between actual hours and scheduled class hours.
- Export total hour information to QuickBooks or Express Payroll.
- Estimate of Gross Wages.
Jackrabbit only accepts a 12-hour format when entering time into the time fields. You will be prompted to enter the next digit and am or pm. Note: when entering a single-digit number, you must either enter a "0" before the number or enter a ":" after the number. Military time is not accepted!
There are several settings that affect how your Time Clock functions. Some of these settings are at the organization level and affect all staff (global) while others are set at the individual staff level.
Organization Settings (Global - affect all staff)
These settings are global and apply to all staff. You can edit them from the Staff menu> Staff Portal > Portal Settings.
| Features | To use the Time Clock feature of the Staff Portal, check Time Clock in the Features section. Save Changes. |
| Remote Access | The Staff Portal is always available at your facility when you or another User launch it from within Jackrabbit (see Launch the Staff Portal from within Your Database). The Staff Portal can also be launched via a URL. The URL link can be placed on your website or saved to a smart device, allowing staff to log in from anywhere with internet access. See Launch the Staff Portal Remotely for full details. To allow staff to enter their time in the Portal when it has been launched remotely, set Allow Remote Time Clock to Yes (the default is No). |
Staff Settings (Individual) in a Staff Record
There are several staff settings related to the use of the Staff Portal Time Clock. This information is located in the various tabs of the Staff record.
Note: To use the Time Clock, each staff member must have a valid email address. Jackrabbit will use this address to send the staff person's initial Staff Portal password setup link.
Summary Tab
| Staff ID (Optional) | If you currently use staff/employee IDs, you can enter them in Jackrabbit. They will be displayed on the Pay Rate Report and in the Export to Payroll spreadsheet reports. A staff ID is not optional and must be entered if you use Express Payroll. |
| Salaried (Optional) | If a staff person is salaried (not hourly) and you will be using Express Payroll, ensure that the Salaried field on their Summary tab is set to Yes. This is only necessary if you will be using Express Payroll for payroll processing. Since salaried employees must be set up separately with Express Payroll, setting this to Yes omits this staff person's data when the Export Express Payroll File button is used. |
| Instructor (Optional) | If a staff person is not an instructor assigned to classes (front desk or administration, for example), set the Instructor field to No. This will:
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Portal Settings Tab
There are four sections of settings on this tab including Login, My Time Card Tab, Manage Classes Tab, and Attendance Page. You also have the option to update multiple staff members under the Staff menu > Staff Portal > Edit All Staff Settings.
In this topic, we will cover the My Time Card Tab settings, which are related to the Time Clock.
| Time entry method | There are three ways a staff member can record time in the Time Clock: Clock In/Out, Manual In/Out, and Total Hours. Only one method can be assigned to each staff person. A default Time Entry Method can be set in the time clock Time Entry Settings from the Staff menu > Staff Portal > Portal Settings. You are able to overwrite that default on any individual staff person's record. See Time Clock Time Entry Settings to learn more about each method. |
| Default Department | Our article Time Clock Departments discusses departments and how they are used. Each staff person can be assigned a Default Department, which is the department where they work the most frequently. When inside the Staff Portal Time Clock, all time entries will be automatically set to the Default Department. The staff member will only have to change this when they are working in another department. All departments are available to be chosen/selected by the staff member. Note: There is no way to limit a staff member to specific departments only. |
| Additional Dept. News | If you would like this staff person to see news from other departments when they log into their Staff Portal, select those departments in Additional Dept News (Department News is added from the Staff menu > Staff Portal > Department News). |
| Can split time between Departments | When set to Yes, and the staff person uses the Clock In/Out method, they can split their total hours for a time entry between as many departments as needed. |
Compensation Tab Settings
We understand that compensation is very sensitive data, and Jackrabbit offers the ability to hide the Compensation tab using User ID permissions.
From the Gear icon > Settings > Users & Permission > locate the User ID and click the link to edit. Select User Permissions, and in the Staff section, clear the check marks from these two permissions:
| Staff | Compensation tab | Has access to view/edit the fields on the Compensation tab on the Instructor page. |
| Compensation tab when User ID is linked to Staff | View Compensation tab only when User ID is linked. |
Staff Pay Rates (Optional)
Staff pay rates are optional but are useful if you want to keep a record of this information in Jackrabbit. If a Pay Rate is entered, Jackrabbit can calculate Estimated Gross Wages (in the Time Report).
There are 2 different Pay Types: Base Hourly Rate and Department Rate. Pay Types are reserved and can't be edited or deleted. Note: These are the only Pay Types that work with the Time Clock.
- Base Hourly Rate: The default hourly rate (assigned for each employee under their Compensation tab, Add Pay Rate, Base Hourly Rate). If a staff person has multiple pay rates, their Base Hourly Rate would be the rate the staff person is paid the most frequently. If a staff person has 1 rate of pay and works in multiple departments, it's not necessary to create department rates for them. Staff can enter the department in their time entry and the system will always use their base hourly rate of pay for the estimated gross pay calculation.
- Department Rate: the rate for a specific department. For example, John works in the Teaching department at $20/hour and the Office department at $15/hour. John would have 2 department rates (Teaching $20 and Office $15). If John worked most frequently teaching, then his base hourly rate would also be set to $20.
Departments must be set up in Jackrabbit before you can set up Department Rates. See Time Clock Departments for more information.
The system calculates Estimated Gross Pay. It's called "estimated" because the Time Clock does not calculate overtime dollars, only regular hour dollars. The system also does not calculate any withholdings, deductions, or payroll taxes.
The estimated gross pay calculation is based on what information the staff person enters into the Time Clock. If department rates were created, the system matches up the department of the time entry with the department pay rate, in order to know which rate of pay to use in the calculation. Therefore, a staff person can have a different pay rate for each department the person works in.
- Example: John works in the Teaching department for 5 hours and Office Department for 2 hours. Estimated Gross Pay = $130 [Teaching $120 (5*$24) and Office $40 (2*$20)].
The staff person's base hourly rate will be used to calculate estimated gross payroll if department rates aren't created. Also, if a staff person forgets to select a department while entering a time entry, their estimated gross pay will be calculated using their base hourly rate.
- Click the Compensation (tab) for the staff person.
- Click Add Pay Rate.
- Choose Base Hourly Rate (most frequent department/rate) in the Add Pay Rate window or Department Rate. If selecting Department Rate, choose a Department from the Department drop-down.
- Enter the Hourly Rate.
- Enter Date From/Through dates.
- Add Notes for additional detail as needed.
While it is possible to have more than one base pay rate, only one should be current at any given time. Date From / Date Through determine which base rate is current. If more than one base pay rate is entered for a staff member, be sure that only one of them has current Date From/Date Through Dates.
The Compensation tab also has fields for other optional information (SSN, etc.) If any additional information is added, be sure to click Save Changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. When a staff person's pay rate is changed, is it communicated to my payroll company?
A. If you are using a payroll company, such as Express Payroll, and you change a staff person's pay rate, you will need to notify the payroll company of your changes. A warning will display reminding you to update your payroll company.
Time Clock Departments help you track hours worked in different areas. This is useful for staff with different pay rates or when separating payroll expenses, such as by program. Departments are optional and can be named anything that works well for your organization.
Examples of department names might be by program (gym, dance, swim, office), by type of work activity (teaching, private, party, admin), or a combination of both (gym-teach, gym-private, dance-party, office-admin, etc.).
When a staff person uses the Clock-In/Out method of time entry in the Staff Portal, you can allow them to split their total time between departments. From the Portal Settings tab of their Staff record, set Can split time between Departments to Yes.
Add, Edit, or Delete Departments
Time Clock Departments are managed from the Staff menu > Staff Portal > Portal Settings > Time Clock Departments (section). You can have a maximum of 50 Departments.
To add a new Department:
- Click Add Department.
- Create a Dept. Code.
- Create a Dept. Name.
Note: Although the field will take up to 10 characters, only the first five characters are included when you export the file. Therefore, make sure that the first five characters of each Department name are unique. - Select Dept. Managers from the list of active staff. Department managers are responsible for approving time entries for specific departments. Use CTRL to select multiple managers.
- Save.
Use the Pencil icon to edit an existing Department.
Use the Trash Can icon to delete a Department.
A Pay Period is a recurring length of time over which employee time is recorded and paid. Pay Periods can be one of the following: Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Semi-Monthly, or Custom. A Pay Period can start on any day of the week. It’s very important to create Pay Periods as it will help you manage and maneuver through the system more efficiently. If you do not create Pay Periods, you will not be able to Approve Time and Close Pay Period (which marks each time entry with a pay date). Note: Only one pay cycle is allowed. For example, you can not have both a weekly and a monthly set of pay periods.
Add a Pay Period
- Go to Staff (menu) > Staff Portal > Portal Settings.
- Click Add Pay Period in the Time Clock Pay Periods section.
- Select the Payroll cycle in the pop-up box.
- Enter the Start Date of the 1st pay period. This is the date of the first workday in the pay period. Note: If you select Semi-Monthly (i.e. staff are paid on the 1st & 15th of the month), you'll need to enter the start date of the 1st and the 2nd pay period.
- Enter the Pay Date of the 1st pay period. This is the date that staff receives their wages (check date). Note: If you select Semi-Monthly you'll need to enter both the 1st and 2nd pay date.
- Verify that you have entered the information correctly.
- Click Save. Click OK to confirm. 12 months of pay periods based on the payroll cycle you have chosen are created. Note: When adding a custom payroll cycle you can enter as many periods as you wish, Jackrabbit does not auto-create periods for custom cycles.
Pay Periods must be deleted if an error is made, there is no way to edit them once they have been created.
If you delete a pay period in error use the Custom payroll cycle, in the Add Pay Period window > Payroll cycle drop-down, to add back the deleted pay period. With the Custom payroll cycle, you are able to add as many pay periods as you need; pay periods are not auto-populate for custom cycles.
Deleting pay periods does not delete any time entries that are associated with them. The entries remain intact, however, when you view a staff member's Time Clock tab you will not be able to display the entries using the Time Period drop-down until you have added new pay periods. Any Clock report offering Pay Period as a filter will also be affected until new pay periods are added back.
When you are setting up the Time Clock for your organization, there are 3 Time Entry Settings available in the Staff > Staff Portal > Portal Settings. They are: Time Buffer, Hour Types, and Default Time Entry Method.
Time Buffer
In the time approval process, the person approving employee time is alerted when a staff person's actual hours worked are greater than their scheduled hours.
Scheduled hours are calculated from the class start and end times located within each class the staff person is assigned to. The Time Buffer setting allows you to add time to the staff’s scheduled time. If staff are paid for time before and/or after class, for example for set up or clean up, enter this additional time as a time buffer. This will provide a more accurate comparison between actual and scheduled hours. After adding a time buffer, be sure to click Save Changes.
There are 3 Time Buffer options:
- Per Class - the amount of minutes entered will be added to each scheduled class duration. Example: If your organization adds 5 minutes before and after class, enter 10 minutes as the buffer. If staff is only allowed 5 minutes between classes, enter 5 as the buffer.
- Per Day - The amount of minutes entered will be added to each day's scheduled time. Example: If your organization adds 15 minutes to each day worked, add 15 as the buffer.
- Per Time Entry - The amount of minutes entered will be added to each time entry. Example: If your organization adds on 15 minutes before staff start work and 15 minutes at the end of their shift, add 30 as the buffer.
Hour Types
The purpose of Hour Types is to mark each time entry with a description of what the hour represents. Place a check mark next to the hour types your organization will use. Save Changes. Only the checked hour types will be available for staff to select*.
- Regular - normal staff hours (this is reserved and can't be unchecked)
- Overtime - hours which are at a higher rate of pay due to hours being over state limits (remember that overtime pay will not be calculated. Only hours can be specified as overtime hours.)
- Holiday, Sick, Vacation, PTO - hours not actually worked but staff are paid for these hours
*The Hour Type Overtime is not available for selection by the staff when entering their time in the clock. A User with the Time Clock permission can assign overtime from the staff person's Time Card tab.
It's important for staff to record time entries for the hours which weren't worked but for which they are paid. For example, if an employee gets vacation time, they will need to enter these hours into the time clock. This is the only way these hours will be included in the pay period. Otherwise, the staff will not have this time in the approved hour totals and will not be compensated for them.
 | If you are using Express Payroll, make sure that your Jackrabbit Hour Types match your Express Payroll Pay Types. |
Default Time Entry Method
Jackrabbit offers three different methods for your staff to enter their time in the Staff Portal. Click on the links for more information on each method.
If most or all of your employees have the same time entry method, you can set a Default Time Entry Method.
All newly created staff will automatically have this method saved to their Portal Settings tab. Defaulted Time Entry Methods can always be changed by going to the staff member's Portal Settings tab, changing the Time Entry Method, and saving the change.
To change staff time entry methods in mass, use Edit All Staff Settings from the Staff Portal menu.
The Jackrabbit Staff Portal provides a secure place for your staff to view Lesson Plans for their classes.
- Guarantee staff members are aware of class guidelines and expectations.
- Updates made to Lesson Plans are immediately visible in the Staff Portal.
Staff Portal Settings
Two Staff Portal settings must be set to Yes to enable your staff to view Lesson Plans in their Staff Portal:
- Staff (menu) > Staff Portal > Portal Settings
- Staff (menu) > Staff Portal > Edit All Staff Settings
Set Portal Settings
Go to the Staff (menu) > Staff Portal > Portal Settings > Staff Portal Settings > Features. Select Lesson Plans and set Allow Remote Lesson Plans to Yes. Remember to always Save Changes.
Set Edit All Staff Portal Settings
- Go to Staff (menu) > Staff Portal > Edit All Staff Settings.
- Select the Staff you would like to edit.
- Scroll down to Manage Classes Tab and set Allow staff person to view lesson plans to Yes.
- Click Save. Once saved, changes will be automatically updated under the Staff menu in the Portal Settings tab for each individual staff member that was modified.
An individual staff member's setting can be changed under the Staff Menu. Go to Staff menu > Active Staff (select a Staff Member) > Portal Settings (tab) > Manage Classes Tab (section) > Allow staff person to view lesson plans set to Yes.
View Lesson Plans in the Staff Portal
- Log in to the Staff Portal.
- Click on Manage Classes.
- Click Lesson Plans under Actions. You will only see the Lesson Plans button when Lesson Plans have been created and are assigned to a class.
- Review the Lesson Plan. This includes the Date (when Lesson Plan was added to the class), Lesson Name, Theme, Description, Instructor Comments, and Order. The Lesson Plans are view only in the Staff Portal.
When you have worked through all of the articles outlined in the lesson, select the Take the Quiz button to be taken to the Lesson #4 Quiz where you can test your understanding of the concepts in this lesson. You will be asked to enter an email address for quiz results to be sent. The quiz includes Review questions.
Quiz #4 - Optional - Staff Portal Settings
| Number of Questions | Total Possible Points | Points Needed for an "A" | Points Needed for a "B" | Points Needed for a "C" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 |
