Overview
This article explains the application setting “Enable Employment Contract Allocation connection to” / Enable_Employment_Contract_Allocation_Connection_To (HR Management > Employment Contracts). This setting is available only when the HR Management module is active for your institution. It controls how each work item recorded under a Teacher’s Employment Contract is linked to a period of time in the school calendar.
What This Setting Does
An Employment Contract is the formal record of a paid work arrangement between the institution and a staff member (most commonly a Teacher). Within a contract, the specific pieces of paid work are recorded as separate lines called “Allocations” – for example, a set number of weekly teaching hours for a Subject in a Grade, or exam supervision duties.
Every Allocation needs to be linked to a time reference, so the institution and the staff member both know during which part of the school year that work applies. This setting decides which type of time reference is used for that link. There are three options:
- Marking Period (default option) – the Allocation is linked to a Marking Period, such as a semester or term.
- Timetable Category – the Allocation is linked to a Timetable Category, which represents a distinct weekly schedule used by the institution (for example, a Morning Program versus an Afternoon Program).
- None – no time-reference field is shown or required on Allocations at all.
Only one option can be active for the whole institution at any time. An Allocation cannot be linked to both a Marking Period and a Timetable Category at the same time – the setting simply decides which single option is offered throughout the system.
Where It Is Used
- Employment Contract screen, Allocations tab, allocation entry form: shows either a “Marking Period” field or a “Timetable Category” field, depending on this setting.
- Employment Contract screen, Allocations tab, allocations table: shows either a “Marking Period” column or a “Timetable Category” column for every recorded Allocation, matching the setting.
- Teachers per Contract Allocations list: adds a “Marking Period” or “Timetable Category” column so staff can see the time scope of each Teacher’s allocations at a glance.
- Teachers per Contract Allocations, advanced filters: offers a filter by Marking Period or by Timetable Category (never both), letting users narrow the list to Teachers whose allocations fall under a specific period or schedule.
This setting affects only the Allocation lines inside a contract. It does not affect the separate “Timetable Categories” field found on the main Employment Contract form, which is always available regardless of this setting and is used to scope the contract as a whole (see the Notes section below).
Business Logic / Behavior
- Default behavior: unless changed, the system links Allocations to a Marking Period.
- Mutually exclusive choice: only one time-reference type is active institution-wide; changing the setting changes the field and column shown everywhere Allocations appear.
- When set to “None”: Allocations are not required to carry any period or schedule reference, and the related field/column is hidden throughout the system.
- Assumption (not explicitly confirmed): if this setting is changed after Allocations already exist, the previously recorded values are expected to remain stored on those Allocations, but the field that is no longer selected will no longer be shown or editable on screen. If your institution plans to switch this setting after allocations have already been created, confirm with your system administrator how existing records will display in reports.
Examples
Example 1 – Marking Period mode (default)
Example School keeps this setting on “Marking Period”. An HR administrator creates an Employment Contract for Teacher Jane Sample. Within that contract, the administrator adds an Allocation of 10 hours per week for the Subject “Introduction to Science”, linked to the “Fall Term” Marking Period. On the Allocations tab, the administrator sees a “Marking Period” field to choose from, and the allocations table lists “Fall Term” for that row.
Example 2 – Timetable Category mode
Sample Academy instead sets this setting to “Timetable Category”, because it runs two distinct weekly schedules – a “Morning Program” and an “Afternoon Program” – and wants Allocations to follow the applicable schedule rather than the term. An HR administrator creates an Allocation for Teacher John Example and selects “Morning Program” as the Timetable Category. The Allocations tab now shows a “Timetable Category” field and column instead of “Marking Period”.
Example 3 – None mode
Riverside Institute sets this setting to “None” because it does not need to track a period or schedule reference on individual Allocations. Allocations are created with only the work details (hours, Subject, Grade, and so on), and no Marking Period or Timetable Category field appears on the form or in the table.
When to Use
When to select “Marking Period”: choose this option if your institution organizes staff workload and pay periods around semesters, terms, or other Marking Periods, and you want Employment Contract Allocations to follow the same academic calendar used for grading and reporting.
When to select “Timetable Category”: choose this option if your institution runs multiple distinct weekly schedules (for example, separate morning and afternoon programs, or separate schedules per campus) and staff allocations need to follow the applicable schedule rather than a grading period.
When to select “None”: choose this option if your institution does not need to track any period or schedule reference at the Allocation level – for example, if this information is tracked elsewhere or is not relevant to how your institution manages Employment Contracts.
Notes
Prerequisites:
- The HR Management module must be active for your institution; otherwise this setting and the whole Employment Contracts area are not available.
- If you select “Marking Period”, the relevant Marking Periods (for example, semesters or terms) must already be configured before they can be selected on an Allocation.
- If you select “Timetable Category”, the relevant Timetable Categories must already be created before they can be selected on an Allocation.
Related settings (also found under HR Management > Employment Contracts):
- Copy Employment contract allocations when a Teacher is transferred from one period to another / Copy_Employment_Contract_Allocations_On_Teacher_Period_Transfer (HR Management > Employment Contracts)
- Automated employment contract numbering Format / Automated_Employment_Contract_Numbering_Format (HR Management > Employment Contracts)
- Add protocol entry upon contract creation / Add_Protocol_Entry_Upon_Contract_Creation (HR Management > Employment Contracts)
- Show employment data info under / Show_Employment_Data_Info_Under (HR Management > Employment Contracts)
K-12 versus Higher Education Mode: this setting behaves identically whether your institution is running in K-12 mode or in Higher Education (college) mode. There is no confirmed difference in behavior between the two modes for this setting.
The “Timetable Categories” field found directly on the main Employment Contract form (used to scope the contract as a whole) is separate from, and is not affected by, this setting. That field is always shown, regardless of the option chosen here.
