Siesta Staff Attendance, the original package from Siesta Software Solutions, was developed in 1996 and has evolved from a DOS-based program to a Windows-based program, and is now offered as a web-based program, making it available to Linux and Mac users as well as Windows customers.
School secretaries or other personnel use an extremely simple point-and-click method to enter staff absences. The absences are recorded in a central database that can be seen instantly by central office or finance administrators.
While the absences are being entered, the program automatically calculates substitute pay, if a substitute is used. An account number to pay the substitute is automatically entered based on the employee who is absent. The software also automatically makes the 195/198 object code conversion required in Tennessee for certified versus non-certified substitutes. Finance administrators can change the pay and/or account number if a special situation arises. School secretaries can be locked out, preventing them from making additional entries or any changes in attendance data after the payroll has been run. This allows the finance office staff to control late entries or changes. The reason for the absence, the date of the absence, and the duration of the absence are also recorded. Substitute pay and staff leave can be computed by the day or by the hour, and leave can be accrued monthly, bi-monthly, bi-weekly, and weekly. The software also has sick leave bank and extended contract leave capability.
A multitude of reports can be created with this software. The Substitute Report prints out a detailed substitute payroll that lists each day a substitute worked, as well as summary information to specify how much money to take from each account number. The Staff Report gives a day-by-day list of staff absences, along with summary information telling how many absences of each type (e.g. sick, personal, vacation, etc.) has been used. Other reports track payoffs for people leaving the system with unused vacation leave, and much, much more!
A new feature will allow employees to use the software from home to contact substitutes and arrange for their classes to be covered. This new system will solve the problem of substitutes being called multiple times for the same day. When a substitute is "taken," he or she will be removed from the list of available subs for that date. The program will also track substitutes who repeatedly refuse to work.
For more information on this, or any of our other products, please contact LGC.