eTime Information about eTime which staff use to clock in and out in real time and participant and families use to review and approve shifts. eTime Guide A guide to all things eTime Overview What is eTime? eTime is a web browser-based method for recording, approving, and submitting time to ISS for payment. It requires the cooperative involvement of a support staff and the participant’s circle of support: the support staff to enter their time and the circle of support review and approve the time, each thereby electronically authenticating the information. Process There are four (4) main steps in the eTime process: Recording Time, Reviewing Time, Correcting Time, and Payroll Processing. Recording Time There are two ways, or sources, with which to record time with eTime: Live and Entry. eTime Live allows you to clock in and out in real time as you work. eTime Entry allows you to record time manually after the fact. eTime Live is the preferred source for recording time with eTime. For eTime Entry, the support staff records his/her time as close to the time of service as possible. After time has been recorded, the support staff will submit it to the circle of support for review and approval. As of midnight 12/6/2020 you must use eTime Live and punch in and out for each shift's start and end. eTime Entry will no longer be an option for dates 12/7 and beyond except for PTO. Learn more» Reviewing Time Upon submitting the shift for review, each of the following who have a portal login will receive an email notification that there is time to review: participant, primary contact, and any other individual in the circle of support designated as a “web approver”. The previous three groups of individuals are the only ones able to review and approve time. The circle will then review each shift, either approving or rejecting each shift. If a shift is rejected, a reason and description must be provided. This reason and description will be displayed to the support staff to make corrections. If a shift is rejected, it will be returned to the support staff to make corrections. If all shifts are approved, it will be marked as approved, and will be automatically submitted to ISS for processing within the next business day. Correcting Time The support staff will receive an email notification if the shift is returned for corrections. They will also receive an email notification if the shift is approved. The support staff will log into the portal and select the shift to make corrections. After reviewing the circle comments and making the necessary corrections, they will resubmit the shift for review. Payroll Processing The ISS Payroll department will process submitted time for payment. If Payroll identifies an error with a shift, it may be sent back to the staff to make the necessary corrections. The shift will then need to be re-submitted to the circle for approval, and then resubmitted to ISS.  General Requirements Portal Access In order to use eTime, support staff must have a portal login. There must also be at least one individual in the participant’s circle of support who has a portal login and is designated a web approver. See the section “Web Approvers” below for more information. Qualifying Jobs eTime currently supports all ComHab, Job Coach, Job Developer, and Respite jobs. Paid Neighbor, Staffing Support, and Brokerage are not supported at this time. Web Approvers A web approver is any contact associated with a participant who is permitted to review and approve staff time. The participant and primary contact by default are always web approvers. Any other contact can also be designated as a web approver. Contact the participant’s SD Coordinator to add an individual as a web approver. Navigating and Finding Shifts Time is organized on two levels: the shift and the job period. Shift - a block of time defined by a start and end time; you can compare this to a single line on an old paper timesheet Job Period - a dynamic collection of all shifts falling within a specific date range (pay period) that all belong to the same participant, support staff, and job A support staff will have a different job period per job per participant. Likewise, a participant will have a different job period per job per staff person. In the main navigation panel, select either My Work (for support staff) or My Staff Work (for circle approvers). If you are both a support staff and a circle approver, you will see both options. My Work shows all eTime shifts that you have worked. My Staff Work shows all eTime shifts for participants for whom you are a circle approver. All time entered via eTime will appear in the main body of the page. By default, this page will be filtered to   shifts that have a status of All . Use the filter to view shifts based on their status, participant, or job. To view a shift, simply click on the desired shift and a window showing the details of the shift will be displayed. If the shift is a draft, clicking Submit in eTime will submit the shift to the circle for approval.  To close the window, click Close Shift in the top right corner. Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 07/24/23. Recording Time Create a Shift Navigate to eTime Live by clicking  Open eTime   on the home page. On mobile, eTime Live will automatically open upon login. To start a new shift, tap  Start Shift . You can only have one shift running at a time. eTime will ask to use your location. Click Allow to allow location services. This is used as part of the Medicaid EVV mandate. Learn more about EVV. Select an employer. Select a job. Select a method. If the selected job and method are EVV Required, select a start location. If selecting Home, eTime will ask to use your location in order to verify that you are within an approved distance from the participant's service address. Click Allow. If you are not within the approved distance from the service address, eTime will ask you to specify an address. Review the selections made. Click  Add  to finish starting the shift. To fill in details for the shift, select the shift. Adding a meeting, training, or other event? See Adding Events to a Shift . To end the shift, click  End Shift . Select staff activities and any other necessary details. Click  Next in the upper right corner. If the shift is EVV Required, select an end location. Review the selections made. Click  End to end the shift. Submit the shift by clicking Submit Shift at the bottom. This will take you to the My Work page to submit the shift. Did you accidentally start a new shift? Edit a Shift From eTime Live, navigate to and select the desired shift. Fill in all required information. Activities are required for ComHab and SEMP (Job Coach and Job Developer) jobs.  Activities are not required when submitting Time Off . Adding a meeting, training, or other event? See Adding Events to a Shift . To request an override to the start time or end time, the shift must be ended. After ending the shift, click  Change on the Final Review screen. Learn more about EVV Override Requests. Submit a Shift Shifts are submitted for approval on an individual basis. Navigate to the shift on the My Work page, OR when viewing the shift in eTime Live, click the blue Review & Submit button at the bottom of the shift. Verify all information is completed and correct for the shift. If the shift overlaps with one or more shifts that have already been submitted, you must resolved this overlap prior to submitting. Click  Resolve Overlap to resolve the overlap . Click  Submit . Add an optional comment. Then click  Submit for Approval . Shift comments are limited to 115 characters, including spaces. All web approvers for the participant will receive an email notification that there is a timesheet to review. Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated on 04/24/24. Adding Events to a Shift Events are explicitly recorded timeframes within a shift. Events within a shift must be recorded because they effect what can be billed to Medicaid. They can be added to shifts of most job and method types. There is no limit to the number of events that can be added to a shift. An event can also span a fraction of a shift or the entire shift, as might be the case with training. There are three (3) types of events, though not all available in all circumstances: Meeting - a meeting with the circle of support Training - the staff being trained, possibly at the same time as other staff Participant Absent - a period of time during the shift that the participant is absent Example: The staff person drives the participant to a doctor's appointment, waits in the lobby while the participant is in with the doctor, and then drives the participant home. This entire scenario is recorded as one shift, and a  Participant Absent  event is added to the shift for the time the participant was in the with doctor. To add one or more events to a shift: When selecting activities, the events types at the top will be listed as default options in addition to the job-specific activities. Select the appropriate event checkbox to add it to the current shift. Not all events will be listed for every job and method combination. For instance, a Job Developer job will not have the Participant Absent option since it is not applicable. Once an event is selected, you will be taken to the Shift Event Details form. Fill in the details of the event and then click Update.  If recording a training for a participant with IDGS Non Direct Clinician in his/her budget, see Special Cases .   To add additional events, click on the Shift Events section to expand it and then select Add Event . As before, the Shift Event Details form is shown. Simply select the desired Event Type and fill out the form as you previously did earlier and then click  Add in the top right corner once finished.  Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 2/13/2024 Editing Start and End Times   Support staff should record their time in real time. However, there are situations in which a staff person may need to change the start time or end time. Examples include forgetting to clock in or clock out. To request a change to the start time or end time, the shift must be ended. If the shift has not yet been ended, you cannot make changes to the start or end times. Change the start or end times from the Final Review screen: Upon ending a shift and filling out the shift details, staff will be presented with the Final Review screen automatically. To get to this screen manually, select the shift in eTime, and then click Next on the Finalize Details screen. On the Final Review screen, click Change . Select either start time or end time. Modify the date and/or time as necessary. Note that any changes you make could result in the shift becoming EVV Invalid, depending on the relationship between the original start and end times captured when the shift was created and the modified start and end times. Provide a reason for this change. If this change is greater than 5 minutes, the circle approver will need to approve this as an Override Request and will see the reason you provide. Tap  Change Start Time or Change End Time , depending which one you're editing. You will now see the modified time, as well as the original time listed below it. To revert to the original time, select the start or end time, then click Revert To Original . When you are done editing start and end times, tap  Done or Back. See more about EVV Override Requests in user story videos on adjustments.   Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 2/13/2024 Creating and Submitting a Forgotten Shift **Creating a shift for a previous day will render the shift EVV Unverified.  Continuous unverified shifts will be a cause for ISS intervention, as ISS may not be able to bill for those shifts.** Please note, you cannot submit a missed shift while another shift is actively running To create and submit a forgotten shift, first navigate to eTime Live by clicking  Open eTime  on the home page. On mobile, eTime Live will automatically open upon login From eTime, click  Start Shift   Next, select the employer, the job, the method and the location for the forgotten shift If selecting an EVV required job and method, eTime Live may detect that the device location lies outside of the geofence. If this is the case, confirm the address where the forgotten shift began by clicking the checkbox next to the address and click Confirm Location Once the details of the forgotten shift have been confirmed, click Add in the top right hand corner Next, click End Shift to stop the eTime timer and verify that all Staff Activities have been logged for the forgotten shift Once all of the details have been finalized, click Next in the top right hand corner of the Finalize Details screen Select the appropriate ending location for the shift If selecting an EVV required job and method, e Time Live may detect that the device location lies outside of the geofence. If this is the case, confirm the address where the forgotten shift ended by clicking the checkbox next to the address and click Confirm Location Click End in the top right hand corner to advance to the Final Review screen From the Final Review screen, click Change Select the Start Time section to edit the start date, start time and to include a reason why the time and dates are changing for this shift Once finished, click Change Start Time to confirm the changes made Select the End Time section to edit the end date, end time and to include a reason why the end times are changing for this shift Once finished, click Change End Time to confirm the changes made After editing the Start Time and End Time for the forgotten shift, select Done to advance to the Final Review screen From the Final Review screen, verify the accuracy of the shift’s details, scroll down and click Submit Shift at the bottom of the screen Click  Submit from the Confirm Submission dialog window     Enabling Location Services There are two places where location services must be enabled for eTime to have access to your location. They are: The device's operating system The web browser's security and privacy settings Below are pathways on various devices to location services iOS Settings > Privacy > Location Services - Ensure this is  On , and portal.issny.org is given permission. Settings > Safari > Location - Ensure this is set to  Ask  or  Allow . macOS System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Location Services - Ensure this is enabled, and the web browser you are using is given permission. Safari Preferences > Websites > Location - Ensure that portal.issny.org is set to  Ask  or  Allow . Chrome Preferences > Privacy & Security > Site Settings > Location - Ensure that portal.issny.org is listed under Allow.   For more information about enabling location services, please visit the Enabling Location Services Help Guide section. Fixing Location Inaccuracies Outside The Geofence When beginning or ending a shift, eTime may detect that you are outside of the geofence. When this happens, eTime will provide you with a list of addresses associated with your employer. If the correct address is shown: Select the checkbox next to the correct address Click Confirm   Location If the correct address is NOT shown: Select the checkbox next to Other Type the correct address into the box Click Confirm Location Completely Unable To Determine Location It is possible that eTime may display an error stating that eTime was completely unable to get your location. When this happens, check the following: Verify that location settings have been enabled for your phone's operating system Verify that location settings have been enabled for your phone's browser Verify that portal.issny.org has been allowed to use your location Once verified that all location settings have been enabled, return to eTime and click  Retry on the error. If eTime is still unable to get your location, click  Continue Without Location and then select  I Understand  on the second warning that appears.  **Note that selecting Continue Without Location  will render the shift EVV Unverified. Continuous unverified shifts will be a cause for ISS intervention, as ISS may not be able to bill for those shifts. For more information on enabling location services, please visit the Enabling Location Services Guide . Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 2/13/2024 Location Services Help If eTime is unable to get your location when you start or end a shift, you will be presented with an error dialog.  Adjust your device and/or browser settings to enable location services.  Click  Retry .  If this still does not work, you can continue without a location. Proceeding without a location is NOT recommended. Be aware that starting January 1, 2021, if you continue without location, the shift will be EVV Unverified. Continuous unverified shifts will be a cause for ISS intervention, as ISS may not be able to bill for those shifts.  For more information about enabling location services, please visit the Enabling Location Services Help Guide section.     Reviewing A Shift The job of the web approver in the circle of support ("circle approver") is to act as the supervisor of the participant's support staff. That means reviewing and then approving or returning the time submitted by staff. Time is submitted by support staff as individual shifts. Each shift must be individually reviewed and then approved or returned. Approving a shift submits it to ISS for payroll processing. Returning a shift returns it to the support staff for corrections with a return reason and description.  While reviewing time, the circle approver should look at the following: Dates and times  - This includes location, duration, and any EVV Overrides.  Job  - Did this staff person work this job on this date for this participant? Method - Is the selected method correct? Learn more about method options. Activities - Are the selected activities correct? Events - Are the event details present and correct when applicable? Learn more about events . Overlaps - Ensure the shift does not overlap with another support staff working for the same participant at the same time. To review time: Navigate to the My Staff Work page. My Staff Work shows all eTime shifts for participants for whom you are a circle approver. The Shifts tab by default shows all shifts needing action. The Job Periods tab shows a list of all open job periods ; that is, all job periods that contain one or more in-progress shifts.   Select a shift with a status of Pending Circle Review . This will open the shift from within its associated job period. Review the information entered for the shift (see the list above for things to look for). If the information is correct, click  Approve . If something is incorrect, click  Return , then select a reason and provide a description. If the shift was returned, the staff will need to correct the shift and resubmit for approval. EVV Override Requests If the staff has requested an override to the start and/or end time, that will be seen as an EVV Override Request. This request must be approved before approving the shift. Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 07/24/23. Viewing Shift Comments If a comment was added by staff on a shift, you can view them in two locations:  on the shift details screen and on the Print/Download PDF. Shift Details Screen If a comment was added, the Shift Comments section will display.  Click the plus sign on the right to expand it.  The section will only display if a comment was added. Collapsed: Expanded: Print/Download PDF If a comment was added, the Comments section will display below the shift details and above the Staff Activities on the PDF. Updated 02/23/24. Correcting a Shift   A shift can be returned for corrections by either the circle approver or by the ISS Payroll department. In both cases, the support staff will receive an email notification that they have time to correct. In eTime, you can see that a shift has been returned because it shows up with a red indicator.  A shift cannot be paid until corrections are made and the shift is resubmitted and approved. To correct a shift: Navigate to eTime page. Select the shift. Returned shifts will appear at the top of the list. Review the reason and description for the shift being returned and make any necessary changes. Click  Submit to resubmit the shift for approval. Updated 2/13/2024 Requesting/Submitting Time Off The 7 types of time off: PTO (Paid Time Off) FAPTO (Family Approved Paid Time Off) Holiday Bereavement Jury Duty VXPAY (Vaccination Paid Time Off) PREG Time Off can only be submitted two months into the future . To request or enter time off from eTime: Click Add Time Off at the bottom of eTime.   Choose the participant, the job, fill in a date, fill in the number of hours, select the type of time off, provide a description, and if necessary attach supporting documents. Documentation is required for JURY (Jury Duty) pay.  When you are called for Jury Duty, at the end of your service, the court clerk will give you a proof of service which lists the dates that you served.  Please upload that with your JURY time off submission.   Documentation is required for BEREV (bereavement) pay.  This can be in several different forms.  It can be a funeral card from attending the services, an obituary or published death notice, or an official death certificate.  Please upload whatever documentation you have and put in the note what your relationship to the deceased was (brother, parent, etc).   Once you have selected all the supporting documents, click "Attach" then "Confirm" Once completed, click Add .  If you need to edit the details of the time off request, click the Edit button in the top right, make the desired changes, and then click Update to save the changes. After the details have been verified, enter a comment if applicable and click Submit Shift . After clicking the Submit Shift button, a confirmation window pops up. Click  Submit to finalize and send the shift for circle approval.  Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 08/21/2025. Deleting a Shift Only support staff can delete their own shifts.  Only shifts marked as Draft and Returned to Staff can be deleted. A support staff may need to delete a shift if they created the shift by accident. If you accidentally started an eTime Live shift, simply end the shift and then delete it. To delete a shift: Navigate to eTime Live and click the trash can icon on the shift to be deleted. Click Yes, delete this shift on the shift deletion confirmation window that appears. .  If you need to delete (or edit) a shift that is not marked as Draft or Returned to Staff , how you handle it depends on its status. Being Processed at ISS - contact Payroll immediately.  Depending on the status of payroll processing, they will either be able to return the shift to you or they will need to process a payroll adjustment. Pending Circle Review - contact your circle approver immediately.  They will need to return the shift to you. Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 07/24/23. Auto-Deleted eTime Shifts eTime shifts with the following status that have not been modified in 30 days will be deleted. Draft Returned by Circle Returned by ISS You can find these auto-deleted shifts by going to My Work and filtering to all Deleted shifts.  All deleted shifts appear here, including the ones you deleted. Remember, you cannot view more details on deleted shifts and you cannot modify them.  If a shift was deleted that shouldn't have been, use the instructions to create a forgotten shift to re-create the shift.   Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Created 08/06/24. Method Options In Person Face-to-Face Any service provided that directly involves the participant and support staff in which both are physically present. This is the most common method. Activities must be selected. Virtual Face-to-Face Any service provided that directly involves the participant and support staff which occurs over the internet using a two-way audio-visual technology. Audio-only is NOT permitted. Should be used ONLY when the service can be effectuated through verbal prompting and cueing. Should NOT be used where a service or support requires the physical presence of a support staff for the health and safety of the participant. Requires additional information to be captured, including the technology used, location of both the participant and support staff, names of any additional support staff or circle of support members who attended, and if there were any technical issues. Activities must be selected. Non Face-to-Face Any service provided or action taken on behalf of the participant, but without the participant's presence or involvement. Requires a description of the service provided. Activities must be selected. Time Off Use this method for requesting/submitting all types of time off, then select the appropriate type of time off from the dropdown. Learn more about Requesting/Submitting Time Off . Recording a Virtual Face to Face Shift Certain jobs can be worked using the virtual method. Virtual Face to Face should be used ONLY when the service can be effectuated through verbal prompting and cueing. Virtual Face to Face should not be used where a service or support requires the physical presence of a support staff for the health and safety of the participant. Audio-only is not permitted, meaning that a virtual shift cannot be done via a normal phone call. Examples of two-way audio-visual technology: Skype FaceTime Zoom WhatsApp Google Duo   To record a virtual shift: Log into eTime and click  Start Shift Select the employer, the job, choose Virtual Face to Face as the method.  Click Add in the top right corner Click the shift that was just created Fill in the required information for Virtual Face to Face shifts: Software Used Additional Attendees Staff Location Participant Location Technical Issues *Note - Once the shift has ended, you will be able to fill these details on the Finalize Details screen* Once finished, click  Update in the top right corner Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred.   Data Validation Overlaps A support staff is not allowed to submit shifts that overlap one another. Prior to submitting a shift, the eTime mechanism will check for overlaps against all the support staff’s shifts, excluding those shifts with a status of Draft or Returned to Staff. A shift can be saved if overlaps exist, but it cannot be submitted. Future Dates Future dates are not allowed on shifts. eTime will not allow you to save or submit a shift with a future date. All time should be recorded at time of service on paper, and then transferred to eTime after the fact. Activities Activities must be selected for most all shifts, regardless of job or method. The only exceptions to this are Time off and Respite shifts. Activities do not need to be selected for Respite shifts since the activity, by definition, is always the same. Special Cases Respite Respite shifts do not require the selection of Activities. Recording Non Direct Clinician Services For support staff working ComHab for a participant with IDGS Non Direct Service Provision in his or her budget (also called Non Direct Clinician), a value for “Was a Clinician Present?” must be provided when recording a training event on a shift. By default, this is set to  No . If the clinician was present, select  Yes  and then provide the name of the clinician. Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Staff-Side Overlaps A staff-side overlap occurs when a support staff's shift overlaps with one or more other shifts that he/she has previously submitted. An overlapping shift must be resolved before it can be submitted.  Overlap testing is only run against shifts that have already been submitted. In other words, if two shifts in Draft  overlap each other, the overlap will not be flagged. However, as soon as one of the shifts is submitted, an overlap will be flagged on the remaining shift. When resolving the overlap, only the Draft shift can edited. Previously submitted shifts cannot be edited. Updated 2/13/2024 Circle-Side Overlaps While reviewing a shift, a staff's time may overlap with time submitted by another staff. An overlap occurs when two or more support staff submit overlapping time for the same participant. Common reasons for this include trainings and circle of support meetings. In this case, the shift will have an indicator that overlaps exist. Overlaps must be resolved in order to approve a shift.  As shown below, when an overlap is valid, resolving it can be as simple as reviewing and approving it. Review an Overlap Click Review Overlap to view a summary of the overlapping shifts. Review the shifts and decide whether to approve the overlap or not. Approve an Overlap To approve the overlap, click the Approve checkbox, select a reason and provide a description for the overlap at the bottom of the window. Once filled in, the larger Approve button below will turn green. Click the green Approve button to approve the shift which will submit the shift to ISS. After approving an overlapping shift and submitting it to ISS, the shift will still display that an overlap exists and that it was approved. Return an Overlap To reject an overlap, click Return, select a reason and provide a description for returning the overlap. Note that clicking Return will send the shift back to the support staff in order for them to make corrections. Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 07/24/23. Tips for Preventing and Solving Common Issues All staff should be using eTime at this point in time. If you are not yet using it, you are not in compliance. Please begin using it right away. We want to highlight a few of the most common questions and issues that staff have come across while using the system and how to resolve them. 1. Missing an entire shift If you missed an entire shift, you must punch in, then punch out, and edit the date and times to match the shift that was missed. Learn more » 2. Training shifts You should punch in and out at the time you are doing the training, just like any other working time. If it is an independent training (without your participant) choose Non Face to Face for Method, and then choose Training under events. Enter the details of the training when prompted. If you do not punch in and out when you did the training, follow the directions for missing an entire shift. Learn more » 3. Location Issues Location not working Make sure that location services are enabled on your device for both the overall device and your browser app. Visit Help for enabling location services on your device as well as guides for your device’s browser apps. Learn more » Location inaccurately puts you outside Participant’s Home by X meters If the address ISS has for the Participant is not correct, have your Supervisor contact their SDC. If location services simply cannot resolve your device’s location to the Participant’s address, continue to tell eTime that you are Home, select the Participant’s address in the list, or provide the correct address in the comment box. These location overrides are crucial to our building tools to more accurately pinpoint the Participant’s address in future updates to eTime. Learn more » 4. What to do if you made an error If you made an error on the shift’s date (start or end) or time (start or end), you can edit these by editing the shift, selecting Change , making your changes, indicating a reason for the edit, and then finalizing and submitting the shift. You can only change the location at the moment of a clock in or out if Home is not accurately showing the Participant’s home address. If the error is in the main details of the shift (Participant, Job, Method), you are not able to edit these fields after you confirm them when you first create the shift. You will need to delete the incorrect shift, and then follow the directions for missing an entire shift to add it back in correctly. Learn more » 5. Starting a shift - incomplete With the December 2020 updates, you must choose the shift information at the start of the shift. You used to be able to punch in, and then answer questions upon punching out. Since that update, we are not taking your location unless we need to, so we need this information up front to determine whether we need to take the location. Please answer all the prompted questions upon punching in to avoid issues with unverified shifts.  You must click  Add  on this screen to start your shift. Shift Approval Reminder Emails Reminders about eTime shifts requiring attention are sent to both staff and approvers as the payroll approval deadlines approach or pass. Emails are sent regardless of the date of the shift or the pay period in which it would be paid.  If a shift exists that hasn't yet been approved and sent to ISS for processing, an email will be sent to both the staff and the approver. Staff Email Examples Shifts Due Monday at NOON Shifts Due Today at NOON SHIFT APPROVALS OVERDUE! Approver Email Examples Shifts Pending Approval – Due TUESDAY Shifts Pending Approval – Due Today SHIFT APPROVALS OVERDUE!   Created 06/25/25. Glossary of Terms Shift A block of time defined by a start and stop time; this is analogous to the previous concept of a line on a timesheet. Job Period A dynamic collection of all shifts falling within a specific date range (pay period) that all belong to the same participant, support staff, and job. A support staff will have a different job period per job per participant. Likewise, a participant will have a different job period per job per staff person. eTime Ready Refers to participants and jobs. eTime Ready participants have one or more jobs that are eTime Ready. A job is eTime Ready when the associated Staff Action Plan and Blank Timesheet is completed (“Blank Timesheet” here refers to the list of activities made available for a job). See also Am I eTime Ready? . EVV Required Refers to and describes a shift. Per Medicaid regulations, the combination of the job and the method selected for a shift determine whether it is EVV Required. EVV Required Job & Method Combinations: ComHab - Face to Face ComHab - Virtual Face to Face Respite - Face to Face EVV Valid Refers to and describes the start or end of a shift. It means that a valid geocode was captured for the action (i.e. starting a shift or ending a shift).  EVV Invalid Refers to and describes the start or end of a shift. It means that a valid geocode was NOT captured for the action (i.e. starting a shift or ending a shift).  EVV Verified Refers to and describes an entire shift. A shift is EVV Verified if the  start and  end  are both EVV Valid.  EVV Unverified Refers to and describes an entire shift. A shift is EVV Unverified if either the  start or  end  is EVV Invalid.  Timesheet A timesheet refers specifically to the artifact that ISS Payroll uses to process support staff time. It does NOT refer to the time submitted by support staff. Any number of shifts for the same support staff, participant, and job may be combined into a single timesheet, irrespective of how those shifts were submitted to ISS. Timesheets are also the artifact that is charged against a participant's budget.  Check A check refers to the specific artifact on which ISS paid a shift or expense. Payment may have been received via physical check or direct deposit, but in both cases, there is a check and check number associated with the transaction.  Web Approver / Circle Approver The primary job of the web approver in the circle of support ("circle approver") is to act as the supervisor of the participant's support staff; specifically, to review and then either approve or reject the time submitted by staff. In addition to approving time, a circle approver can also: Submit Monthly Summary Notes on behalf of the participant Sign the Staff Action Plan on behalf of the participant Glossary of eTime Icons Source Icons: Indicates the shift was recorded using eTime Live. Indicates the shift was recorded using eTime Entry, which is now only used for Time Off.  Method Icons: Indicates the shift is Face to Face. Indicates the shift is Virtual Face to Face. Indicates the shift is Non-Face to Face. Indicates the shift is Time Off. Location Icons: Indicates a start/end location of home. Indicates a start/end location of community. Indicates a start/end location outside the geofence, but overridden to home. EVV Shift Status Icons: Indicates the shift is EVV Verified. Indicates the shift is EVV Unverified. Indicates the shift is EVV Valid - Override, meaning the start and/or end time and/or location was overridden. EVV Resources for all things EVV. EVV Keynote EVV Takeaways for Staff and Circle With all the information about EVV, there can be a lot to process. Here's what support staff and circle approvers should both take away. Support Staff Familiarize yourself with eTime Live and start using it on a regular basis. Come January 1, 2021, eTime Live will be the only way to submit time for payroll. Begin allowing location services whenever services are provided in the Home for ComHab and Respite shifts. Related to this, pay attention to the address(es) eTime uses to verify  Home  and provide corrections when eTime is wrong. This will help ISS get its data as accurate as possible. Start recording your time in real time using eTime Live. Circle Approvers Make sure your participant's staff are familiar and comfortable with eTime Live and location testing. Familiarize yourself with reviewing the start and end times and locations once staff are submitting EVV shifts. Start reviewing and approving shifts as quickly as possible. If there are issues with the data, return it to the staff immediately for corrections. If the data is correct, approve it for payment so that ISS can process the EVV Verification and complete payroll in a timely fashion. EVV FAQ How is my data stored and transported? How is my location data used? What if I forget to clock in/clock out? What if my time isn’t approved by the submission deadline? Will the family be notified of my location when they approve my time? With whom else will my location information be shared? How do I fix incorrectly submitted time? Can I (support staff) assist the participant in approving my time? What happens if the portal is down for maintenance or crashes? What if I accidentally clock in? Can I delete a shift? What if the circle approver doesn’t have a device with which to approve time? What if I (circle approver) don’t agree with time or location information collected and determined by EVV? What if I (support staff) don’t agree with time or location information collected and determined by EVV? How do the PTO, FAPTO, holidays, and other types of Time Off work with EVV? How does Non Face to Face work? What happens if I don’t allow location services? Example User Stories I Forgot To Clock In/Clock Out When a mistake is made by forgetting to start or end a shift, make note of when you should have started or ended the shift, and then perform that action as soon as possible. In other words, start your shift as soon as you remember, or end your shift as soon as you remember. Once you have completed your shift, you will need to request an adjustment to the start time or end time, depending on which action your forgot. As long as the circle approves your adjustment, you will be paid for the actual time worked. Keep in mind, however, that adjusted time may not be considered EVV Verified and may not be billable to Medicaid. Too many instances of missed starts or ends of shifts will cause problems. I Forgot My Phone This video demos a previous version of eTime, so the current interface is different than the one shown. There are a variety of reasons that a support staff's normal eTime device is missing, non-functional, or not available.  Without access to your phone, the next best choice is to log in to the portal on a borrowed device and start and stop your shift from that device. As long as you log in with your own username and password, you will be able to record your shift. When using eTime on a borrowed device, the ideal option is another mobile phone. If not available, then a tablet computer such as an iPad, or a notebook computer running off of WiFi is the next best choice. As a last resort, a computer using a wired Ethernet connection is acceptable. When using a wired connection, it is possible that the location returned is inaccurate. eTime may think the computer is not located inside the geofence. As long as that inaccuracy is adjusted by the staff and approved by the circle, the shift will be considered Verified. I Don’t Have Internet Access Lack of internet or network access can occur for a variety of reasons. Power outage, internet outage, and poor cellular network signal are just a few. Adjustments: Late Start Time (Phone Out of Batteries) This video demos a previous version of eTime, so the current interface is different than the one shown. Adjustments: Forgot to STOP a Shift This video demos a previous version of eTime, so the current interface is different than the one shown.   eTime FAQ List of answers to frequently asked questions about eTime Am I eTime Ready?   Participants, staff, and jobs that are not eTime ready are indicated as such throughout the portal. Jobs that are NOT eTime ready are correlated with a Staff Action Plan and/or Timesheets that are not yet completed (“Timesheets” here refers to the list of activities made available for a job, which are filled out ). If you are a support staff, you will still be able to submit time for a job that is not eTime Ready ONLY if a previous Staff Action Plan exists in which the job was eTime Ready. If you are a circle approver, you should work with your support broker to ensure these issues are resolved a quickly as possible. If you are a support broker, you should work work with your circle contacts to ensure these issues are resolved as quickly as possible. The action(s) required to make the job eTime Ready is listed on the participant dashboard. Time for jobs which are not eTime ready will have to be submitted via paper. Can I delete a shift? Yes. See Deleting a Shift  for more information. Can I enter eTime shifts for my staff?   No. Support staff must enter and submit their own time. You cannot submit time on behalf of someone else. The electronic signature on the shift is linked directly to the portal user that is currently logged in. This provides security to the staff, the circle, and ISS, as well as helping to prevent fraud. Can I make changes to a shift? Support staff can make changes to a shift if it is a Draft, or if it has been returned to the staff by the circle or ISS for corrections. A shift cannot be edited after it has been submitted to the circle unless the circle rejects it, which returns it to the staff for corrections.       Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Can I save a shift and come back to finish it later? Yes. You can save a shift as a draft and return to it later. To return to it later, staff can click "My Work" in the main menu and they can find it under the "Shifts" Tab.     Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Can I still submit paper timesheets by mail?   Yes. For the time being, paper timesheets submitted by mail are still accepted. Can I (support staff) assist the participant in approving my time? No. Can I upload mileage reimbursement via eTime?   Not at this time. This is a future feature. We’ll update you with further details once this feature is available. Can staff still upload a scan of a paper timesheet using the Timesheet Upload feature?   No. The Timesheet Upload feature will no longer be available as of Friday, June 19, 2020. Do I need to request access to eTime?   No. Your existing portal login is adequate. If you are support staff, then you will automatically have access to eTime for use with your active jobs. If you are a primary contact, participant, or circle approver, you will automatically have access to approve shifts via your login. Getting a Proxy Error when trying to approve eTime shifts If an approver gets a proxy error when they are trying to approve eTime shifts, this means that their device is taking too long to talk to our server. This can be caused by many things including a slow or unstable internet connection, the ISS Portal being busy handling many other users also working with shifts, or the eMedNY service that our Portal needs to send our EVV data to being busy. If this happens, please try again in a few minutes. If this happens more than three times in a row, please take a screenshot which includes the full error and the URL in your browser and send an email to websupport@issny.org so that we can investigate further.   Created 02/26/26.   How can I get copies of eTime/time for my records?   Shifts will always be available on the portal. However, you can download a copy of the shifts in a job period for your own records. When viewing a single job period, click the Download button. How can I set up a portal account for me or someone else?   Please send an email to websupport@issny.org with your name, email, phone number and role. Someone will get back to you promptly. How can I view my previously worked shifts? (Support staff) You can view all of your previous time under the "My Work" section in the main menu and use the provided filters to narrow your search. You can also use the "My Work" section to view a list of checks, expenses, and timesheets. From the My Work page, select the filter and select the desired status. Picking any option other than "Draft" and "Returned," will display shifts that have been previously worked. Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 07/24/23. How can I view my staff’s previous time? (Participant and Circle) There are three ways for the circle to view a support staff's time. Through the My Staff Work page. This is ONLY available to circle approvers. See Navigating and Finding Shifts to learn more about this page. Through the Budget Summary /Budget Drill-Down. This only shows paid time. Through the Participant Staff Dashboard . From the home page, select a participant, then select the Staff tab across the top, then select a staff person. Timesheets for each job can be found in the bottom section of the screen. This only shows paid time. Updated 07/24/23. How do I access eTime?   Go to portal.issny.org to login. After logging in, there are buttons to start an eTime line shift and to view all time. How do I enter my time if I’m working overnight?   If you are working a time frame spanning multiple days, as most notably happens when delivering Respite services overnight, there are two options: Record our time using eTime Live by clocking in at the beginning of your shift and clocking out at the end. Nothing more is required. If recording time with eTime Entry, set the start date and time and the end date and time. There is no need to manually split the shift at midnight. As of midnight 12/6/2020 you must use eTime Live and punch in and out for each shift's start and end. eTime Entry will no longer be an option for dates 12/7 and beyond except for PTO. Learn more» How do I fix incorrectly submitted time? If a support staff incorrectly submits time, the circle approver should return the shift to the support staff for corrections. See the user story "Making an Adjustment: Forgot to Clock Out". If the circle approver approves a shift and later realizes this was a mistake, they should contact the ISS Payroll Department as soon as possible. How do I know if I have time to correct? (Support Staff)   You will receive an email notification when a shift has been returned for corrections. Job periods with shifts requiring action will also appear in a list on your portal home page. How do I know if I have time to review? (Participant & Circle)   You will receive an email notification when a new shifts are ready for review. Job periods with shifts pending review will also appear in a list on your portal home page. How do I know that I have been paid? (Support Staff) To see when and where a shift was paid, click the menu in the top right hand corner and select  My Payment History. Once clicked, you will be taken to a page displaying all of the shifts that have been paid. To view more details about a check, click on the line containing the check and more details will be displayed.  Updated 07/24/23. How do I submit/enter Time Off/PTO? Please refer to the page Requesting/Submitting Time Off. How do PTO, FAPTO, holidays, and other types of Time Off work with EVV? EVV has no effect on the various types of Time Off. Since Time Off is not directly billed to Medicaid, it does not need to be electronically verified. How does Non Face to Face work with EVV? A Non Face to Face shift is not EVV Required and staff do not specify a location for the shift. There is therefore no need to verify a location, and consequently, the staff's location is not requested or used at any point. How is my data stored and transported? Your data is both transmitted and stored using commercial grade encryption. ISS complies with all PHI and PII expectations as a Medicaid biller and as a HIPAA covered entity. How is my location data used? The support staff's location data is recorded and used to verify their location at the participant's home when selecting Home during a shift. Only the word "HOME" is sent to the New York State Department of Health EVV API. Your specific location information is not passed on to any outside entities or government agencies. How often do I need to record my time with eTime?   If using eTime Live, you should be recording your time as you work. If instead you record your time manually with eTime Entry, you should record your time as close to the time of service as possible. As of midnight 12/6/2020 you must use eTime Live and punch in and out for each shift's start and end. eTime Entry will no longer be an option for dates 12/7 and beyond except for PTO. Learn more» I’m having trouble logging in. Help.   If you’ve forgotten your password, click the Forgot your password link on the login page ( https://portal.issny.org/forgot.php ) to reset it. If you’ve forgotten your login email, contact ISS at websupport@issny.org . I’m not sure which method to choose. What’s the difference?   See Method Options for information about each method and when to use each. I’m performing Virtual Face to Face support. What technologies may I use for service delivery?   eTime will include a list of all known acceptable technologies. If your technology is not included in that list, please contact your SDC to make sure the method of delivery is acceptable. If the SDC agrees that the method is acceptable, you may use the Other selection and describe the method. We will periodically add additional newly acceptable technologies to the drop-down list. I’m support staff. Can I just hand my device to a circle member for approval?   No. In order to meet Medicaid billing requirements, we are capturing separate electronic signatures from both the support staff when submitting, and the circle when approving. These electronic signatures are linked to your respective portal logins. Support staff will not be able to access the Approval screen. Is Virtual Face to Face EVV Required? Virtual Face to Face is EVV Required for ComHab jobs. However, unlike In Person Face to Face, eTime will not ask for the start and end location of the shift. Instead, the location specified for Participant Location within the Virtual Details will be used as the start and end location for the shift. Additionally, if Home is selected for Participant Location , eTime will NOT request or use the support staff's geolocation to verify the location. Should I use Entry or Live? It is strongly recommended that support staff use eTime Live instead of eTime Entry. As of midnight 12/6/2020 you must use eTime Live and punch in and out for each shift's start and end. eTime Entry will no longer be an option for dates 12/7 and beyond except for PTO. Learn more» What do I do if one of my staff is unable to enter his/her time into eTime?   If the staff is unable to enter their time for some reason, For the time being, they can still record and submit time via a paper timesheet and mail it to ISS. What do I do if the Circle is unable to review my eTime shifts? If, for some reason, the circle is unable to log in to the portal to review and approve the shifts you submitted, you can print off the job period as a paper timesheet, acquire a physical signature from the circle, and mail it in. In submission of this paper timesheet to the ISS Payroll Department, a statement signed by the supervisor must be included as to why the electronic approval could not be completed. While viewing the job period, click the Download PDF  button to print out a copy of the eTime shifts as a paper timesheet. Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 07/24/23. What does it mean if the shift has an EVV Override Request? The EVV Override Request that you are seeing is because the staff’s device didn’t think it was at the location that the staff said it was.  The distance noted (196 meters in the example screenshot below) is telling you where the staff’s device said it was. Devices often offer up a cached location instead of getting the current location.  The ISS Portal cannot force a device to get that current location so we provide you with all the information you need in order to make the determination to approve or reject the shift as you know best where your staff was when they were working. Not sure how to calculate how far away meters are?  For an approximate result, multiply the total meters by 3.281.  One meter equals 3.28084 feet.   Created 11/05/25.   What happens if I don’t allow location services? If support staff do not allow location services while using eTime Live, their shifts will not be EVV Verified , and will therefore not be billable to Medicaid. Continuous unverified shifts will be a cause for ISS intervention, as ISS may not be able to bill for those shifts. See Location Services Help for more information. What if an approver submits a mistake? If, after approving a shift for payment, the approver realizes that a mistake has been made, they should contact the ISS Payroll Department. If the shift has not yet been paid, the Payroll Department may be able to send the shift back to staff for correction. If it has been paid, then Payroll will evaluate the necessity of an internal correction and proceed accordingly. What if I accidentally clock in? Can I delete a shift? Yes. Support staff can still delete a shift . Just make sure that you are deleting a legitimately false shift, as there is no way to go back and capture that time and location after it occurs. If you accidentally clock in, simply end the shift and then delete it. See the link above for more information. What if I (circle approver) don’t agree with time or location information collected and determined by EVV? As the staff supervisor, the circle approver bears the responsibility of validating all aspects of the shift. If something looks wrong with the start or end time, or the start or end location, the approver should return the shift to staff with a note about the suspected error. The staff can then make a correction and re-submit the shift for review. What if I forget to clock in or clock out? When a mistake is made by forgetting to start or end a shift, take note of when you actually should have started or ended your shift, and then perform that action as soon as you can. In other words, start your shift as soon as you remember, or end your shift as soon as you remember. Once you have completed your shift, you will need to request an adjustment to the start time or end time, depending on which action your forgot. It’s also possible that the location captured at your delayed start or end of shift is inconsistent with the location where you really started or ended the shift. For instance, if you remember to end your shift after you get home, the location may need to be corrected. If that is the case, request an adjustment to the starting or ending location as necessary. See the user story "I Forgot to Clock In/Clock Out" and "Making an Adjustment: Forgot to Clock Out." What if I (support staff) don’t agree with time or location information collected and determined by EVV?  If you do not agree with the time or location collected or determined by eTime, you can request an EVV Override for start time, end time, start location, and/or end location. See the user stories "Making an Adjustment." What if my time isn't approved by the submission deadline? Any shifts not approved by the circle approver by the submission deadline will be pushed to be paid the following pay period. What if the circle approver doesn’t have a device with which to approve time? Please contact your participant’s SD Coordinator to explore options that may be available. What is the difference between eTime Entry and eTime Live?   eTime Entry is the manual entry of each shift.  eTime Live provides a more app-like interface, allowing you to “punch” in and out rather than manually typing in dates and times. eTime Live allows you to record your time directly in the portal, in real time. As of midnight 12/6/2020 you must use eTime Live and punch in and out for each shift's start and end. eTime Entry will no longer be an option for dates 12/7 and beyond except for PTO. Learn more» What kinds of staff/services can submit time with eTime?   Currently, the only services/jobs supported by eTime are ComHab, SEMP (Job Coach and Job Developer), and Respite. Brokerage, IDGS Paid Neighbor, and IDGS Staffing Support are currently not supported by eTime. When do my shifts need to be submitted and approved to get paid? The submission deadlines for payment of eTime for each pay period are as follows: Submitted to circle by 11:59 PM on the Monday after the pay period ends Approved by circle by 11:59 PM on the Wednesday after the pay period ends Final deadline for approval is 12:00 PM on the Friday after the pay period ends Who can enter and submit time?   Support staff must enter and submit their own time. You cannot submit time on behalf of someone else. The electronic signature on the time is linked directly to the currently logged in portal user. This provides security to the staff, the circle, and ISS, as well as helping to prevent fraud. Who can review and approve time?   Both the participant and the primary contact can review and approve time. In addition, any contact associated with the participant and identified as a “web approver” is able to review and approve time. If you would like to add an additional approver, please contact your SD Coordinator. Why Does the eTime Clock Not Match With the Clock on My Device? The dates and times used on the Portal are the system time of the server, not an individual person's device. This is intentional in order to maintain the integrity of the information.   Created 09/03/25. Will eTime run in the background and drain my battery?   No. eTime Entry and eTime Live are both modern portal based websites that you will access via your desktop or mobile browser. Nothing about eTime Entry or eTime Live will be actively accessing your device when not in use. If you remain concerned about battery drain, you may close the browser and log back in later. Will my personal data be secure in eTime?   Yes; your connection to eTime and the rest of the portal uses the https protocol, which encrypts the connection between you and the portal. The data you enter into the portal is stored securely and encrypted. Will the family be notified of my location when they approve my time? The circle approver will see either the word Home or Community for the start location and for the end location. They will also see if the support staff has requested to override the Home / Community determination made by eTime. The circle approver will not, however, see any location data more specific than Home or Community . See the user stories "Making an Adjustment". Will there be training for eTime?   A scheduled training session has not been planned for eTime. Rather, documentation, videos, and inline help has been provided throughout the eTime interface. With whom else will my location information be shared? The New York State Department of Health EVV API will receive the word  Home or Community for the start and end of each verified, billable shift. ISS may review EVV location override requests to improve our eTime location determinations. What's New - Release Notes Check out the additions and changes with each new release of eTime. Portal Update - My Work and My Staff Work 2023   Attention all users! The portal now has some exciting changes. We’ve been working hard to improve a variety of things. We’ve made the My Work page easier to use for support staff and the My Staff Work page easier to use for circle of support, while making sure you can still do everything you need to on those respective pages. We’ve made them more streamlined and modern, with a focus on making the most important information more prominent. Reduced clutter and simplified design make it easier to find and do what you need.   Improvements include: · Improved workflow and design of the My Work and My Staff Work pages. · Improved and expanded filter options. · Improved mobile experience of list views. · Various bug fixes. · Back-end performance enhancements.   Check out these updated help pages: · Navigating and Finding Shifts · Reviewing a Shift · Circle-Side Overlaps · Requesting/Submitting Time Off · Deleting a Shift   Updated 07/24/23. Release 139 - 3/25/2021 Shifts longer than 24 hours will now require the support staff and circle approver to each provide an explicit reason to submit it and approve it, respectively. Fixes to viewing event details on the My Work page. Fixed a bug on the login page that sometimes appeared when notification banners were present. Improved the experience for adding events to forgotten shift. Added a new Time Off type, VXPAY . Updated 03/25/21. eTime 1.6 - Released December 22, 2020 This release of eTime sees some big changes for staff. Below is a list of what is new. Brand new workflow for clocking in and out of shifts. The new workflow allows eTime to be more specific about when it requests to use the staff's location. eTime now only asks to use the staff's location when providing ComHab and Respite services in the Home. eTime will no longer use the staff's location when they are working in the Community.   eTime now requires that staff indicate when they arrive or depart the participant's home during a shift. Circle approvers will now see the address and distance eTime used to verify the staff's location as Home.    Updated 10/31/25.   eTime 1.5.1 - Released December 10, 2020 The following updates were made in this release of eTime. Increased the size of the geofence used for Home/Community determination of EVV When changing start or end location from Community to Home, staff can now select an existing address rather than typing in the address every time. Only valid service addresses that ISS has on file will be shown as options to select. Added a delete button to the shift detail screen in eTime Live, allowing staff to delete a shift without having to finalize it. Fixed a bug that prevented staff from submitting a shift if they selected an event but not an activity for the shift. Now, if staff select an event for a shift, they can submit the shift without also selecting an activity. Added some verbal clarification about events when selecting activities. It is now more clear that selecting an event is optional, and examples of each event type have been added. Staff can no longer add a new event until details for all existing events have been completed. Renamed the button on staff’s home page that starts a new shift to say “Start Shift” to match the same functionality on the eTime Live screen. Removed the In-Progress Job Periods widget from the home page, instead replacing its functionality with clearer options. Added Draft and Incomplete shifts to the Take Action widget on the home page, so now staff can see in one place all actions they need to take on their shifts. Added a button in the Today’s Time widget on the home page to go directly to the My Work page. Changed the visibility of the Go To eTime button from only showing on narrow screens to always display. Renamed My History to My Payment History for clarity. Changed the Shifts tab on the My Work page to show Incomplete shifts. Made changes to the overlap review screen for circle approvers to show the detail for the overlapping shift in the same window rather than opening a new tab. Updated 12/10/20. NOTICE: eTime Entry is Going Away As of midnight between 12/6/2020 and 12/7/2020, eTime Entry will no longer be available as an option to record time for dates 12/7/2020 and beyond, with the exception of Time Off. eTime Entry will remain available to enter shifts occurring prior to 12/7/2020 until 12/21/2020. On 12/21/2020, eTime Entry will only be available to enter Time Off. Support Staff - How does this affect you? All new, non-PTO shifts must be recorded using eTime Live starting 12/7/2020, regardless of the job you are working. Circle Approvers - How does this affect you? Nothing will look or function differently for you. But do know that your participant's support staff will not be able to enter their time retroactively starting 12/7/2020. They must record it in real time using eTime Live, regardless of the job. Updated 11/18/20. eTime 1.5 - Released October 30, 2020 Introduction of the concept of the shift and the  job period . Changed submission model to individual shifts rather than entire timesheets Made the method options available for a shift easier to understand Added the ability to add sub-events to a shift Added the ability for ISS to return shifts to the staff for corrections Added the Checks view for support staff Updated the time review/approval screen to accommodate individual shift submission Improved interface for staff to handle participant overlaps   Updated 10/31/25.   eTime Timesheet Live Early Access - Released July 31, 2020   Here's what's new and changed in this release of eTime: Added the Timesheet Live timer. Click here to learn more. Added the  Today's Time  widget on the home page for Support Staff. This allow you to access the timer while on desktop. Added the  In-progress Timesheets widget on the home page for Support Staff and the Circle. Timesheet Entry and Timesheet Live entries are combined into a single timesheet per job per pay period. In Timesheet Entry, you must now select the pay period. In Timesheet Entry, AM/PM must be explicitly chosen. The View All Timesheet page is now split into In-Progress and Paid timesheets. The timesheet summary page for Support Staff has been updated. It now shows the source of each line (Timesheet Entry or Timesheet Live) The timesheet summary page for Support Staff now allows you to add time to the timesheet without leaving the page. Overlap Review for the Circle has been updated to show the overlapping line(s), not just a Timesheet ID.   Updated 10/31/25.   Keynote - Timesheet Live     Updated 10/31/25.   Keynote - eTime     Updated 10/31/25.   Enabling Location Services Guide Android (10) Enabling Location Services on Android  There are two different places that should be checked when enabling location on an Android device System settings on the device itself Settings within the app itself System Settings: First, navigate to Settings Scroll down , select Location Verify that Location is set to On and then select App Permissions From here, select the browser you wish to use for logging eTime Verify that Allow only while using the app is selected Google Chrome: At the top right corner, select the 3 dots to open the Chrome menu and select Settings     From the settings menu, scroll down and select Site Settings and then select Location   Verify that the Location slider is on Firefox: At the bottom right corner, select the 3 dots to open the Firefox menu and select Settings   Select Site Permissions and then select Location   Verify that Ask to allow is selected Samsung Internet: See the section above labeled  System for instructions on enabling location services for the default Samsung browser.   iOS (14.2) Google Chrome: First, navigate to  Settings         Scroll down to Privacy and select  Location Services     Select Location to turn on location services, then Scroll down and select Chrome from the list of installed applications   From the Chrome specific Location settings, select While Using the App and Precise Location to allow Chrome to use your device location. Firefox: First, navigate to  Settings       Scroll down to  Privacy  and select  Location Services   Select  Location  to turn on location services, then Scroll down and select  Firefox  from the list of installed applications From the Firefox specific Location settings, select  While Using the App  and  Precise Location  to allow Firefox to use your device location.   Safari: First, navigate to  Settings         Scroll down to Privacy and select  Location Services     Select Location to turn on location services, then Scroll down and select  Safari from the list of installed applications   From the Safari specific Location settings, select While Using the App and Precise Location to allow Safari to use your device location. macOS First, navigate to the Apple menu in the top left corner and select Next, select Security & Privacy  and verify that Location Services is enabled. Also be sure to verify that the web browser you are using is given permission.     Windows 10 System: From the Windows desktop, go to: Start and select the Settings from the lower-left panel menu.    From the Settings menu, select  Privacy and then select  Location from the privacy menu   To set the location on or off, select  Change  located under 'Location for this device is on/off', then select the switch to turn on or off.   If Location is turned on, select which apps can use your location by selecting the appropriate on/off switches (to the right of the app). eTime Mileage and Expenses Introduction to Mileage and Expenses in eTime Mileage and Expenses in eTime There is plenty to learn about the Mileage and Expenses updates to eTime, but most of the information you need is covered in these videos. Please watch them: Video for Support Staff:   Video for the Circle of Support: The most important information not covered in these videos is the requirements around reimbursement: Requirements for Mileage Reimbursement:  The vehicle a Support Staff member uses for a trip must be owned by that same member. The end-destination of a trip cannot be a location that the State provides funds to travel to such as a Hospital or Courthouse. The miles marked for reimbursement must only be miles driven during a shift, not miles driven to or from a shift. Requirements for Expense Reimbursement:  Expenses must be submitted with supporting documentation. Supporting documentation must demonstrate the proof of payment, and an itemized receipt must be included. For a detailed look into specific workflows, click these links: Adding Mileage in eTime - Support Staff Adding an Expense in eTime - Support Staff Correcting a Returned Shift - Support Staff Reviewing Expenses and Mileage in eTime - Circle of Support For further questions, please view our FAQ document: FAQ   Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 01/07/25. Adding Mileage in eTime - Support Staff Adding Mileage in eTime is simple. The most important thing is to make sure that you correctly note your location, destination, support activity, and number of miles. The steps to this process are below: 1. Log into the Portal and open eTime 2. Start a shift 3. Input your information 4. Select your shift 5. Tap the 'Add Mileage' button 6. Input your information and tap the 'Confirm' button 7. Your mileage can be viewed within the shift 8. To edit a mileage submission, tap the 'Edit' button and correct any errors in the Trip Details For further questions, please view our FAQ document: FAQ   Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 01/07/25. Adding an Expense in eTime - Support Staff Adding an Expense is simple. The most important thing is to make sure that you provide the correct documentation. The steps for this process are below: 1. Log into the Portal and open eTime 2. Start a shift 3. Input your information 4. Select your shift 5. Tap the 'Add Expense' button 6. Pick your Expense Activity and tap the 'Next' button Food , Entertainment , and Other Activities are usually billed to a Participant's OTPS: Staff Activity Fees budget line. Transportation is usually billed to a Participant's IDGS: Transportation budget line. Budget lines vary by participant and the service being provided.  The above are just the most commonly used budget lines for these types of staff expenses. 7. Tap the 'Add Files' button 8. Tap the 'Attach' button 9. After uploading, select whether the item represents an Itemized Receipt, Proof of Payment, or both. Further information on itemized receipts and proof of payment can be found on Staff Activity Fee Itemized Receipts and Proof of Payment . 10. Input your Expense Details and tap the 'Done' button 11. The finished Expense can be viewed and deleted within the shift For further questions, please view our FAQ document: FAQ   Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 09/03/25. Correcting a Returned Shift - Support Staff Correcting a Returned Shift is simple. The most important thing is to make sure that you address any comment made by the Circle. The steps for this process are below: 1. Log into the Portal and tap on the "Action Required" button 2. Tap into the shift which has been returned 3. Take note of the comment from the circle 4. Scroll down, and select the 'Submit in eTime' button 5. After the shift opens in eTime, find the error in the expense section. Expenses can be deleted and re-added, and Mileage may be edited by tapping the 'Edit' button. 6. Take note of any expenses with a red asterisk This indicates which expenses aren't covered by your budget line. 7. After you've fixed any errors and confirmed details, tap the 'Next' button 8. Before you re-submit your shift, confirm that you have reviewed and corrected the commented error 9. Tap 'Submit Shift' to re-submit For further questions, please view our FAQ document: FAQ   Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 01/24/25. Reviewing Expenses and Mileage in eTime - Circle of Support The most important things to verify when it comes to Expenses & Mileage are these: Verify that (1) Starting locations and destination make sense, (2) the activity makes sense, (3) the amount makes sense, (4) and that the provided documentation confirms the written story. If there is an issue with any part of the shift, you must return the entire shift. Here are the steps to approve AND return a shift: 1. Log in to the Portal and tap on the Shift you need to review 2. Tap into the shift 3. Verify that the basic information of the shift looks correct 4. Tap on any section to reveal details. In this case, tap on "Shift Expenses"   5. Review the Mileage and Expense details Verify that (1) Starting locations and destination make sense, (2) the activity makes sense, (3) the amount makes sense, (4) and that the provided documentation confirms the written story. 6. Underneath the details, take note of any budget line warnings, the red asterisk indicates which expenses won't be covered. 7. If everything looks good with the Mileage and Expenses, tap the 'Click to Approve' button 8. In the "Shift Exceptions" section, take note of any EVV Override requests, and approve if appropriate   9. If everything looks good to submit, tap the green ' Approve' button You're done! Unless... 10. If the shift has an issue, as seen below, it will need to be returned Common issues are (1) incorrect starting locations and destinations, (2) incorrect activities, (3) incorrect dollar amounts, (4) and issues with provided documentation. 11. To return a shift, tap the 'Return' button If the shift has an issue of any kind, the whole thing must be returned. 12. Select the reason for your Shift return 13. Write a clarifying comment to the Staff member 14. Tap the 'Return Shift to Staff' button to complete the return process For further questions, please view our FAQ document: FAQ   Disclaimer: All names displayed in the above screen shots are fictional characters. No identification with actual persons (living or dead) is intended or should be inferred. Updated 01/24/25. FAQ General Questions: Q: Where will I get these payments? A: Mileage and Expenses submitted via eTime will be paid bi-weekly with your payroll. Q: Since mileage and expenses are reimbursed on my paycheck, will they be taxed? A: No.  Mileage and expenses are not taxable and will not be taxed regardless of whether or not you submit them via Expense Upload on the Portal or with your shift via eTime. Q: Can I still submit mileage and expenses via the Portal? A: Effective 12/1/2025, Staff must submit mileage and activity fee reimbursements via eTime. However if the staff position does not utilize eTime, refer to your SDC for reimbursement procedure Mileage Questions: Q:  What if I forgot to add mileage during my shift? A:  You can add mileage at any point before the shift is submitted by tapping the 'Add Mileage' button. If the shift is already submitted, you will need to submit the Mileage as you did before, on paper, and preferably submitted via the expense upload feature on the Portal. Q: What criteria do I need to meet so that my mileage is covered? A: Three things:  (1) The vehicle a Support Staff member uses for a trip must be provided by that Support Staff. (2) The end destination of a trip cannot be a location that the State provides funds to travel to such as a Hospital or Courthouse. (3) The miles marked for reimbursement must only be miles driven during a shift, not miles driven to or from a shift. Q:  Should I enter the mileage for a round-trip together? A:  No. Track the mileage of each leg of a trip separately. Q:  Can I submit mileage if the vehicle I drove was provided by the Circle? A: No. Staff cannot use the expenses feature to reimburse the Circle when a family vehicle is used. The Circle will need to submit mileage via Expense Upload on the Portal. Improvements to that process will be coming at a later date and they should keep an eye out for future announcements. Q: Do I have to record every part of a trip? A: Yes, as always, you need to submit for every part of your trip to be eligible for reimbursement.  We're not asking you to do anything different than what was supposed to be done before in the tracking and reporting of mileage while providing services to our Participants.  If you have any questions on how that should be done, please speak with your Self-Direction Coordinator. Q: Why can't you track my trip, use GPS, or a map search service, and enter the mileage automatically? A: ISS' policy is to respect people's privacy and we, therefore, do not track their locations except when they clock in and out for an EVV required shift as explained at How is my location data used? Expense Questions: Q:  What if I forgot to add an expense during my shift? A:  You can add an expense at any point before the shift is submitted by tapping the 'Add Expense' button. If the shift is already submitted, you will need to submit the Expense as you did before, on paper, and preferably submitted via the expense upload feature on the Portal. Q: What criteria do I need to meet so that my Expense is covered? A: Two things:  (1) Expenses must be submitted with supporting documentation.  (2) The supporting documentation must demonstrate the proof of payment and an itemized receipt must be included. Further information on itemized receipts and proof of payment can be found on Staff Activity Fee Itemized Receipts and Proof of Payment . Q:  Can I submit multiple expenses all together? A: No. Expenses should be submitted individually with individual documentation. Q: Can I be reimbursed for my telephone bill, electric bill, or other things? A:  No. You can only be reimbursed for expenses that occurred during the shift which are related to the shift. Q: What does it mean if I see the red asterisk "Missing Budget Line" indicator? A: This just means that the participant in question does not have the budget line to cover a certain expense. You can still submit your shift, but some expenses may not be covered. Returned Shift Questions: Q:  What if my shift is returned? A: If your shift is returned, you will need to correct any errors before resubmitting. For detailed instructions, go here .   Updated 12/04/25. Non-Drivers Cannot Submit Mileage If you are recognized in ISS' systems as being a non-driver, you will not have the option to submit mileage within eTime. You will not see the Add Mileage button. You can, of course, still submit expenses as needed with your shift via eTime. If you should no longer be classified as a non-driver or have any questions regarding your non-driver status, please contact People Services at peopleservices@issny.org .   Created 03/07/25.