ONLINE EMPLOYEE LEAVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

RUTH KWAMBOKA NYAMANYA

REG NO: BIT BIT-C006-0615/2013

A RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT FOR BACHELORS DEGREE OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY OF JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND
TECHNOLOGY

DECLARATION
This is to certify that this project report is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Bachelor of Information Technology; it embodies the bonafide work done by
myself in the final semester of this degree under the supervision of the undersigned.
The project or any other part of is my original work; it has not been submitted earlier to other
University/Institution for the award of any Diploma or Degree.

Name: NANCY ORINA

REG NO: BIT C006-0578/2013

Signature: ____________________________

Date: ______________________

Approval
This project has been submitted for examination with my approval as the University Supervisor

Name of Supervisor: Mr. Loki

Signature: ____________________________

Date: ______________________

(UNIVERSITY SUPERVISOR)

DEDICATION
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I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Orina, who have been an
everlasting source of inspiration in my life. I would not have been able to achieve what I have
without their support.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Loki for giving me the
opportunity to work on this project and for providing constant support and motivation.
I would also like to thank my dad, mom, grandparents, and my entire family for the sacrifices
they made to help me attend graduate school. I am very grateful for all their support and
motivation that they have provided for the past two years.
I gratefully extend my sincere thanks to all faculties and to all teaching and non-teaching staff
members of the department.
Sincere thanks are extended to my friends for their valuable advice and moral support. My
thanks are due to my parents and loving sister for their affection, inspiration, patience and
support.

ABSTRACT

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This project is aimed at developing an online leave management system that is of importance
to an organization. The Leave Management System (LMS) is an Intranet based application
that can be accessed throughout the organization or a specified group/Dept. This system can
be used to automate the workflow of leave applications and their approvals. The periodic
crediting of leave is also automated. There are features like email notifications, cancellation
of leave, automatic approval of leave, report generators etc in this system.

Table of Contents
DECLARATION.............................................................................................................. i
DEDICATION................................................................................................................ ii
iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENT................................................................................................... iii
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. iv
Table of Contents............................................................................................................. v
List of Tables and figures................................................................................................. vii
Definitions of Key Terms................................................................................................ viii
Abbreviations and Acronyms.............................................................................................. ix
CHAPTER ONE.............................................................................................................. 1
1.0

Introduction....................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background of the Study............................................................................................ 1

1.2 Android Architecture................................................................................................. 2
1.3 Existing System....................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Proposed System..................................................................................................... 3
1.5 Statement of Problem................................................................................................ 4
1.6 Objectives of the Study.............................................................................................. 4
1.7 Motivation and Research Questions..............................................................................4
1.8 Significance of the Research....................................................................................... 5
1.9 Scope and Limitations............................................................................................... 5
1.9.1 Scope.............................................................................................................. 5
1.9.2 Limitations....................................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER TWO............................................................................................................. 7
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................... 7
2.1 MOBILE PLATFORM.............................................................................................. 7
2.1.1 What is Android?................................................................................................... 7
2.1.2 Android Components.............................................................................................. 7
2.1.3 Activity............................................................................................................... 7
2.1.4 Services.............................................................................................................. 7
2.2 Android Application Features......................................................................................... 9
2.3 Setting Up The Android Environment............................................................................... 9
CHAPTER THREE........................................................................................................ 10
3.0 METHODOLOGY................................................................................................. 10
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Introduction........................................................................................................... 10
Development Methodology........................................................................................... 11
3.2 Data collection...................................................................................................... 12
3.2.1 Interviews...................................................................................................... 13
3.2.1.0 Types of interviews......................................................................................... 13
3.2.1.1 Advantages of using an interview.......................................................................13
3.2.1.2 Disadvantages of using an interview....................................................................13
3.2.2 Observation....................................................................................................... 14
3.2.3 Secondary data collection techniques........................................................................14
Appendix I: Android API.............................................................................................. 15
APPENDIX II: GANT CHART..................................................................................... 15
Bibliography & References............................................................................................... 16

vi

List of Tables and figures

Table 3.1. Function Names: Expenses Table...........................................................................17
Table 3.2. Function Name: Category Table.............................................................................18

Definitions of Key Terms

Android an operating system based on the Linux kernel, and designed primarily for
touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.
4G the fourth generation of mobile phone mobile communication technology standards.
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Jelly Bean Jelly Bean was an incremental update with the primary aim of improving the
functionality and performance of the user interface.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

API Application Programming Interface
OS- Operating System
IDE- Integrated Development Environment
viii

CMMI- Capability Maturity Model Integration

WRS- World Requirements Specification

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CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
This project is aimed at developing an online leave management system that is of importance to
an organization. The Leave Management System (LMS) is an Intranet based application that can
be accessed throughout the organization or a specified group/Dept. This system can be used to
automate the workflow of leave applications and their approvals. The periodic crediting of leave
is also automated. There are features like email notifications, cancellation of leave, automatic
approval of leave, report generators etc in this system.
1.1 Background of the Study
Over the years, the internet has greatly changed the way people use computers and communicate
today. Many Internet terms have become part of people's everyday language and e-mail has
added a whole new means through which people can communicate. By the turn of the century,
information, including access to the Internet, will be the basis for personal, economic, and
political advancement.
The best way to manage your employee leave and absence is to create and maintain an effective
leave management where every process is automated. This will help you establish request and
approval procedures, define and monitor staff's schedules and see when leave or absence has
occurred. This is according to Leavewizard, (2012). According to Bille( 2013) electronic
processing of leave and vacation applications eliminating the need to use lots of paper, a move
that will cut on company budget. The manager benefits by being able to check on data touching
on staff leaves and vacations whenever they want to. The manager can know which staff
members are on leave, the ones about to go on leave and the leave time that an individual
employee has applied for. The system has been made in such away it is basic and can be learned
and used by everyone irrespective of the area in the company that they work in and without any
hardships.
The system has three modules:
1. Staff module:
logs in and applies for the leave
2. H.O.D module:
In this module Head of the department will have permissions to look after data of every faculty
member of their department. HOD can view data in the form of reports and get it in the form of
print out. Reports can be displayed based on day, month. HOD can approve leave through this
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application and he can view leaves information of every individual. In this module HOD can
easily manage classes schedule for that day.
3. Admin module:
Will be responsible in maintaing all the employee details, employee leave record details, HOD
leave record details in the database.
1.3 Existing System
In the existing system Employees find it difficult to apply for leaves and vacations, especially
those that have tasks that require a specific number of people to operate which is a very
complicated process. First of all, there should be a way to determine if a specific employee has
legitimate leave days to use. Second, leaves should be scheduled in a way that the normal
operations of the business are not impaired. Finally, the personal views and emotions of the
employee that is taking the leave as well as the atmosphere in the department he or she is leaving
should be considered to foster cooperation and goodwill instead of anger and conflicts.
1.4 Proposed System
This Software Requirements Specification provides a complete description of all the functions
and specifications of the SST Online Leave Management System. The expected audience of this
document is the business development manager BA, Service Delivery and Support Manager,
including members of the organization who will use this system.
Anyone who has applied for leave will know the frustration of form-filling and waiting as the
hard copy travels up and down the approval hierarchy. This brilliant electronic leave
management software with its powerful features, cuts out the physical movements and enables
HR to have a birds eye view of the leave situation in the company, and make decisive, on-thespot approval decisions.
There are many advantages of utilizing a web based leave tracking system:
Eliminates paper based leave application forms
Leave applications can be submitted online
Leave applications can be approved online
Both the leave applicant as well as the approver can view the remaining leave days as
well as historical leave applications
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Employees can easily:

Apply for leaves online where upon submission; the supervisor will be notified via email
that there is a leave to approve.
View the number of remaining leave days
View historical leave taken
HR administrators can easily:
Approve leave
Reject leave
Define day offs
Define holidays
Assign available leave days for each employee
View a list of employees going on leave within a specified time period
Define leave types such as annual leave, unpaid leave, compassionate leave, etc.
1.5 Statement of Problem
In the existing paper work related to leave management. Leaves are maintained using the
attendance register for the staff. An employee needs to submit their leaves manually to their
respective authorities or department, this increases paper work and maintaing the paper work
becomes a tedious exercise.
Employees find it difficult to apply for leaves and vacations, especially those that have tasks that
require a specific number of people to operate which is a very complicated process. First of all,
there should be a way to determine if a specific employee has legitimate leave days to use.
Second, leaves should be scheduled in a way that the normal operations of the business are not
impaired. Finally, the personal views and emotions of the employee that is taking the leave as
well as the atmosphere in the department he or she is leaving should be considered to foster
cooperation and goodwill instead of anger and conflicts.
The main objective of the proposed system is to decrease the paper work, Collision of dates with
other employees under the same department, Changes in the work schedule and late payment of
leave allowances due to wrong calculation of leave balances and help in easier record keeping by
having a centralized database system where data will be maintained. The system will keep the
records, decrease paper work and reduce chances of data loss. The system will allow employees
and their managers to manage leaves and replacements for better scheduling of work load. .
Research has found out that getting leaves in time is a major employee satisfaction factor and
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employees who do not take enough leave suffer from stress or employees who take too much
leave are careless towards job both have negative impact on their performance.
1.6 Objectives of the Study
General Objective.
The objective of this project is to develop an online leave management system that will allow the
employees to apply for leave anywhere, anytime as long as they can access internet.
Specific Objectives
The following are the project objectives for the Leave Management System.
1. Users will check number of days remaining to complete their leave.
2. Automation of the leave management system.
3. Will allow users to check for feedback after the application has been made.
4. Allow users to check if he/she is eligible to get the leave.
5. The system should allow employee to create accounts with the system.
6. The system will allow employees who have created accounts to log into the system, using
their SSN and passwords.

1.8 Significance of the Research

This system will increase data integrity in that only right person goes for the leave at the time
that is allocated for him/her. It will offer better way of giving leave to the employees in that leave
will be given to one employee at a time. It will be able to keep records of a particular employee
who is on leave in order to avoid confusion of not knowing the particular employee who is on
leave and for what reasons. This system will eliminate paperwork and reduce delay by enabling
employees and supervisors to stop applications simply by entering the dates and type of leave
being sought after the employee has received his or her entitlements.

1.9 Scope and Limitations

1.9.1 Scope
The system is an online leave management system for leave applications review process usable
in any organization and customizable to be used in different business environments. A dynamic
database will be used to hold all leave applications details and keep data in a way that it can be
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viewed by management to make prompt informed decisions on approvals and staffing levels. A
simple interface will be in place making it easy and simple to use for all employees and
management. A comprehensive documentation to assist in maintenance, customizing and adding
more modules to the system.

1.9.2 Limitations
1. The system will only be used with employees who can get access to the internet because the
system will be online.
2. The organization will also be forced to offer training to those employees who are computer
illiterate thus adding some expenses to the organization.

CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 MOBILE PLATFORM
Mobile platform is an operating system for mobile devices. Some of the mobile devices
operating systems are iOS, Bada, Android, Windows, and Blackberry, etc.
2.1.1 What is Android?
Android is a software pile for mobile devices which includes an operating system, middleware
components and other key applications. The Android SDK facilitates the APIs and tools needed
to start developing applications on the Android platform. For Developing applications in Android
the programming language used is Java programming language.
2.1.2 Android Components
These are some of the Android components which are the major means by which
Android application runs successfully without any interruptions.
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2.1.3 Activity
Android activity is represented by each individual screen within an Android application. User
can interact with activity by performing some actions which involves visual components.
Example of an activity can be considered as a single webpage in a website. Each activity
performs its operations independently of one another and all the activities in the application are
an extension from the activity class.
2.1.4 Services
Service is another component in Android application which performs its actions in the
background to accomplish actions which take long time to run or remote processes tasks. Service
is a component which does not possess user interface. Consider an example where service can
play music in the background when the user is performing some operation in other application
like checking an email or texting a message using SMS application or retrieve some information
from the network without interrupting users actions within an activity.

2.1.5 Intents
Intent is an application which initiates the message passing between the activities. Using intents
messages can be broadcasted throughout the system or if it can also pass messages to a target
activity or service, which states intended action requested by the user or activity. Specifying an
Intent-filter allows a user to state how a particular activity in an application should be called.

2.1.6 Content Providers

A content provider is a component which maintains a collective group of application data. All the
application information or data can be stored in a SQLite database or file system, on remote web
servers or on any storage location where the application can access the data. Using the content
provider, other applications can process its queries and other related activities. This component
mostly behaves like a database where users are given flexibility to edit its contents, query
information needed, delete some data when not needed. The only difference between database
and content provider is that using content provider users can store its data in different ways.

2.1.7 Broadcast Receivers

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This component responds to system wide broadcast declarations. Any application which needs to
receive or respond to global activities like SMS application, receiving an incoming call, it should
have been registered as a broadcast receiver. Most of broadcasts come from the system for
example, we can consider a broadcast statement like when battery is low it shows red colored
battery symbol in the phone, when screen lock button is pressed the display will be turned off,
when SMS is received its shows a message symbol at the top of the notification bar. Broadcast
receivers doesnt possess user interface for broadcasting notifications instead they alert the users
by showing the status of the application in the notification bar.

2.1.8 Applications
All the Android packages by default comes with a bunch of core applications which includes an
SMS application, Email application, calendar, maps, browser, contacts, GPS and others. All these
applications are developed using the Java programming language.

2.1.9 Tools
The Android SDK is Software Development Kit which allows developers to develop mobile
applications in Android platform. Generally these tools are categorized into two groups, they are
SDK tools and platform tools. Among these SDK tools are independent of the platform and these
are mandatory for any mobile application which are developed in Android platform. The second
most common tools are Platform tools which are modified or personalized to provide support to
the latest Android platform features.

2.2 Android Application Features

Android offers several application features out of which the following mentioned features are the
most effective and useful characteristics of Android applications:
-

The Dalvik Virtual Machine has been upgraded to improve developing mobile devices
applications framework enabling reuse and replacement of components.

GSM the Global System for mobile communications kind of telephony has been introduced.

A productive application framework has been developed which enables the application
components to be reused and replaced.

Open source web kit has been integrated in the browser.

7

Custom 2D and 3D graphics libraries came to the market which are based on Open GL
specification.

Structured data storage is supported by using SQLite database.

All the audio, video and image formats are supported in the new Android versions like
MPEG, MP3, JPG, GIF, PNG and ING.

Hardware supportive environment like Wifi, 3G, 4G, EDGE connectivity and Bluetooth are
improved in the Android platform.

Development environment has been made popular by introducing device emulator feature
Camera, GPS, compass, and accelerometer (hardware dependent).

All other important features include accelerometer, camera, GPS, several different tools
which helps in debugging the application, memory management and performance
monitoring.

2.3 Setting Up The Android Environment

Android Development environment can be set in any machine using Eclipse IDE. To
develop an Android application the following tools must be installed in Eclipse.

CHAPTER THREE
3.0 SYSTEM DESIGN & METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
The methodology that is going to be adopted to develop the system is the V-Model.
This methodology is widely used today especially in the defense industry. The software
development life cycle will allow the process to have testing and coding as a parallel activity
which enables the changes to be made more dynamically. The V-Model is originally developed
from the waterfall process model. It is a classic software development model.
This model has four main phases which are requirements, specification, design and
implementation. This model also encapsulates the steps in verification and validation phases for
each step in the SDLC. Implementation of modules is tested by unit testing, system design is
tested by integration testing, system specification is tested by system testing and finally
acceptance testing verifies the requirements met.
One of the interesting characteristics of the V model is the ability to move backward which is it
can revert to the analysis stage even though it is half way through the implementation stage.
This will provide provider with the cushion if any error occurred V-model also allows the testing
and coding process to be done parallel making it more dynamic than the waterfall model. The
figure below shows the architecture of the V-model

Development Methodology
Diagram of the V-Model

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The various phrases of the V-model are as follows

Requirements like BRS and SRS begin the life cycle model just like the waterfall model. But, in
this model before the development started, a system test plan is created. The test plan focuses on
meeting the functionality specified in the requirement gathering.
The High Level Design (HLD) phase focuses on a system architecture and design. It provides
overview of solution, platform, system, product and services/processes. An integration plan is
created in this phase as well in order to test the pieces of the software systems ability to work
together.
The low level design (LLD) phase is where the actual software components are designed. It
defines the actual logic for each and every component of the system. Class diagram with all the
methods and relation between classes come under LLD. Component tests are created in this
phase as well.
The implementation phase is, again, where all coding takes place. Once coding is complete, the
path of execution continues up the right side of the V where the test plans developed earlier are
now put to use
Coding: this is at the bottom of the V- shape model. Module design is converted into code by
developers.
Advantages of V-model:
Simple and easy to use.
Testing activities like planning, test designing happens well before coding. This saves a lot of
time. Hence higher chances of success over the waterfall model.
Proactive defect tracking-that is defects are found at early stage.
Avoids the downward flow of the defects.
Works well for small projects where requirements are easily understood.
Disadvantages of v-model:
Very rigid and least flexible
Software is developed during the implementation phase, so no early prototype of the software are
produced.
When to use the v-model:
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The v-shaped model should be used for small to medium sized projects where requirements are
clearly defined and fixed.
The v-shaped model should be chosen when ample technical resources are available with needed
technical expertise.
3.2 Data collection
In this section the researcher studied the existing system to establish this weak and strong points.
The information acquired from this study gave the basis for the design of the new system. A
number of steps, procedures and tools were employed as shown below:
3.2.0 Primary data collection techniques.
It comprises of firsthand information collected by the researcher in this case observations and
interviews were used to collect primary data.
3.2.1 Interviews
During the study the researcher conducted face to face with few customers, employees and
management in order to get more insight on the system and its implementation interviews are
often more exploratory in nature, an allows for more flexibility since the interviewees have high
response rate than written questionnaire and it is also suitable for use with both literate and
illiterate. Examples of questions asked during the interview are:
How is information stored after getting it from the customers?
How is this information accessed in case it is required?
How many customers visit the gym per day?
What happens after the customers walks in?
3.2.1.0 Types of interviews
Structured interviews- based on standard question written by hand that enabled the interviewer
gain answers based on specific findings
Unstructured interviews- using rapport building, this involved conversation that made it easy to
obtain the feelings of the people, and firsthand information. Some questions were not
predetermined and were asked impulsively.
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3.2.1.1 Advantages of using an interview

If the respondent lacks reading skills to answer a questionnaire.

Are useful for untangling complex topics.
The interviewer can probe deeper into response given by an interviewee
Interviews produce a higher response rate.

3.2.1.2 Disadvantages of using an interview

The interviewer can affect the data if he/she is not consistent.

It is very time consuming.
It is not used for large number of people.
The interviewer may be biased and ask close questions.

3.2.2 Observation
This technique was used to gather accurate information about how the current system operates
and its processes from the organization. This involves systematically watching and recording the
behaviour and characteristics of operations and processes. Although the method is time
consuming, it gives more detailed and context related information and one can adapt to events as
they occur.
3.2.3 Secondary data collection techniques
This kind of data was obtained from books, journals and various materials from the internet. It
is helpful in providing a baseline with which the collected primary data results can be compared
to.
Secondary data has a pre-established degree of validity and reliability enabling the researchers to
make a comprehensive analysis of the study.

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Appendix I: Android API

14

APPENDIX II: GANT CHART

This will be used to indicate the time by which the project is expected to be completed. It has
been summarized according to the number of days.
Duration in days

20

36

Idea Generation
Proposal Writing
Presentation
Research
Implementation
Prepare
Documentation
Final Presentation

15

33

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Bibliography & References

GOOGLE. (n.d.). Android Developers. Retrieved from
http://developer.android.com/training/basics/firstapp/index.html
DANYL BOSOMWORTH. (2015, Jan 15). Mobile Marketing Statistics 2015. Retrieved
from http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile
marketing-statistics/
Google Play. (2015, May 5). Retrieved from https://play.google.com/
Google. Inc. (2015 May 5). Android Studio Guide. Retrieved from
http://developer.android.com/training/implementing-navigation/nav-drawer.html
GEORGE MATHEW. (2013, Jan 15). GPS and Google Map in Android Applications
Series. Retrieved from http://wptrafficanalyzer.in/blog/gps-and-google-map-in-android
applications-series/
Parse Android API Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.parse.com/docs/android/api/
Parse Android Docs. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.parse.com/docs/android_guide
Registering Parse Push Notifications. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://parse.com/tutorials/android-push-notifications
Internet Fax Service. (n.d.).Retrieved from http://www.metrofax.com/
GENMYMODEL. (n.d.). To design UML, Class and Sequence Diagrams. Retrieved from
https://api.genmymodel.com/

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