Yah I have no idea what’s going on in that template. Maybe you need to take a large step back. The basic concepts just aren’t as difficult as you’re making them out to be.
Start with a very simple template:
<<START:absenteeism_table[key_col]>>
<<[absent_employee]>>
<<END>>
Make a new Bot.
Make a new Event, schedule-driven, ForEveryRow not selected.
Make a new Process, select “none” as the Table.
From the Process, create a new Task, and use the above template.
Test it.