The three layers
| Layer | What it is | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Leave policy | A group of staff with the same leave rules, e.g. Standard for office staff, Factory for workers. Every company starts with Standard, the default. | Settings › Leave policies |
| 2. Leave types | The leaves inside a policy: Casual (CL), Sick (SL), Planned or Earned (PL/EL), Leave without pay (LWP)… each with its own rules. | Settings › Leave types |
| 3. Balances | How many days each person has. Credited automatically; opening balances are entered once with Adjust. | Time & leave › Leave balances |
Each employee follows one policy, chosen on their profile (empty = the default policy), and sees only the leave types under it.
Short leave (on the policy)
Times a month: how many short leaves are allowed (empty = none). At most (minutes) each: the longest one. Kinds allowed: late coming, early going, out in between; none ticked = all.
Leave type: Basics
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Paid leave with a balance | On for any leave with yearly days: casual, sick, planned, earned. People get days, take leave from the balance and are paid. Off only for leave without pay: no balance, never runs out, and the days are cut from salary. Switching it on shows the Credit and balance and Year end tabs. |
| Half days allowed | Staff can apply for half a day (0.5 is taken from the balance). |
| In use | Off stops new requests for this leave without deleting it; history and balances stay. |
| Count weekly offs * | A Sunday (or the shift's weekly off) inside a leave. Leave from Saturday to Monday: off = 2 days, on = 3 days. |
| Count holidays * | On: a company holiday inside the leave is taken from the balance too. |
| Order in lists | Where it appears in lists and balance cards: 1 first, then 2… |
Leave type: Who can take it
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Only for | One gender only, e.g. maternity leave. Empty = everyone. |
| Employment types | Permanent, contract, trainee… None ticked = all. |
| After days of service | E.g. 90: can be taken from the 91st day after joining. |
| Only after probation | Only once the person is confirmed. |
Leave type: Limits per request
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| At least / At most (days) | Shortest and longest leave in one request. |
| At most times a year | How many requests of this leave a person may make in a year. |
| Apply at least (days ahead) | Notice needed when staff apply themselves. HR can always enter leave. |
| Past dates allowed (days back) | Empty = any; 0 = no past dates. |
| Document needed beyond (days) | E.g. 2 for sick leave: a medical certificate for more than 2 days. |
Leave type: Credit and balance (paid leave only)
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Days a year | The yearly entitlement, e.g. 12. |
| Credited | All at the start of the leave year; every month (a twelfth each month); or only when HR adds it (maternity, comp off). |
| Joiners get a share for months left | Someone joining in the middle of the year gets the share for the months left. Joining after the 15th counts from the next month. |
| Joiner's share rounded to | Nearest half day, whole day, or exact. |
| Can go below zero | Allows leave beyond the balance, recovered from later credits. Below zero by at most sets a limit. |
Leave type: Year end (paid leave only)
Carry forward is applied first, then encashment; whatever is left lapses.
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Carry forward to next year | Unused days move to next year. At most caps it; Use carried days within (months) makes carried days lapse if not used in time. |
| Encash (paid out with salary) | Unused days are paid with salary, up to At most. |
Example: 12 planned leaves a year, one a month
Paid leave with a balance on, Days a year 12, Credited every month, Can go below zero off.
| Month | Credited | Taken | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | +1 | 0 | 1 |
| May | +1 | 0 | 2 |
| June | +1 | 2 | 1 |
| July | +1 | 0 | 2 |
Unused days stay for the rest of the year. With no balance, the employee cannot apply: they see how many days are available. Requests waiting for approval are held from the balance, so the same days cannot be booked twice. If they still need the day off, they apply for leave without pay.
A typical setup
| Leave | Paid | Days a year | Credited | Year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casual leave (CL) | On | 8 | Start of year | Lapses |
| Sick leave (SL) | On | 6 | Monthly; document beyond 2 days | Lapses |
| Planned / Earned leave (PL/EL) | On | 15 | Monthly; after probation | Carry forward up to 30, encash up to 10 |
| Leave without pay (LWP) | Off | None | Not credited | Nothing carried |
Not sure where to start? Settings › Leave types › Add the usual leave for your state adds the leave types your state's Shops and Establishments rules expect (for example earned, casual and sick leave with their usual days). Check them against your own policy before staff apply.
Balances from your old system or sheet
- Time & leave › Leave balances › Balance sheet (Excel): a sheet with every current employee (by employee code) and one column per leave type code (CL, SL, EL…), filled with today's balances.
- Type each person's closing balance from your records. Leave a cell empty to keep that balance as it is. Half days are fine (7.5).
- Upload balances, choose the file and the date the balances are as on. Every row is checked first; if any row is wrong (unknown code, a leave type not in the person's policy, not a number), nothing is saved and the problems are listed.
Leave requests
- Time & leave › Leave requests: filter by Month beside Search, and sort by the leave dates.
- Leave entered by HR or moved from your old system keeps the date it was really applied on.
Credit leave now and Close leave year
- Credit leave now (Time & leave › Leave balances): leave is credited by itself every night; this does it at once, for example after changing a leave type.
- Close leave year: at the end of the leave year, carries forward, encashes and lapses each person's unused days as each leave type says, and starts the new year. Do it once, after the last leave of the year is entered. A reminder shows on the dashboard until it is done.
- A leave type that was never used (no leave, no credits) can be deleted from Settings › Leave types. A used one can only be switched off with In use.
What employees see
Each employee sees My leave balance on their dashboard and on My leave: days left for every leave type, with how many were received, taken and are waiting for approval, and when the next credit is due.
Frequently asked questions
Planned leave shows only three tabs.
Paid leave with a balance is off, so it is treated as unpaid leave. Switch it on and the Credit and balance and Year end tabs appear.
Why does a leave from Saturday to Monday count as 3 days?
Count weekly offs is on for that leave type (the sandwich rule). Switch it off to count 2 days.
A balance looks wrong.
Open Time & leave › Leave balances › History: every credit, leave taken and adjustment is listed with its date.
We moved from another system. How do we bring the balances across?
Use Upload balances with the closing figures from your sheet (see above). Do not carry over figures you know are wrong: correct them in the sheet first.