Leave

Define leave types and policies, let people apply, route requests through approvers and track balances, late arrivals, short leave and compensatory leave.

Contents: Who can use it · Menu · Set up leave · Leave type rules · Apply for leave · Approve · Balances · Optional holidays · Leave calendar · Leave encashment · Late leaves · Short leave · Compensatory leave · Approval workflow · Example · FAQ

Who can use it

Everyone with an employee record can apply and see their own balance. Approvers use the Approval inbox. Setup items need the leave type, policy and approval permissions.

Where: HR → Leaves.

Leave applications.

The Leaves menu

Menu item	Purpose
Leave applications	Apply for leave and see requests
Leave calendar	Who is away and when, with team coverage warnings
Leave encashment	Ask for unused leave to be paid out, and decide requests
Approval inbox	Requests waiting for your approval
Approval requests	Requests you sent and where each one stands
Leave balances	Admin view of every employee's balance
Short leaves	Short leave requests (a few hours)
Late leaves	Late arrivals and their approval
Adjust leaves	Compensatory leave: credits and advances
Leave types & policies	Setup: Types, Policies, Members, Settings
Approval workflow	The approval flows leave requests follow, in the order they are tried

The menu also has Delegations and Approval flows, which belong to the general approvals feature (every plan; see Approvals).

Set up leave (admins)

You must configure these before anyone can apply. If the application form says "No leave types yet", nothing is set up.

1. Leave types & policies → Types → New leave type. Enter the name (for example "Casual Leave") and colour. Choose Unpaid or paid, and Approval: Needs approval (manager reviews) or Automatic (auto-approved, with an optional threshold, such as sick leave of 2 days or less). Turn on the behaviours you need:
   • Allow half-day
   • Carry forward to next year (with Max carry days)
   • Allow in probation
   • Late arrivals deduct from this leave type
2. Policies → New leave policy. Name it, optionally Set as default policy, then add a row per leave type with Fiscal Year and Total Days (or Unlimited days). Click Create Policy. Under Who gets this policy you can also set Grade, Employment type, Minimum tenure (months) and Priority (used only for automatic assignment; an empty field matches everybody and the most specific policy wins), and Optional holidays a year (see Optional holidays).
3. Members. Pick the policy, select employees (Select all is available) and assign. Unassign removes someone. Or, on the Policies tab, click Assign automatically: everyone without a policy gets the one that fits their grade, employment type, location and tenure. A message tells you how many people were assigned and how many had no matching policy.
4. Settings. Set Allow short leave, Max short leaves per month and Max hours per short leave, then Update settings.
5. Set up the approval workflow.

Statutory leave. If your legal entity has a country set and you have the permission to install country leave packs, the Types tab shows a Statutory leave card with the leave types and days the country sets. Click Add to workspace to copy them in. Types you already have (same code) are left alone. If the card says the pack is not verified yet, check it against local rules first.

Leave type rules

The leave type form has a Rules section (not shown for short leave):

Setting	What it does
Sandwich rule	Weekly offs and holidays between two leave days count as leave
Allow leave in hours	People can take part of a day by the hour. Set Hours in a day (how many hours make one day of this leave)
Supporting document	Ask for a document, such as a medical certificate. Document needed from (days): 0 means always
Can be encashed	Unused days can be paid out. Set Most days paid out per year (empty for no limit) and Pay out at year end (what cannot be carried forward is paid out instead of lapsing)
Suggested minimum days a year	For flexible leave: people who take less see a gentle reminder on their balance page

With Carry forward to next year on, an empty Max carry days means no limit and 0 carries nothing forward.

Apply for leave

1. Open Leave applications and click Apply for Leave.
2. Choose the Leave type. Only types available to you appear.
3. Pick the start and end date and time. The Per day breakdown lets you mark each day as full or half (first or second half). If the leave type allows hours, a day can also be set to By the hour with the Hours taken.
4. Below the breakdown, check what the request will count as before you send it:
   • how many days of leave are counted;
   • days left out because you do not work them (weekly off, holiday, optional holiday);
   • days counted because they fall between your leave days (sandwich rule);
   • your balance after the request, or that the leave is not limited by a balance;
   • a warning if a supporting document is required;
   • a warning if your department would drop below its minimum people on duty. This is a warning only; you can still submit.
5. Write your reason and optionally attach a document (PDF or JPG, up to 5 MB, for example a medical certificate). If the type needs a document and you attach none, the request is refused.
6. Click Submit leave request. It goes to the first step of the approval flow that applies to it, or straight to HR and your reporting manager when no flow applies.

Click View my balance to check what you have left first. If you see "Your account is not linked to an employee", ask HR to link your login to your employee record.

Click a request to see its Request details, Approval progress (every step, who approved or rejected and their comments, which step is waiting now) and Summary (total days and hours). You can Cancel a request that is still open. A request shows Pending until the first step approves it, then Processing until the last step decides.

Approve or reject leave

1. Open Approval inbox. It lists leave requests waiting for your step, next to other approvals.
2. Open a request. Click Approve or Reject, with an optional comment.
3. Steps decide one after another: only the people of the current step can act, and the leave is approved only when the last step approves. A rejection at any step rejects the request.

You can also decide from the leave request page itself (Approve and Reject show when the request is waiting for you), or from the mobile app.

Reopen a rejection. If you approve a step after the one that rejected a leave request (or you act for such an approver through a delegation), the request page shows a note and a Reopen button. Write why and confirm: the rejected step is counted as passed and the request moves on to the next step (which may be your own), and the steps after it run in order. A request cannot be reopened when the employee has since booked other leave on the same days or no longer has enough balance; the message says why. See Approvals.

No flow applies. When no approval flow matches a request, HR (people who may approve leave) or the employee's reporting manager approves or rejects it directly.

Balance. Days come off the balance only when the request is finally approved. A rejected or reopened request takes nothing; cancelling an approved request gives the days back.

Leave balances

Leave balances (admin) shows for every employee and leave type: policy days, allocated days, used days and remaining days. Employees see the same for themselves in My leave balance, with Policy days, Unlimited, Unpaid or Limited tags and a Leave balance history. If a leave type has a suggested minimum and you have taken less, a reminder such as "Remember to take time off" appears at the top.

Optional holidays

Optional holidays are not a day off for everyone: each employee chooses up to their allowance. HR marks a holiday as Optional holiday in the holiday form (see Holidays) and sets Optional holidays a year on the leave policy.

Employees see an Optional holidays card on My leave balance with "taken of quota taken". Click Take this day on a future holiday, or Give back to return one you picked (before the day). When the allowance is used up, Take this day is disabled.

Leave calendar

Leave calendar shows who is away and when, one row per person and one column per day of the month. Use the arrows to change month.

• Tabs: My leave, My team (your department and the people who report to you) and Everyone (only for people who can approve leave).
• A solid block is Approved, a dashed outline is Pending approval, a short block is a Half day or hours, and shaded columns are holidays. Hover a block to see the type and status. People who cannot approve leave see "On leave" instead of the leave type.
• Team coverage rows at the bottom show, for each department, how many people are on leave each day. A department with a Minimum people on duty set (in the department form on HRM setup) is flagged when it falls short, and a yellow banner lists those days: "n day(s) where a team falls below its minimum".
• Pending requests already count towards coverage, so a manager sees the problem before approving. Half a day counts half; hourly and short leave do not count.
• Apply for leave opens the leave application page.

Leave encashment

Pay out unused leave. Approved days leave the balance and go to payroll, which pays them with the next salary.

1. Open Leave encashment. Cards show each leave type you can encash, with days available, your balance and any yearly cap.
2. Click Encash on a card, or Request encashment at the top.
3. Choose the Leave type, enter the Days (in half days; the form says "At most n days can be encashed now") and an optional Reason.
4. Click Send request.

Only leave types marked Can be encashed with a positive balance appear. Days already waiting in another request are not available again.

Deciding. People with the encashment Approve permission see everyone's requests, can ask On behalf of someone, and click Decide on a pending request. Choose Approve (the days come off the balance now) or Reject (the balance stays), with an optional Note. If your organization has an approval flow for encashment, the row says "In the approvals inbox" and is decided there instead. A pending request can be withdrawn with Withdraw.

Status	Meaning
Pending	Waiting for a decision
Approved	Days taken off the balance, waiting for payroll
Paid	Paid in a payroll run
Rejected	Not approved; balance unchanged
Withdrawn	Taken back before a decision

The Source column shows Requested, Year end (paid out at year end instead of lapsing) or On exit.

Late leaves

Late arrivals can cost leave. Late leaves has two tabs.

• Late days: generated from device punches. HR approves or rejects each (select several for bulk Late Leave Approved or Rejected). Manual Late adds a late entry by minutes.
• Rule config: Late threshold (approved lates before a deduction), Days deducted per hit, Grace period, LWP fallback (salary cut), Auto-generate from punches, Require HR approval and Counter reset cycle.

When the late rule triggers, days are taken from the leave types marked "Late arrivals deduct from this", in order, and then from unpaid leave (LWP) if none are left.

Short leave

A few hours off during a working day. Employees use Apply for Short Leave (also reachable from My short leaves), choose the start and end time and reason. The form shows how many short leaves you have left this month and the policy limits. Short leave goes through the same approval flows. If your policy converts several short leaves into a deduction, the form warns you before you submit.

Compensatory leave

Adjust leaves manages compensatory leave with two tabs, Requests and a ledger.

• Credit: worked a holiday or weekend and earns balance.
• Advance: take the day off first.

Employees click Apply for compensatory leave and choose what they are doing. Credits may expire after a set period, so use them in time.

Approval workflow

Leave requests are decided by approval flows of the type Leave request, the same flows every other approval uses, on every plan. Flows are designed in one place, Approval flows; Approval workflow shows the leave ones.

• The page lists the leave flows in the order they are tried, with their condition (for example "Applies when days > 3") and their steps. The first flow that is switched on and whose condition matches the request decides it.
• New leave flow opens the flow designer with Leave request already chosen; Edit opens a flow. Add as many steps as you need. Each step names who decides (the reporting manager, a specific person, anyone with a role and so on) and whether one or every approver must approve.
• A condition can use the days or hours requested, the leave type, whether it is paid, and the employee's department, designation, branch or grade. For example, add a second "HR" step only when days > 3.
• When no flow applies, HR or the employee's reporting manager approves the request directly.

Leave approval chains made before approval flows were moved to flows with the same steps and approvers; chains given to particular employees became flows that apply to those employees first. Requests that were already waiting on an old chain finish on it.

Example scenario

Padma Net Support has 10 casual and 14 sick days a year. HR creates the types and a default policy for FY 2026-27 and assigns all staff. Tanvir applies for 2 days of casual leave. His team lead approves, then HR sees the balance change from 10 to 8 in Leave balances. Late arrivals above the threshold deduct half a day from casual leave. In December, Nusrat asks to encash 3 unused casual days; HR approves and the days are paid with her December salary. Before approving Rafiq's week off, his manager opens Leave calendar, sees the NOC team would fall below its minimum of 4 on Tuesday, and asks him to move one day.

Tips

• Create the fiscal year before the policy.
• Turn on auto-approve for short sick leave to reduce the inbox.
• Set Minimum people on duty on departments that must stay staffed, so the calendar and the leave form warn early.
• Review Late days weekly so deductions are not a surprise at payroll.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

No leave types in the form. A policy has not been assigned to you. See Members.

My request is stuck. Open it and read Approval progress to see which step is waiting and who it asks.

"Nobody can approve this leave request". A step of the flow has no one to ask (often: you have no reporting manager). Ask HR to set your manager or fix the flow.

Balance is lower than expected. Late deductions or an approved encashment may have used leave. Check Late leaves and Leave encashment.

My leave counted more days than I picked. The type has the sandwich rule: weekly offs and holidays between two leave days count. The form lists these days before you submit.

"No leave type can be encashed right now." No type you hold is marked Can be encashed, or you have no positive balance left.

The calendar says only the first people are shown. It shows up to 400 people. Switch to My team to see a smaller group.

Related pages

Holidays · Attendance · HRM setup · Payroll runs · Employee self-service