Configuring Time Off

Admins configure time off types in Settings → Time Off. The choices you make here shape how the entire system behaves.

Time Off Types

Your organization starts with sensible defaults:

• Holiday — 20 days, requires approval, counts toward allowance
• Sick Leave — Unlimited, no approval, doesn't count toward allowance, sensitive
• Bereavement — 5 days, no approval, doesn't count toward allowance, sensitive
• Sabbatical — 20 days, requires approval, counts toward allowance
• Parental Leave (Primary) — 80 days, requires approval, doesn't count
• Parental Leave (Secondary) — 20 days, requires approval, doesn't count
• Unpaid Leave — Unlimited, requires approval, doesn't count

You can modify these or create your own.

Creating a Type

Click Add Type and configure:

Name

What people see when booking. Keep it clear: "Holiday" not "Annual Leave Entitlement (Standard)."

Description

Optional explanation. Shows in the type selector. Useful for disambiguation: "For planned vacation time" vs "For unexpected illness."

Max Days Per Year

The annual allowance. Set to 0 for unlimited (sick leave, for example).

Pro-rating applies automatically for new joiners. A 20-day allowance becomes ~10 days for someone starting July 1st.

Requires Approval

When enabled, requests need manager approval before becoming active. The request sits in "Pending" status until approved.

When disabled, requests are approved automatically on submission.

Recommendation: Require approval for planned absences (holiday, sabbatical). Skip it for urgent situations (sick leave, bereavement) where waiting for approval would be absurd.

Counts Toward Allowance

When enabled, days booked against this type reduce the person's remaining allowance shown in dashboards.

When disabled, usage is tracked but doesn't affect the main allowance calculation.

Use for: Separate tracking of different leave categories. Holiday counts; parental leave doesn't—they're different pools with different rules.

Sensitive

When enabled, the type name and details are hidden from colleagues. They see "Time off" with a neutral color instead of "Sick Leave."

Managers and admins still see the actual type and any notes.

Use for: Medical appointments, sick leave, bereavement—anything where privacy matters.

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Editing Types

Click any type to edit. Changes apply to future requests immediately. Existing approved requests aren't retroactively modified.

If you change a type from "counts toward allowance" to "doesn't count," people's remaining balances will shift. The system recalculates based on current settings.

Archiving Types

Types that are no longer needed can be archived. Archived types:

• Don't appear in the booking dropdown
• Still show in historical data
• Can be unarchived later if needed

Archive instead of delete. You can't delete types that have existing requests, and archiving preserves audit trails.

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Bulk Booking

Admins can book time off for multiple people at once. Useful for:

• Company-wide holidays (office closure days)
• Team offsites
• Mandatory training periods

From the booking form, select multiple users and submit. Each person gets their own request with the same dates and type.

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Common Configurations

Small Team (< 20 people)

Keep it simple:

• Holiday (20 days, approval required)
• Sick Leave (unlimited, no approval, sensitive)
• Other (unlimited, no approval)

Three types handle most situations. Add more only when you need different rules.

Growing Team (20-100 people)

Add structure:

• Holiday (25 days, approval required)
• Sick Leave (unlimited, no approval, sensitive)
• Parental Leave (separate primary/secondary)
• Unpaid Leave (approval required)
• Work From Abroad (if allowed, might need different rules)

Compliance-Heavy Industries

You might need:

• Multiple holiday types (Annual Leave, Bank Holidays)
• Documented sick leave tracking
• Jury Duty, Military Leave, etc.
• Specific approval workflows by type

Start minimal and add complexity only when required. Every new type is cognitive overhead for people booking time off.

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Integration with Workload

Time off directly affects workload calculations:

1. Someone books 3 days off next week
2. Their availability drops to 0 for those days
3. Workload views show reduced capacity
4. Project managers see the reduced availability when planning

No manual synchronization needed. Book time off, and capacity planning updates automatically.