Skip to main content
English (Australia) English (United Kingdom) English (Malaysia) English (New Zealand) English (Singapore)

Managing Time Off

Updated

Available for the following plans: Standard, Premium, Platinum, Unlimited
Available for the following user access levels: Admin

To manage time off in Employment Hero, time off types and policies must be created and assigned to your employees.

To manage the payment of that time off type, the payment setup must be completed in Payroll:

  • A time off type is the same as was selected by the employee (e.g. Vacation, Personal Day etc.).
  • A time off policy determines the rules associated with that time off type (e.g. 25 days should be assigned on January 1st each year).
  • The payment setup of time off types determines how your employees are paid against a particular time off type and how the time off is reported in the pay run.

Important

In Canada, statutory time off entitlements are governed by provincial or federal employment standards legislation, which vary by jurisdiction. 

While Employment Hero may come with preset defaults, it is the client's responsibility to ensure all statutory time off types are configured in accordance with the applicable laws for their employees (e.g., provincial Employment Standards Act or the Canada Labour Code).

Common Canadian statutory time off types that clients may need to configure include:

  • Vacation Time
  • Statutory Holiday Pay
  • Sick Time off / Personal Emergency Time off
  • Maternity and Parental Time off
  • Bereavement Time off
  • Family Responsibility / Caregiver Time off

You must complete the payment setup for these types to ensure compliance and proper payment.

Creating a new time off type allows you to set up specific leave policies, such as vacation, sick leave, personal days, or jury duty, and track them accurately for your employees.

Getting Started

Add a time off type

  1. Navigate to Settings > Time & Attendance > Time Off.

  2. Click + Add Time Off Type and enter a descriptive Name (e.g., Vacation or Sick Time off).

  3. Select a Balance Tracking method:

  4. Track balance accruals: For earned time like PTO.

  5. Only track time off taken: For unpaid or non-accrued leave like Jury Duty.

  6. Choose a Unit Type (Days, Hours, or Weeks) consistent with your payroll.

  7. Set optional requirements, such as a Return to work form, mandatory Comments, or Supporting documents (e.g., doctor's notes).

  8. Configure Other Settings to prevent negative balances or hide accrual details from paystubs if necessary.

  9. Click Save.

Payment Setup: Select if it will be recorded as paid time, unpaid time or time worked.

Payroll Income Type: From the dropdown menu, you must select the corresponding income type that has been set up in your payroll system (e.g., Vacation Pay, Sick Pay, Regular Pay). This is crucial for ensuring employees are paid correctly.

Add the Time Off Rule
  1. To add a time off rule, complete the following fields:
    • Time Off Policy Name
    • Accrual Starts
    • Amount Accrued
  2. Add an additional tier if you award an additional balance to your employees based on length of service.
    • Carry-Over Amount - choose from None, Unlimited or up to X number of days
    • Carry-Over Date (Note: your vacation calendar year will default here)
    • Prorate for Part Time/Casual Employees (select this option if you want your part-time workers to receive a pro-rated amount of time off)
    • Time Off Balance for New Employees
      • Select Do not apply time off balance to employees on assignment if you want to manually assign balances to your new employees
      • Select Apply full balance amount on employee assignment if your employees should receive the full amount of time off assigned to this policy
      • Select Apply a prorated amount on employee assignment if you want your employees to receive a pro-rated time off entitlement based on their start date in the current vacation calendar year (Note: the calculation is based on calendar days in a year)
  3. Click the Save button.

  4. To assign the policy to certain employees, drag their name from the Available column to the Selected column.

    Helpful Hint

    You can click the >> button to move all employees to the Selected column.

  5. Click the Save button.
Add a time off rule to an existing time off type

  1. Go to Settings > Time & Attendance > Time Off.

  2. Locate the time-off type, click the three dots (⋮), and select + Add Rule.

  3. Fill in the Rule Name and Accrual Details (start date, amount, frequency, carry-over, and proration).

  4. Click Save to open the employee assignment modal.

  5. Drag names from Available to Selected, or click >> to move all employees at once.

  6. Click the Save button.

Further Information

Time Off Type Fields Explained
Field Name Explanation
Time Off Type Name The required public name for the policy (e.g., Vacation, Sick Time off, PTO, Jury Duty). This is visible to employees when requesting time off and on their paystubs unless hidden.
Time Off Balance Tracking

Determines how the system manages balances:

  • Track balance accruals and time off taken: For policies where employees earn time over a period (e.g., 8 hours per month). Common for Vacation or PTO.
  • Only track time off taken: For policies without a "bank" of time, such as unpaid leave or jury duty.
Unit Type

The unit used to track leave, which should match your payroll management:

  • Days: Common for salaried employees.
  • Hours: Most precise; best for hourly employees.
  • Weeks: Used for long-term leave like Maternity and Parental Time off or Sabbaticals.
Return to work form (Optional) If enabled, employees must submit a "Return to Work" form before they can resume duties. Typically used for medical or disability-related leave.
Require comments or documents (Optional)

Adds requirements for request submissions:

  • Notes required: Makes the comments field mandatory.
  • Documents required: Forces employees to upload support (e.g., a doctor’s note or jury summons).
Other Settings

Additional controls:

  • Leave reason required: Employees must select a reason from a predefined list.
  • Prevent negative leave balances: Stops requests that exceed the employee's current balance.
  • Hide balances from paystubs: Prevents the available balance from appearing on paystubs.
  • Hide accruals from paystubs: Prevents the amount earned during the pay period from appearing on paystubs.

Related articles