What is a leave policy?
A leave policy is a ruleset assigned to one or more employees. You can have multiple policies. For example, a different policy for full-time vs part-time employees, or per country/region.
Creating a policy
Go to Settings → Leave Policies → New Policy. Each policy has:
- Name, e.g., "Full-time UK", "Part-time US"
- Leave types, the types of leave available under this policy (see below)
- Working days, which days count as working days (Mon-Fri by default)
- Public holidays, link a public holiday calendar so these don't count against leave
Leave types
Each leave type within a policy can be configured independently:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Allowance | Fixed (e.g., 20 days) or accrued over time |
| Accrual schedule | Monthly, on hire anniversary, or pro-rated from start date |
| Carryover | None, unlimited, or capped (e.g., max 5 days) |
| Approval required | Yes (standard) or No (auto-approved, useful for sick leave) |
| Requires documentation | Request a medical note or other file for long absences |
| Half-day requests | Enable or disable half-day increments |
| Advance notice | Minimum days notice required (e.g., vacation needs 2 weeks notice) |
Accrual example
If an employee has a policy of 20 days / year, monthly accrual, they accrue 1.67 days at the start of each month. If they join mid-month, the first month is pro-rated.
TimeLeaf accrues leave at the start of each period by default. You can switch to end-of-period accrual in the policy settings.
Blackout dates
Blackout dates are periods when leave requests are restricted. Common examples: end-of-quarter, product launch week, peak season. Add blackout dates under Settings → Leave Policies → Blackout Dates.
Employees can still submit a request during a blackout period, but they'll see a warning. The manager is notified that the request falls on a restricted date.
Assigning policies to employees
Go to People → [Employee] → Leave Policy and select the policy. You can assign policies in bulk via the People list view.
When an employee is assigned a new policy mid-year, TimeLeaf recalculates their balance from their hire date (or the policy start date, whichever is later).