Policies and compliance
Leave rules for every entity. The calculations are on us.
Set leave types, accrual, carry-over, holidays and approvals once for each company in your group. TIMEOFF.GURU applies them to every request and creates the documents, including leave orders signed with a qualified e-signature.
Setup
Five steps from an empty system to a working policy
Your administrator sets everything up. Each step is described in the help centre.
- 1
Organizations
Add the companies in your group. Each has its own work locations and its own signatory for leave orders.
How to → - 2
Leave types
Paid, unpaid, sick and all your own types: whether they deduct from the balance, the annual limit, the calendar colour.
How to → - 3
Holidays
Import the public holidays for the country and year, or upload them from Excel.
How to → - 4
Request rules
Deadlines, carry-over from previous years, part days, substitutes.
How to → - 5
Approval process
Which steps a request goes through, and who is notified at each.
How to →
Rules
What you can set
Leave types and categories
As many types as you need, each with its own annual limit and a rule on whether it deducts from paid or unpaid leave. Categories set the calendar colour and the place in the monthly report.
Accrual
Employees build up leave over time instead of getting it all on 1 January. Set how many days per day, week, month or year, with a cap, for everyone or for specific people.
Carry-over
Unused days move to the next year. You choose the deduction order: oldest year first, or current year first. Employees can pick the year in their request.
Part-day leave
Choose which leave types can be requested for part of a day, such as a few hours of paid leave.
Deadlines and blackout periods
How far back and ahead requests can be made, in calendar or working days. Block periods when nobody can take leave, such as around a big delivery.
Substitutes
A substitute can be required, optional or chosen from set colleagues. Decide whether at least one person must stay at work and whether requests to an absent approver go to their substitute.
Leave beyond the entitlement
The administrator sets by how many days employees can exceed their leave entitlement, from zero to unlimited. Choose unlimited and you offer unlimited leave without changing employment contracts.
Approval
Every request goes through exactly the right people
Order the approval steps and choose who is notified at each. For example:
- Automatic approval of the “organization leader” step.
- Additional approvers: one is enough, or all must approve.
- Cancelling approved leave, with a reason and confirmation by HR, a manager or finance.
- Reminders to approvers a set number of days before the absence.
- EmployeeRequests leave
- Direct managerApproves
- HRApproves
- FinanceIs notified
Holidays
Different countries, different holidays. One calendar.
Import public holidays by country, year and language. If you have people in several countries, create a holiday set for each and apply it to the right employees.
- Public holidays by country, with names in the language you choose.
- Your own holidays, uploaded from Excel.
- Non-working days and make-up working days, added by hand.
- A separate holiday set for each country.
Documents
The leave order is ready when the leave is approved
No printing, no chasing signatures, no scanning. The document is created from the request data.
Qualified e-signature
Leave orders are signed remotely with a qualified electronic signature by the head of the organization or an authorised person. The service is provided with our partner Borica.
Print when needed
Employees print the request form and the leave order from their request history, if you allow it.
Attachments
Documents such as sick notes can be attached to requests. Only HR sees them.
Archive for audits
Signed XML and PDF files are downloadable from reports, together with the attachments.
Want to check the numbers?
The leave calculator shows how many days an employee accrues based on their start date and annual allowance.
Questions about policies
All questions →What is a leave policy?
A leave policy is an organisation's set of rules for time off: which leave types exist, how many days people are entitled to, how they accrue and carry over, who approves and which documents are issued. In TIMEOFF.GURU you set it once and the system applies it to every request.
What is leave accrual?
With accrual, employees do not receive their whole yearly allowance on 1 January but earn it gradually, for example a set number of days each month. Check the numbers with the accrual calculator.
What is leave carry-over?
Carry-over moves unused days from previous years into the next one. You decide whether employees can use them and in what order they are deducted: from the oldest year towards the current one, or the other way round.
Can I request more paid leave than I have left?
Yes, if your organization allows it. The administrator sets by how many days employees can exceed their entitlement: from zero to unlimited.
Some companies choose unlimited. That way they offer unlimited leave without changing employment contracts.
Can I cancel leave that I requested or that is already approved?
You can always cancel a request that is still waiting for approval. Cancelling leave that is already approved is possible if your administrator has enabled it. In some organizations the cancellation has to be confirmed by HR or your manager.
In Current requests, open the From me tab, select the leave and click Cancel. The days return to your balance. More in the manual.
Do I have to name a substitute?
It depends on your organization's settings. The administrator decides whether a substitute is required, usually based on what managers need.
Can we move our data from our current system or from Excel?
Yes. Importing employees and leave data is included in the Standard plan.
How long does it take to get started?
Usually the same day. There is no implementation project or training: set up your leave types and approvals, add your employees and invite them.
The Standard plan includes importing your employees and leave data.
Retire the leave spreadsheet this week.
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