Setting up Leave Type

Step 1

On the left menu, go to Setting (a) > Leave (b) > Leave Type (c)

Step 2

Click Add New on the top right corner of the page.

Step 3

Fill in basic details.

a) Leave Name: Enter the name of the leave (e.g., Annual Leave).

b) Label: A shorter label used across the system (e.g., AL).

Step 4

Under General Setting, you will find four (4) key tools:

a) Leave Entitlement Pairing - Pair this leave type with another. The system will follow the higher leave entitlement between the two when calculating available leave. 

If two leaves are paired together, this means when an employee applies for either one of the leaves, the other leave type entitlement will also be deducted accordingly. 

Example: When an employee takes an 'Emergency Leave', it will be deducted from the 'Annual Leave' entitlement as well.

Note: Pairing is not a total combination leave entitlement. When paired, the leave type that has greater entitlement will tend to be reduced whenever the leave type that is paired with has lower entitlement is used. 

b) Day Types Included in Leave Taken - Select whether Off Day, Rest Day, or Holiday should be included in the leave calculation. 

If ticked, these non-working days will still be counted as leave taken.

Example: If ‘Off Day’ is checked, applying leave from Friday to Monday will be counted as 3 days (including the off-day), not 2.

c) Leave Rounding Method - Choose how to round off decimal leave balances:

• None: Keep exact values (e.g., 5.5 days).
• Up: Round up (e.g., 5.5 → 6 days).
• Down: Round down (e.g., 5.5 → 5.0 days).

d) Custom Approval Route - Override the default approval flow by setting a custom route specific to this leave type.

• If you set up a custom approval route leave in this section, the employee approval will follow this route instead of the leave approval workflow that's been preset in the Approval Workflow settings

Step 5

Under Employee Self Service Policy section, you can define the rules when employees apply for this leave.

a) Minimum Days Required – The minimum number of leave days employees can request (e.g., 0.5). We recommend using whole or half-day increments.

b) Maximum Days Allowed – The maximum number of leave days employees are allowed to request at one time.

c) Application for Future Leave – Set how many days in advance an employee must apply for leave before the intended leave date. If the leave is applied within this minimum period, it will be considered an unplanned leave. 

Example:

Today is 14 July. You apply for leave on 16 July.

If the minimum advance notice required is 3 days, the system will mark it as unplanned leave since the notice given is only 2 days.

If the leave date was 17 July or later, it will be treated as normal leave.

d) Application for Back Dated Leave – Set how many days after the actual leave date an employee is allowed to submit a backdated leave application. If the leave is applied within this period, it will be considered an unplanned leave. If the leave date is older than the allowed period, the system will block the submission.

Example: 

Today is 14 July. You apply for leave on 11 July.

If the maximum allowed backdated period is 3 days, the system will mark it as unplanned leave because 11 July is within 3 days period.

If you applied for a date earlier than 11 July, the system would block the request.

Step 6

Select which fields appear on the leave application form, and set them as optional or mandatory.

Note: Ticking Covering Person means employees must assign someone to cover them. 

• The covering person cannot apply for leave on the same date they’re assigned to cover someone else. 
• A covering person can only be assigned to one employee per day, they won’t be available to cover multiple colleagues on the same date.
• When a covering person is selected, the leave request must first be approved by the covering person. Only after that will it proceed to the next approver in the approval workflow.

Step 7

You will find tools as below. Choose either Yes or No based on your leave policy or requirements.

• Allow Taking Unplanned Leave – enables employees to apply for leave with shorter notice than the set requirement in "Application for Future Leave".
  
  
• Allow Taking Future Leave if Current Leave Balance is Zero – enables employees to apply for future leave dates even if their current leave balance is zero. Useful for setups where leave is earned monthly or yearly and will be credited before the leave date.
  
  
• Allow to Apply Leave After Confirm only – restricts leave applications to confirmed employees only. Employees in probation cannot apply for this leave type.
  
  
• Allow Covering Person For Single Leave Only – A covering person can only be assigned to one leave application at a time. 
  
  

Tips: You can read about Unplanned and Backdated Leave FAQ here - How to solve "Unplanned Leave Error"

Step 8

In Leave Info & Entitlement Diplay Policy section, you can choose where this leave type will appear in:

• My Request – Display the leave type when employees submit new leave requests.
• My Individual Leave – Show this leave type under their individual leave balances.
• My Leave History – Display past leave records of this type.

You can also configure how this leave type appears in the payslip.

Display in My Payslip – Choose whether to display this leave type’s taken, pending, balance, and YTD values in the first, second, or other rows of the payslip layout, based on the template selected in Company Settings.

Read how to manage leave type display here: Leave Type Display in Payslip

Step 9

Under Entitlement Policy section, you’ll see the following configuration tools:

a) Entitlement Calculation is Based On:

• Calendar Month – Based on a fixed 12-month cycle (e.g., Jan–Dec).
• Calendar Year – Based on the employee’s year of service.
• Employee Anniversary Year – Based on the employee’s joining month and year.
• Employee Hire Date – Based on hire date.

b) Leave Earning Method:

• None – Full entitlement given upfront (pro-rated if needed).
• By Month – Entitlement earned monthly, available after the month ends.
• By Year – Entitlement earned after completing one year of service.

c) Leave Bring Forward Method:

• Refer to - Setting up Leave Bring Forward

d) Leave Bring Bring Forward Will Expires Within:

• Specify the number of months or days after which the carried forward leave will expire.

e) Employee Progression Prorate

• Automatically adjusts leave entitlement when an employee goes through progression during the leave cycle with a different leave entitlement.
• This settings works together with the Leave Earning Method and Entitlement Calculation settings.
• Check this box to ensure entitlement reflects changes across the year.  
• Uncheck this box to apply only the most recent setting without proration.

Step 10

This section allows you to automate generate leave entitlements for existing staff and/or new joiners, and choose how often it runs (daily, weekly, or monthly). 

Refer to this article to learn more about the leave scheduler: Setting Up Leave Scheduler

If your leave earning is by monthly, you’ll see the Scheduler Generate Until option:

• Previous Month: When the scheduler runs (e.g. on 1 July), it will generate leave up to June only.
• Current Month: When the scheduler runs (e.g. on 1 July), it will generate leave up to and including July.

Note: This setting helps you control how far ahead the system should generate leave entitlements based on your company’s policies. Once you have set up this field, you won't have to manually generate leave anymore.

Click Continue and you will be brought to the next page of Entitlements. 

Step 11

Click on Add Entitlement.

Step 12

Here, you can create an entitlement table based on years of service:

a) Entitlement Name: Name the group (e.g., Contract Staff Entitlement).

b) Add Row: Insert multiple tiers (e.g., 0–1 year = 12 days, 2–5 years = 14 days).

c) Copy Setting: Use this to duplicate entitlement settings from another leave type.

Step 13

Then, choose the staff that are entitled for the leave. You can choose from four (4) selection methods:

a) All Available Users - Select from all users registered in the system. Use the filters on the left-side panel to include or exclude specific employees as needed.

b) Teams - Assign employees based on Teams created.

c) Manual Selections - Search and select individual employees manually. Use the Search Filter on the left panel, then click the + / – buttons to add or remove employees from the list.

d) Import Selections - Bulk import employee selections by either:

• Pasting your records into the provided field, or
• Clicking  Upload button to upload a file.

Step 14

You will be directed to the Priority section, where you’ll see:

• Priority
• Entitlements
• Criteria
• Eligible employees

Lastly, click Save to complete the setup. Now you’ve successfully set up a new leave type!

We hope this explanation clarifies the matter. If you require additional assistance, do not hesitate to contact our support team.