Leave balances and counters

This article explains how to read a leave balance, how it is calculated, what happens when a new period starts, and how HR adjusts a balance or changes an employee’s policy. The first part is for everyone; the second is for HR and payroll managers.

Before you start #

• Viewing your balances: “View own counters (balance, accrued, taken, planned)”, Access level (all roles by default). Opening the detail of a balance: “View balance details (sidebar breakdown)”, Access level.
• Adjusting a balance or changing an employee’s policy: “Adjust a time counter”, Execute level. By default: Administrator, Payroll Manager and HR Manager.
• Balance payout: “Request a leave balance payout”, “Approve a leave balance payout” and “Execute a leave balance payout without approval”, Execute level.
• The reason for an absence is sensitive data: without the “View the reason for absences across the role’s population” permission, a colleague’s balances by type are not shown (Balances not visible card).

Reading your balances #

Open My Profile › Absences, Balances & history tab.

The “Balances as of” date #

The Balances as of field sets the date at which balances are calculated: today by default. Choose another date to see what will be accrued on a future date, or what was accrued on a past one; the Today button returns to the current date. The period shown follows this date.

The top banner #

The five tiles Total granted, Used, Planned, Pending and Remaining cover the main paid leave counter only. If you have several contracts, a Leave — all contracts box adds the consolidated available balance and that of each contract.

Leave balances #

The Leave balances section shows one row per absence type that is visible in balances, with five columns:

A row in hours (for example holidays accrued on clocked hours) also shows a year-end projection.

Balance details #

Click a row to open its details. The header recalls Granted, Used, Planned, Pending and Balance, then a calculation line such as “25 + 3 carry-over − 5 used − 2 planned − 1 pending = 20 left”. The tabs:

• Balances: the balance year by year; for event-based leave, usage by reason;
• History: the Balance movements of the period (Accrual, Carry-over, Exceptional adjustment, Leave taken, Planned leave, Pending request) with the balance after each movement;
• Policy: the policy applied to the employee;
• Adjust: for HR only (see below).

How the balance is calculated #

• The entitlement comes from the assigned policy. For paid leave it accrues month by month: annual entitlement (with any seniority bonus) × the month’s work rate ÷ 12. The rate in force on the 1st of the month applies to the whole month. A hire in the middle of a month does not accrue that month; on leaving, the policy decides whether the month of departure counts.
• When the entitlement is granted depends on the policy: all at once at the start of the period, or in monthly instalments (the entitlement grows each month).
• Days used follow the type’s day count (calendar, working, business or scheduled days). For a part-timer’s paid leave, each day booked is counted pro rata to the work rate: at 80%, one day booked deducts 0.8 day.
• Pending requests reserve their days for paid leave and for types with a limited entitlement: the remaining balance takes them into account. For other types they are shown without affecting the balance.
• Left = entitlement + carryover − used − planned (− pending when the request reserves its days).

Period rollover and carryover #

Every night, Illizeo automatically opens the new period for employees whose period has ended: the entitlement is recalculated and the unused balance follows the carryover rule. That rule is looked up in this order: the employee’s policy, otherwise the absence type, otherwise the company default (Settings › Time Management › Company Rules, Balance carryover (leave) section). There are four behaviours:

• No carryover: the unused balance is lost;
• Carryover with expiry: the carried-over days must be used before a fixed date or within a delay after the period ends; once expired, they no longer count;
• Capped carryover: carryover is limited to a number of days;
• Unlimited carryover: the whole balance is carried over.

Carryover has no column of its own: it is included in Left and appears in the balance details (calculation line and “Carry-over” movement). Main paid leave follows the calendar year; other types follow their policy’s period.

HR actions on a balance #

Editing the entitlement #

1. Click the Edit balance pencil on the row (or open the Adjust tab of the details).
2. In Edit entitlement, choose Add, Subtract or Set, then the number of days.
3. Enter the Value date: the adjustment only counts in the period of that date.
4. Add a note if needed and click Save adjustment.

The adjustment applies immediately, without approval, and remains traceable in the balance movements. The employee’s policy is not changed. A subtraction that would make the entitlement negative is refused.

Changing an employee’s policy #

1. In the balance details, Policy tab, click Change policy.
2. In Choose a policy, select the new policy, or No policy (no entitlement for this type on this contract, for example an external worker paid by the day).
3. Answer Effective from which date?: Hire date (accruals and carryovers are rebuilt from the hire date, manual adjustments are kept), January 1st (the policy’s current period) or Custom date.
4. Click Apply this policy.

A future custom date is scheduled: the change applies on the night of that date. The Remove the policy button deletes the type’s counter for this contract, with all its movements: use it with care.

Paying out or converting a balance #

If the organisation allows counter payouts and the policy makes the balance payable, the Request payout button appears on the row. Choose Payout in salary or Conversion to another balance, the number of Days and a reason. The request goes for approval (an Approve button on the row for those entitled); a person allowed to execute without approval sees it applied at once. Statutory holidays are not paid out during the contract: only the part above the legal minimum can be, except on leaving.

Buying holidays and rest days #

• With a holiday purchase policy, the Buy holidays button lets employees buy weeks, within the annual cap; the purchase is subject to approval, then credited. The salary deduction is entered in payroll.
• For a rest-day policy, the Month by month button shows each month’s quota, increase, days booked and reduction; HR can Raise a month.

Other counters on the tab #

• Hour counters (overtime, night, Saturday hours): visible if the Attendance module is active; the Convert to days arrow turns hours into leave days, depending on permissions.
• Paid leave after sick leave: the entitlement recalculated after sick leave and the date by which to take it.
• Pregnancy hours: the week’s entitlement, what has been used and what is left; HR enters the dates with Enter dates.

Good to know #

• The top banner only concerns paid leave: for other types, read their row.
• “Granted − Used − Planned − Pending” does not always equal “Left”: the difference is the carryover, visible in the details.
• The dashboard widgets show balances as of today, without a “Balances as of” date.
• Policy assignments, scheduled ones included, are recorded in the user log; entitlement adjustments remain visible in the balance movements.