1. Customer-Facing Knowledge Base
1.1 Admin Side
The admin side of the Leave module allows HR managers and administrators to manage leave requests, leave balances, and view the leave calendar. Major features include:
Manage leave requests – view submitted leaves, approve or decline, issue leave requests and schedule leave individually or in bulk.
Leave overview – view and assign leave policies, monitor leave balances and leave reports, apply filters for country, policy type, departments, and export reports.
Leave calendar – view all leave events and holidays on a calendar view with month/week toggle and filter options.
Leave settings- This covers creating and modifying leave policies, setting approval notifications and configuring additional leave options.
Manage leave requests
Instructions:
Navigate to Leave > Leave Requests. You will land on the “Manage leave requests” page where you can see submitted requests requiring approval with a table of employee, policy, dates, days/time requested and approval stage
To schedule leave for an employee: select Schedule leave and choose Add one by one or Bulk upload
Fill the form with country, employee, policy, start date, reporting date, reliever, and reason; then submit
Scheduled leave days must be issued before they appear for approval
To issue leave directly: select Issue leave and complete the similar form to raise a leave request on behalf of an employee.
The All leaves and Scheduled leaves tabs show all active or scheduled leaves with filter options for country, status, employee and date range
Use the filter button to narrow requests by status (e.g., needs approval, active) and export requests if needed
Leave Overview
In Leave Overview you can:
View the Leave balances tab for each employee’s leave policy, accrued days, days taken and current balance. Use the Assign leave policy button to assign leave policies individually or in bulk
Fill the side form with country, employees, policy, and balance details
Open the Leave report tab to see liability amount, days brought forward, accrued days and period taken. Filters are available for country and policy; you can export the report in PDF or Excel
Use the filters button to filter by countries, policy type, department, employee status, liability amount and balance
Leave Calendar
In Leave Calendar:
Use the Today and arrow buttons to navigate months and the Select month dropdown to jump to a specific month. Switch between month and week view and search for employees on leave
Use the filter to display leave events by status (submitted, scheduled, active or holiday)
Leave Policies
Navigate to the Leave Policies tab: Go to Settings → Leaves and make sure the Leave policies tab is selected. You will see a table listing existing policies, a country filter and a search bar
View and filter policies: Use the Country Selected filter to see policies for a specific country and the search bar to find a policy by name
Add a new policy: Click Add new leave policy and fill in the form. Required fields include:
Policy country - This field represents the policy’s country. Only employees whose country of residence matches this country’s policy, can be assigned to it. The value cannot be edited, it is automatically preselected based on the country you chose in the previous step under the country attribute.
Policy name and policy code. - This is what is used to identify and differentiate the leave policies. One cannot assign different policies with the same name or code
Leave schedule:
a. Accrual (days accumulate gradually)
What it means: Leave days are earned progressively over time, rather than being available all at once. For example, if an employee is entitled to 24 days of annual leave, they might accrue 2 days per month.
How it works:
Employees only see or can take leave that has already accrued.
Prevents employees from using their full entitlement upfront.
Common in organizations that want to align leave balance with length of service.
Example: If an employee joins in January with a 24-day entitlement, by the end of March they will have accrued 6 days (2 per month).
b. Cumulative (full entitlement allocated at once).
What it means: The employee receives their entire leave entitlement for the year (or leave cycle) upfront at the beginning of the period.
How it works:
Employees can use any or all of their leave from day one of the cycle.
Simplifies leave planning for employees and managers.
May create a risk if employees leave the company mid-cycle after using more days than they have technically "earned."
Example: If an employee has a 24-day annual entitlement, they immediately see all 24 days available from January 1st (or from their join date).
No. of days: Total annual entitlement.
Gender restrictions: Male, Female or Both.
Male - This policy can only be assigned to employees whose gender is set to male in the system
Female - This policy can only be assigned to employees whose gender is set to female in the system
Both - Applies to both genders
Leave structure: Choose Calendar year or Contract year.
Rollover options: Determine whether:
Unused days roll over to the next year
At the end of a certain month the unused days should expire
Leave days should not expire
Supporting documents: Require employees to attach documents when applying leave for this leave policy e.g If you require employees to have a sick note before applying for leave
Off days & public holidays: Decide whether employees designated off days or a country’s set public holidays count as leave
What it means: Determines whether weekends, rest days, or public holidays should be deducted from an employee’s leave balance if they fall within the leave period.
Options:
Count as leave → The days are deducted from the employee’s entitlement.
Do not count as leave → The days are skipped, and only working days are deducted.
Example:
An employee applies for 5 days of leave from Monday to Friday.If Wednesday is a public holiday:
If holidays count as leave → 5 days deducted.
If holidays do not count as leave → 4 days deducted.
Negative balance
What it means: Defines whether an employee can take more leave days than they currently have accrued or allocated.
Options:
Allow negative balances → Employees can request leave even if they don’t have enough days, creating a negative leave balance.
Do not allow negative balances → Employees can only apply for leave if they have enough days.
Example:
An employee has 2 days available but applies for 5 days.
If negative balances are allowed → The employee’s balance becomes –3 days.
If not allowed → The system blocks the request until more leave is accrued.
Unpaid leave: Mark the policy as unpaid leave
What it means: When an employee takes this leave the days are treated as unpaid. The employee does not receive a salary for those days.
How it works:
The leave is still recorded in the system for tracking purposes.
Payroll will deduct the employee’s daily rate for each day of unpaid leave taken.
Example:
An employee submits a leave request under the Unpaid Leave policy. Once the request is approved:
The system records 3 days of unpaid leave.
If the employee’s daily rate is $50, payroll will deduct $150 from their salary for that month.
Edit or delete a policy: Use the eye, edit, or trash icons in the actions column to view, edit, or remove a policy.
Note: The delete option (trash icon) is available only for newly created leave policies; existing policies cannot be deleted.
View
Edit
Approval Settings
In the Approval settings tab, you can determine how long an approver will wait before receiving an email reminder if a leave request is still pending. Enter the number of hours and save
Other Settings
The Other settings tab contains several global options
Allow employees to see the leaves of other employees: choose whether employees can view leave details of colleagues in the same department, branch or company.
Leave duration configuration: choose Return Date (employees pick start and return dates; the system calculates days) or Days & Hours (employees enter the duration; the system calculates the return date).
Leave policy document: upload your company’s leave policy. Existing documents can be viewed or deleted.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I add a new leave policy?
Go to Settings → Leaves → Leave policies, click Add new leave policy, complete the fields (name, schedule type, days, gender, structure, rollover, documents, off days/holidays, negative balance, unpaid status) and save.
What’s the difference between Accrual and Cumulative schedules?
Accrual distributes leave days gradually across the year, while Cumulative allocates the full entitlement at once.
How can I control which employees see each other’s leave details?
In Other settings, choose Department, Branch or Company under “Allow employees to see the leaves of other employees.”
What’s the difference between Return Date and Days & Hours?
Return Date requires employees to specify their start and return dates; the system calculates the number of days. Days & Hours lets employees specify the duration directly; the system calculates the return date.
How do I set email reminders for pending leave approvals?
On the Approval settings tab, enter the number of hours after which the leave approver will receive a reminder email for unapproved requests.
1.2 Employee Side
Employees can manage their leave from the Leave tab. Features include viewing leave balances, requesting leave, and seeing who is away.
Instructions:
On the Manage your leaves page, you can view leave balances for each leave policy (e.g., Annual leave, Maternity leave) with days assigned and days taken
To view your company’s leave policy document, click the link (note: it opens a PDF – if the link fails, contact support).
To see who’s away, click See who’s away. A calendar shows employees on leave with navigation controls and a month/week toggle
To request leave, click Request leave and fill the request form: select the leave policy, choose a start date and reporting date, optionally enable half-day, specify a reliever, and provide a reason
Then submit.
The All Leave Requests table shows your leave history and current requests. Use the search bar to find specific requests, apply a status filter (active, approved, attended, cancelled etc.), and click the three‑dot menu to view details
Selecting View info opens a side panel with full leave details such as policy, dates, days requested and approval stage
Leave Settings
The Leave settings page allows administrators to define leave policies, configure approval reminders and manage global leave options. This section is intended for HR.
Who Can Use It
Only users with a role that has permissions to modify the Leave settings.
Key Tasks
Add or modify leave policies: Use the Add new leave policy button to create a policy or the action icons to edit/delete.
Set approval reminders: On the Approval settings tab, enter the number of hours before an approver is reminded.
Configure visibility and duration: In Other settings, specify who can see others’ leave details and select the leave duration method.
Manage leave policy documents: Upload or update the company leave policy document and use View or Delete to manage existing files.
Leave Statuses
Submitted - the leave has been submitted but it has not been approved yet and the leave period has or hasn’t reached
Active - the leave has been fully approved and the leave period has reached and is running
Attended - the leave has been fully approved and the period that the employee was supposed to be on leave has passed
Approved - The leave has been approved but the leave period has not reached
Disapproved - The leave has been disapproved either at the first or second stage
Canceled - Leaves that have been fully approved but the balance needs to be reverted to the employees balance. When this action is done the number of leave days go back to the employee’s balance. This action can only be done for fully approved leaves
Partially approved - The leave has only been approved by one approver but there are multiple approval levels
Deleted - The leave will never appear anywhere. This action can only be done on leaves that have not been approved.
Leave notifications
The Leave Module automatically sends notifications to keep relevant users informed throughout the leave request process. Notifications are triggered by specific actions and delivered via configured communication channels.
Notification Types & Recipients
Leave request submitted: Confirmation of leave request submission sent to the employee and the line manager/approver immediately.
Leave not approved within set period: Reminder sent to the line manager/approver to take action on pending leave requests after a configurable number of hours.
Leave approved: Notification of approved leave sent to the employee immediately upon approval.
Leave rejected: Notification of rejected leave sent to the employee immediately upon rejection.
Leave cancelled: Notification of leave cancellation sent to both the employee and the line manager/approver immediately.
Notification Triggers
Notifications are automatically sent based on the following actions:
Submission of a leave request
Approval or rejection of a leave request
Cancellation of a leave request
A leave request remaining unapproved beyond the specified timeframe
Delivery Methods
Email: Default notification channel for all users.
SMS: Sent only if the user’s communication method is set to a phone number in the system.
Configuration Options
System administrators can configure:
The time interval for pending approval reminders
The default communication method per user or department
SMS availability based on user communication setup
Note: Reminders are sent automatically to leave approvers if a leave request remains unapproved after the configured time threshold (e.g., 24 hours), helping ensure timely processing.
Troubleshooting & Escalation
Policy won’t save: Check that all required fields are filled and the policy name is unique.
Document upload fails: Ensure the file format (PDF, DOCX) and size meet requirements.
Employees can’t see colleagues’ leave: Verify the selected visibility setting (Department/Branch/Company).
Reminders not sent: Confirm approver email addresses and that the hours value is set in Approval settings.
Further escalation: If problems persist, gather screenshots and logs and contact Workpay Product Support.
Leave Period
Purpose of the Feature
The Leave Period defines the specific timeframe within which employee leave is tracked, accrued, and managed. It ensures that all leave activities — such as accrual, carryover, and forfeiture — occur within a controlled and auditable period.
This feature provides flexibility for organizations that operate on different time structures, allowing configuration based on either a Calendar Year or an Employee Contract Year.
System Dependencies and Triggers
Leave Period generation depends on two primary conditions:
An active leave policy must be assigned to the employee.
An active employment contract must exist (for contract-based setups).
If either dependency is missing or inactive, the system does not generate a new leave period.
Additionally, Leave Period calculations are influenced by the following settings within the Leave Policy:
Accrual Method: Determines whether leave days accumulate progressively (e.g., monthly) or are granted in full at the start of the period.
Expiry and Carryover Rules: Define whether unused days expire at the end of a leave period or roll over into the next one.
Leave Periods are automatically created by the system when:
A new calendar year begins (for Calendar Year configurations).
A contract is renewed or activated (for Contract Year configurations).
Leave Period Configurations
1. Calendar Year Setting
The leave period runs from January 1st to December 31st of each year.
Leave balances reset or carry over based on the organization’s carryover policy.
The next leave period is automatically generated at the start of a new calendar year.
Example:
Leave period: January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025
Note:
If the organization changes to a contract-based structure mid-year, the current calendar period will close, and a new contract-aligned period will begin.
2. Contract Year Setting
The leave period aligns with each employee’s contract start and end dates.
When a contract is renewed, a new leave period is automatically created based on the new contract dates.
If the contract is not renewed:
The system ends the current leave period on the contract end (exit) date
Accrual immediately stops.
The system automatically pulls the employee’s leave balance from the leave module and calculates the equivalent leave payout value.
HR can then adjust the number of payable days or forfeit them, depending on company policy.
Leave Period Column in Employee Leave Report and Overview
The Leave Period column appears in both the Employee Leave Report and the Leave Overview table.
In these tables, the column displays the specific timeframe during which each employee’s leave is tracked and managed. This helps HR teams:
Quickly confirm which period each balance belongs to.
Distinguish between active and past periods.
Ensure accuracy when reviewing leave accruals, balances, and carryovers.
All past leave periods remain visible for reference but are locked from any further edits or accrual.
Leave Period Filter in Activity Trail
Within the Leave Overview section of the Leave module, users can access detailed leave activity for specific leave periods via the Activity Trail.
To access this, go to Leave > Leave Overview.
Under the Leave balances tab, find the relevant employee and leave period.
Click the three-dot menu next to the leave period and select View activity trail.
In the Activity Trail view, use the Leave Period filter at the top to select and apply a specific leave period or date range.
This filter allows HR and managers to precisely audit leave transactions within the selected timeframe, improving accuracy and efficiency in leave management.
Client Visibility and Impact
The Leave Period field now appears when assigning a leave policy to employees.
This allows HR or Admin users to specify or confirm the correct leave period tied to the employee’s policy.
Past leave periods are visible in the system for historical reference, improving accuracy when reviewing or auditing leave data.
No additional client setup is required — the system automatically generates leave periods based on the configured structure (Calendar Year or Contract Year).
FAQs – Leave Period Feature
1. What triggers the creation of a new leave period?
A new leave period is automatically generated when a new calendar year begins (for Calendar setups) or when an employee’s contract is renewed or activated (for Contract setups).
2. What happens when an employee’s contract ends?
The system automatically closes the leave period, stops accrual, and pulls the remaining leave balance for HR to process — either payout or forfeiture based on company policy.
3. Can HR manually create or edit a leave period?
No. Leave periods are system-generated. HR can only view them and manage the resulting balances.
4. Are past leave periods visible?
Yes. All past leave periods remain visible in the system for historical and audit purposes.
5. Is any client setup required?
No. The system automatically assigns and manages leave periods once a leave policy is linked to an employee.