Time off policies define how employees earn and use PTO and Paid Sick Leave. You can create multiple policies — for example, separate PTO policies for front-of-house and back-of-house staff — and assign them to specific employees. PTO and Paid Sick Leave hours are automatically calculated and added to timesheets when approved.
To create a new policy, go to Requests → Time Off Policies and click Create New. Policy creation is a 4-step wizard.
Step 1: Accrual Setup
Start by selecting the Policy Type (PTO or Paid Sick Leave) and giving the policy a Name.
Next, choose an Accrual Method:
Fixed
Employees earn a set number of hours per year. Enter the Total hours per year, then choose an Earning Frequency:
Throughout the year weekly — hours accrue gradually each week. Select a Weekly cycle (1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks) and a Weekly cycle begins on date.
All at once (beginning of each year) — the full balance is added on January 1st each year.
Employee's anniversary date — the full balance is added on each employee's work anniversary.
Hourly
Employees earn hours based on time worked. Set the Accrual Type:
Timecards — accrual is based on actual hours clocked in. Requires the Time Clock module to be enabled.
Scheduled Shifts — accrual is based on scheduled shift hours.
Then set the Rate: enter how many hours are earned per how many hours worked (for example, 1 hour earned per 20 hours worked).
Step 2: Settings
Negative Balances
This controls how far into the negative an employee's balance can go. If left empty, employees cannot request time off they haven't earned yet. Enter a number (e.g. 8) to allow employees to go up to that many hours into the negative.
Carryover Limit
Set the maximum number of hours an employee can carry over from one year to the next. Any hours above this limit will be removed at year end. Leave blank for no carryover limit.
Time Off Limitations
Check the box to require employees to submit requests a minimum amount of time in advance. Enter a number and choose Days, Hours, or Weeks. Requests submitted too close to the start date will be blocked.
Tenure Accrual
Enable this to reward employees with more time off as they reach work anniversaries. Check Enable Tenure Accrual to expand the section, then add milestones with an anniversary, new total per year, and click Add.
Click Next when done.
Step 3: Enroll Employees
Choose which employees to assign to this policy. You can select by group using the role buttons at the top, or check employees individually. The Selected Employees panel on the right shows your current selections.
⚠️ If a selected employee is already assigned to another PTO policy, they will be moved to this new one. A warning will appear flagging these employees before you proceed.
Click Next when done.
Step 4: Starting Balances
For each enrolled employee, enter their Employee Start Date and any existing Balance (hours) they're bringing over. Click Save to finish creating the policy.
Editing or Deleting a Policy
From the Time Off Policies page, click the pencil icon next to any policy to edit it, or the trash icon to delete it. The Unpaid Time Off policy cannot be deleted — it is a system default.
Viewing Employee Balances
The Balances section at the bottom of the Time Off Policies page shows every employee's current PTO and Paid Sick Leave balances in one place. Use the Filter button to search by employee name or role.
What to Read Next
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