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Region: This article is for all Deputy customers except those with Australian accounts. If your account URL ends in Features: Some of the features described in this article may not be available on your current Deputy plan or may require an add-on. See Introduction to Leave Management for a breakdown of available features by plan. |
This article explains how to set up and configure leave policies in Deputy.
Before you read
- Target audience: This article is for users with System Administrator access.
- Plan restrictions: To check which leave features are available on each Deputy plan, see Introduction to Leave Management.
This article covers:
- Before you set up leave policies
- Watch a video on how to create leave policies
- How to access leave policies
- Deputy default leave policies
- Add a new leave policy
- Configuring leave policies - Leave Management features on all plans
- Configuring leave policies - Leave Management features on Core and higher
- Configuring leave policies - Leave Management+ features
- Final steps
Before you set up leave policies
Before you start setting up leave policies, be aware of the following:
- Only System Administrators can add and configure new leave policies for their organization in Deputy. Location Managers can assign leave policies to team members through their employee profiles.
- Currently, it is not possible to archive or delete leave policies.
- Leave Management and Leave Management+ features are available across Deputy's Lite, Core, and Pro plans. See Introduction to Leave Management for a breakdown of the features available with each plan.
Watch a video on how to create leave policies
How to access leave policies
- Open the drop-down menu under your name and select Business settings.
- On the Leave policies tab, you will see a list of policies you can Edit and an option to Create leave policy.
| Note: Business Settings has a new look. These updates are being gradually rolled out and will soon be available in all Deputy accounts. |
Business Settings (classic) |
Business Settings |
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Deputy default leave policies
Your Deputy account comes with 10 leave policies added by default:
- Annual Leave (Vacation)
- Bereavement (Compassionate)
- Community Service Leave
- Long Service Leave
- Other Paid Leave
- Sick (Personal/Carer's) Leave
- Time Off In Lieu
- Unpaid Leave - Leave
- Unpaid Leave - No Show
- Unpaid Leave - Sick
Keep in mind that these policies are suggestions, and we recommend consulting your legal or HR advisers to review the settings. You can configure any of these default policies by hovering over the required leave policy and clicking Edit.
You can also add and configure your own new leave policy.
Add a new leave policy
Click Create leave policy.
You'll be taken to the leave policy builder where you can create a new leave policy from scratch.
In some regions, Deputy also provides preconfigured leave policies that you can customize. If these are available in your region, you'll first be prompted to choose whether to create a new policy from scratch or customize a policy from Deputy's leave library.
Create a new policy from scratch
If you're prompted to choose how to create your policy, select Start from scratch, then click Continue, then configure your leave policy.
Customize library leave policy
If preconfigured leave policies are available in your region, select Customize library leave policy. Use the drop-down menu to select the leave policy you want to customize. You can also type in the field to search for a policy.
Some of the region-specific policies available in Deputy's leave library include:
Once you have selected the leave policy you want to customize, click Continue.
The leave policy builder will open with settings preconfigured for the policy you selected. Review the settings and customize them to suit your requirements.
Configuring leave policies - Leave Management features on all plans
The following leave policy core settings are available across Deputy's Lite, Core, and Pro plans.
Policy name and group
Set your leave policy name.
You can use optional policy groups to organize your different leave policies:
- Leave this field empty if you don't want to use leave policy groups.
- Select an existing group.
- Use the drop-down menu to create a new leave policy group.
Paid or unpaid leave
Select whether this leave type is paid or unpaid.
Leave units - Hours or Days
Select whether you will track this leave policy in hours or days for each team member.
Important: Once you have set up a leave policy, selected either the hours or days tracking option, and assigned the leave policy to a team member where leave is accruing, the policy is considered active. You can no longer change the policy from tracking in days to hours or hours to days. Make sure you choose this option carefully when configuring your leave. If you need to change between tracking leave in hours or days, set up a new leave policy and assign it to your team members.
Visible to employees
If you select Yes, this leave policy will be hidden from team members when viewing and requesting leave.
You might choose to hide a leave policy when you want managers to be the only ones to manage a leave entitlement. An example might be jury duty leave, where managers can request and approve leave on behalf of team members, but team members can't view or request that leave themselves.
Leave policy export
If you are exporting leave to payroll, you can configure how this leave policy will export:
- With the associated pay condition.
- With an export code that you specify.
If you choose to export your leave with an associated pay condition, it will use the associated pay condition export code, if set. The option you choose depends on what code your payroll system is configured to receive.
Calculate average working hours
Read Set up a leave policy that calculates average working hours for your team member for a more detailed explanation of this leave policy configuration option.
Note: Below is a screenshot of the Lite plan, however on higher plans more features become available.
Configuring leave policies - Leave Management features on Core and higher
Core includes additional options for automatically accruing leave. These features are also available on Pro and on eligible plans with the Deputy HR add-on.
Leave accrual options
All new leave policies you create default to Does not accrue, but you can select the method you want to use to calculate how much leave your team members accrue under this leave policy.
Does not accrue
If you choose to create a leave policy that does not accrue leave, you can also select a checkbox that prevents leave from being deducted from this policy.
Note: If this checkbox is selected to create a leave policy that does not accrue or deduct leave, managers can still manually update leave balances in the team member's profile.
Hourly accrual
If you need your leave policy to accrue leave based on the hours your team members work, select Hourly.
You have two choices: per hour worked or per threshold worked.
Per hour worked
To accrue leave according to the hours worked, click Per hour worked.
You can set:
- The rate at which this policy will accrue leave.
- Whether the rate is accrued as straight hours or as a percentage of hours that the team member has worked.
- Whether team members accrue this leave on overtime hours in addition to ordinary hours worked.
Per threshold worked
To accrue leave according to a threshold of hours worked, click Per threshold worked.
You can set:
- The amount of leave that is accrued in hours or days, according to how the leave policy has been configured.
- The number of hours that need to be worked to reach the threshold to accrue the leave.
- Whether team members accrue this leave on overtime hours in addition to ordinary hours worked.
Fixed accrual
If you need your leave policy to release a fixed amount of leave, you can configure:
- How many hours will be released, or days depending on what you selected when configuring how leave is tracked.
- How often the hours or days are released:
- Every week.
- Every month.
- Every quarter.
- Every year.
- Whether they are released starting on a specific date or the team member's hire date.
Note: If you choose a specific date for fixed leave to be accrued, it will only be added to your team member's balance the next time that date passes. Learn more.
Note: If you choose to release fixed leave on an annual cycle, you can also select an optional checkbox if you want the leave policy to release pro-rata amounts of leave for team members who join your organization part-way through the fixed leave accrual period. Learn more about pro-rata fixed leave accrual.
Configuring leave policies - Leave Management+ features
Leave Management+ features are available on Pro or when the Deputy HR add-on is added to an eligible Lite or Core plan. If a feature isn't included with your current plan, it will appear locked in Deputy.
Leave accrual options
Based on regular working hours
If you need to configure a leave policy that accrues leave based on the team member's regular working days, you can set:
- Weather Part-time team members with agreed hours receive a portion of the full-time entitlement based on working days or working weeks.
- The number of days or weeks of leave allowed for a standard full-time entitlement.
- Whether leave will be released each year on:
- A specific date.
- The team member's hire date.
- Whether team members who join your organization part-way through the year accrue pro-rata amounts of the leave entitlement. Read more about pro-rata leave accrual.
- Whether leave recalculates when a team members regular working hours changed. Read more about Automatically recalculate leave when a team member's regular working hours change
- Whether you want to add a tenure-based rule.
For more details on setting up this option, read Set up a leave policy that accrues leave based on regular working hours.
Adding a tenure-based rule
When adding a policy that is based on:
- Hourly accrual.
- Fixed accrual.
- Regular working hours.
You have the option to add a tenure-based rule.
A tenure-based rule allows different amounts of leave to be accrued depending on how long the team member has been with your organization.
Note: For this policy to function, you need to have the team member's hire date entered accurately in their employee profile.
To add a tenure-based rule to a leave policy, click Add tenure-based rule in the leave accrual section of the leave policy.
Add the time frame from the hire date when you want the leave policy to begin accruing at a different amount, then enter the new leave accrual amount.
Click Add another rule to set up more tenure-based rules.
Read Tenure-based leave rule FAQs.
Leave balance options
Rollover or reset leave
Choose whether you want to roll over or reset the leave balance for this leave policy.
You can roll over the entire balance on:
- A specific date.
- The team member's hire date.
You can roll over a nominated portion of the balance on:
- A specific date.
- The team member's hire date.
This option may be useful for organizations where the team member's contract specifies how much of their annual leave entitlement they can carry over to the following period.
You can also reset the leave balance on:
- A specific date.
- The team member's hire date.
Note: If you have configured a leave policy that releases leave on a specific date and that date is the same as the date you configured to reset the leave balance, Deputy always performs the reset action before releasing leave.
Set a leave request balance limit
You can set a minimum leave balance to control whether team members can submit leave requests that would take their balance below a specified limit.
- Click Leave request balance limit.
- Configure the limit:
- Set balance limit: Enter a positive or negative value for the minimum allowable balance. For example, to allow team members to reach a negative leave balance of 2 days, enter -2.
- Action when limit exceeded: Choose whether to Block requests that exceed limit or Allow requests that exceed limit and notify managers.
For more information, see Leave request balance limits.
Set a maximum balance
You can turn on and set an optional maximum balance for the maximum amount of leave your team members can accrue for this leave policy.
- Click Set max balance.
- Enter the amount of leave you want to set as your maximum balance.
Note: This setting can be used independently of Max yearly leave accrual or used with it.
Set a maximum yearly accrual
In some regions, you can turn on and set an optional maximum yearly accrual for the maximum amount of leave your team members can accrue for this leave policy.
- Click Set max yearly accrual.
- Enter the amount of leave you want to set as your maximum yearly accrual. The yearly accrual resets on January 1.
Note: This setting can be used independently of Max leave balance level or used with it.
Supporting document options
Require supporting documents
You can require team members to upload a supporting document, such as a medical certificate or fit note, when requesting leave.
To turn this option on:
- Click Require supporting documents.
- Choose when team members need to upload a supporting document.
- Required for all requests: Team members will be required to submit a supporting document for every request submitted under this leave type. If they don't upload a supporting document, the leave request cannot be sent to their manager.
- Required after a set duration: Team members will only be prompted to upload supporting documents when their leave request reaches a certain time threshold. For example, you may require a medical certificate for sick leave lasting 5 calendar days or more.
If you've selected Required after a set duration, you'll need to decide on the number of leave days after which supporting documentation is required. In the Document threshold field, enter the relevant number of calendar days.
Note: The threshold is based on the total length of the leave request in calendar days, including weekends. If a request includes multiple leave types, the combined duration is used.
| Important note on leave documents: Leave documents may contain sensitive personal or health information. Your business is responsible for following all applicable laws. Request only what is needed, limit access to authorized personnel with a business need, and apply appropriate retention and deletion practices. This feature is intended for employment-related leave records, not medical-record management. |
Additional options
Request outside of current leave year
If you create leave policies with this option selected, your team members can request leave in the next leave accrual year and the current one.
If you set up a leave policy with this option turned on, you can view the leave balance for both the current and future leave year in the employee's profile. The leave balance for the current and future year can also be viewed on the Deputy mobile app by the manager and employee (if the ability to view leave balances has been turned on for your team).
Accruing leave while on leave
You can turn on the option for this leave policy to accrue leave when the team member is on leave. You can select which leave types will continue to accrue leave when the team member takes leave from this leave policy:
- All leave types.
- Paid leave only.
- Unpaid leave only.
- Specific types of leave selected from the drop-down menu.
Final steps
Once you have configured your leave policy options, click Save.
You are now ready to assign your leave policy to your team members.