To set up a Vacation and Leave policy, you need to define a series of parameters that will determine how the balance is calculated, how employees can request time off, and how approvals are managed.
To create a policy, you should:
1️⃣ Go to admin.humand.co and access the Vacations and Leave module.
2️⃣ Go to the Policies tab and click on "+ New Policy"
When configuring, you'll find the following sections:
- In this section, you set up the general information for the policy.
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Policy type: You must select a previously created type (Vacation, Sick Days, Study Days, etc.).
Once the policy is created, you cannot edit which type it is related to. - Policy name: This is an internal name, not visible to employees. Example: “Argentina Vacation”, “Supervisors Vacation”.
- Description: You can add clarifying information about the policy or applicable regulations.
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Policy type: You must select a previously created type (Vacation, Sick Days, Study Days, etc.).
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Here you define how days are granted and managed.
Entitlement
Lets you choose the type of entitlement:
- Basic annual entitlement: A fixed number of days is granted per period.
- Unlimited: There is no set limit of days (usually used for leaves like sick leave).
Accrual cycle
Defines the period over which the employee's balance is calculated and includes:
- Activity period: The date range that makes up the cycle (for example, October–September or January–December).
- Accrual frequency: Can be annual or monthly.
To understand in detail how the cycle, frequency, and accrual timing work, check out this article:
👉 How do the cycle, frequency, and accrual timing work?Accrual timing
Applies only when the frequency is annual and defines whether days are credited at the start or end of the cycle.
If you want to learn more about how this setting affects balances, see:
👉 When are days credited in a policy?Proration
Lets you define if days are deducted as:
- Calendar days
- Business days
More information here:
👉 How is proration calculated and what's the difference between calendar days and business days?Balance limits
In this section you set up:
- Carryover
- Carryover expiration
- Maximum balance at the end of the cycle
- Minimum balance at the start of the cycle
For a detailed explanation of each concept, see:
👉 What do carryover, expiration, and balance limits mean in a policy?Entitlement increase
Lets you set up additional days based on seniority or other conditions defined by your organization.
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Here you define the conditions under which employees can submit requests.
- Minimum notice
- Allow or disallow retroactive requests
- Minimum and maximum request period
- Allow half-day requests
- Attach a file
- Special settings (policy order or overlap)
For more information:
👉 What rules can I set when requesting Vacations and Leave? -
Defines who will need to approve requests associated with this policy.
You can use:
- General approval flow
- Custom flow
More information at:
👉 How do I assign Vacation and Leave approvers?
3️⃣ Save the policy settings.
4️⃣ Assign employees to the appropriate policy.
- Once the policy is set up, you need to assign it to the relevant employees.
- For more information, see the article: How do I assign users to each policy?
- Check the cycle and accrual timing: Before publishing the policy, make sure the activity period, frequency, and accrual timing are set up correctly, as they directly affect employee balances.
- Set up holidays: Make sure holidays are correctly loaded in the Regions and Locations section and that each employee is assigned to the right region. This is key for the system to correctly deduct business days when a request is made.
- Set up working days: From the "Work Schedule" tab, make sure each employee's working days are correctly defined. This setting directly affects the calculation and deduction of days when making a request.
- Each employee's hire date is set so that seniority-based days are calculated correctly.
- Set up the approval structure correctly: Make sure employees have their direct managers, second-level managers, and/or designated approvers defined according to the configured flow. An incomplete structure can prevent requests from moving forward properly.
- Review initial balances if migrating: If you're implementing the module for the first time or migrating from another system, make sure to load or adjust employees' initial balances correctly.
- Validate country-specific settings: If the policy follows local regulations, review the articles with recommended settings by country before activating it.
Before activating a policy, we recommend reviewing the following general settings to ensure the module works correctly:
These settings complement the policy and ensure proper management of Vacations and Leave in your organization.