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 Leaves module.

2️⃣ Go to the Policies tab and click on "+ New Policy"

When setting up, you'll find the following sections:

• In this section, you set up the general information for the policy.
  • Policy type: You need to select a previously created type (Vacation, Sick Days, Study Days, etc.).
    Once the policy is created, you can't edit which type it's 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.

• This is where 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: 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.

  For a detailed explanation of how the cycle, frequency, and accrual timing work, check out this article:
  👉 How do the cycle, frequency, and accrual timing work? 

  Accrual timing

  This only applies 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 info 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
  • Balance expiration alerts

  To understand each concept in detail, check out:
  👉 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.

• This is where you define the conditions under which employees can make requests.

  • Minimum notice
  • Allow or disallow retroactive requests
  • Minimum and maximum request period
  • Allow half-day requests
  • Attach file
  • Special settings (order between policies or overlap)

  For more information:
  👉 What rules can I set up when requesting Vacations and Leaves?

• Defines who needs to approve requests associated with this policy.

  You can use:

  • General approval flow
  • Custom flow

  More information at:
  👉 How do I assign approvers for Vacations and Leaves?

3️⃣ Save the policy settings. 

4️⃣ Assign the policy to the relevant employees.

• Once the policy is set up, you need to assign it to the appropriate employees.
  • For more information, see the article: How do I assign users to each policy?

• Before activating a policy, we recommend reviewing the following general settings to ensure the module works correctly:

  • 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 a request is made.
  • Each employee's hire date should be 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.
  • Check country-specific settings: If the policy follows local regulations, review the articles with recommended settings by country before activating it.

  These settings complement the policy and ensure proper management of Vacations and Leaves in your organization.

• You can set up automatic alerts so employees receive a notification when their balance is about to expire.

  This is especially useful for policies with a carryover expiration date, allowing employees to take action before losing accrued days.

  To enable this, within the policy settings, look for the Alerts section and set:

  • How many days in advance the notification should be sent before expiration.
  • Notification channel: push, email, or both.
  

  Setting up alerts reduces the loss of unused days and improves the employee experience by giving them timely visibility of their balance.