Set up leave: the planner, rules, approvers and balances
Pending leave on the planner, certificate rules, who approves, and where balances come from.
What this is for
Approved leave goes on the planner by itself and comes out of the department's hours. These settings decide how waiting requests look, what everyone else sees, when a doctor's certificate is needed, who approves, and where each person's leave balance comes from.
What is on this screen
Each part of the screen above, top to bottom, and what changing it affects.
On the planner
- Requests waiting for approval
- Show greyed out (the default) or Hide until approved. A greyed request never takes capacity.
- Who sees waiting requests
- Approvers and HR, or Everyone. The person always sees their own.
- What everyone else sees
- Just 'Away' (the default) or The kind of leave. HR and whoever approves that person always see the kind, so a sick day isn't broadcast to the shop.
Rules for asking
- Sick days go straight on as approved
- On by default. You can't knock back a sick day, so it goes on the planner at once and the approvers are told.
- Doctor's certificate after this many days
- A certificate is needed when sick leave runs more than this many working days. Blank means never.
- Days to hand one in
- How long after the sick leave ends before reminders start. They then go daily for 14 days.
- Also when it's next to a public holiday
- Needs a certificate for sick leave on the working day before or after a public holiday, even for one day.
- Notice for annual leave (days)
- How far ahead staff must ask for annual leave. 0 means any time. HR putting leave in isn't held to it.
- Hours in a working day
- How many hours a full day of leave takes off the balance and out of the planner. 7.6 to start.
Who approves
- One row per department · Backup approver
- Shows the department's lead, or 'No lead, so HR approves'. Name a backup to approve when the lead is away. Nobody approves their own leave.
Leave balances
- Where balances come from
- Kept by hand, off each payslip, or Xero Payroll (Australian shops only). Save to switch, then set it up below.
- Kept by hand: a row per person
- Hours and an As at date for Annual, Sick or carer's, Long service and RDO. Copy them off the last payslip and use the payslip date.
- Xero's leave types
- Match each kind of leave to Xero's. Filled in from Xero's usual names; save to keep them. Not sent to Xero leaves a kind out.
- Staff matched to Xero · Read from Xero now
- Match each person to their Xero employee once. Sign OS suggests a match by email, then name. Saving a match reads their balances straight away.
- Connect Xero · Reconnect Xero
- Shown when Xero isn't connected or needs payroll access added. Only an owner or admin can do this.
Before you start
- Your shop has the HR add-on and you can change HR & safety records.
- Put people in departments and name each department's lead on the Departments page. Leads approve leave for their people.
Step by step
- 1
Open Settings → Team → HR & safety and choose the Leave tab.
- 2
Under On the planner, choose whether waiting requests show greyed out or stay hidden, who sees them, and whether others see the kind of leave or just Away.
- 3
Under Rules for asking, set your doctor's certificate rule, annual leave notice and hours in a working day.
- 4
Under Who approves, check each department has a lead, and name a backup if you like.
- 5
Under Leave balances, choose Kept by hand or Xero Payroll and Save. Then type each person's balances, or connect Xero, match the leave types and match each person.
- 6
Press Save leave settings. The balance and Xero rows each have their own Save.
Tips & gotchas
- Leave types can't be added or renamed. Every shop has Annual leave, Sick or carer's leave, RDO, Unpaid leave, Long service leave and Other.
- Someone who isn't in a department can still ask for leave, but approved leave won't go on the planner until they are.
- QuickBooks' Australian payroll can't be read by other apps, so QuickBooks shops keep balances by hand.
- Xero Payroll here is only the payroll link. It doesn't switch on invoice sync, so a Launch shop with HR can use it too.