Step 1: Selecting the Leave Cycle
A leave cycle is the 12 month period in which time off (vacation leave or any other type of leave) is calculated and granted to employees in accordance with their employment contract.
The start and end of this cycle define when leave balances are refreshed, on which employees receive a full allowance of leave days to consume over the course of the cycle. There are 3 types to choose from:
Calendar Year: Follows standard calendar, starting from 1st January - 31st December for all employees
Custom Cycle: Follows custom 12 month period you select, starting on the same date for all employees. Example: 1st September - 31 August
Individual Cycle: Follows hire date of individual employees, i.e. 12 month period starts on an employee's hire date, and balance is refreshed every hire date anniversary.
On the top of the page, select your leave cycle and if 'Custom' cycle is selected, insert the start date you wish to refresh leave balances on.
Step 2: Creating Leave Policies
The default list on the onboarding sheet include the following -
Vacation - annual vacation/holiday days
Sick - standard sick leave days according to UAE labour law
Unpaid leave - applicable if you offer unpaid days
In the first time off tab - B.1. Leave Policy, insert the name of the leave policies in column A as shown below:
For each leave policy, fill in the additional information:
Allowance - the maximum number of days allowed annually
Allowance type - whether it is annually renewed or a one time allowance eg. Hajj/Study leave is offered only one time during an employee's tenure.
Type (Paid/Unpaid) - whether the leave type is paid or unpaid.
Accrued - whether the allowance is accrued on a monthly basis or given upfront at the beginning of the leave cycle.
Negative Balance - whether employees can request for more leaves than they have accrued (this is applicable only in case of accruals).
Carry Over - whether unused days of this type of leave can be carried forward to the next year.
Carry over allowance - Maximum number of days allowed to be carried forward to the next leave cycle.
Probation - whether employees can request this type of leave during probation.
Public Holidays - whether they need to be set up for your employees or no.
Step 3: Defining Permissions
The final section on this tab is defining permission levels for accessing employee, time off or payroll data as needed. Click here to learn more about the permission levels on the sheet.
For each of the roles listed, insert the name of the employee/s who are required to have these permissions on the platform.
