Add a leave type

What this achieves

A leave type is a category of absence employees can request, such as annual leave or sick leave. It carries the rules that are true of that absence whoever takes it, while the amount people get comes from a policy.

Required role: Administrator.

Before you start

Decide the code before you open the form. It cannot be changed afterwards, because requests already in flight reference it as a string.

Steps

Go to Settings → Leave.
Open the Leave Types tab.
Select Add Leave Type.
Under Identity, enter the Code and the Name, and a Description if it helps.

Example: code annual_leave, name Annual Leave.
Under Appearance, choose the Category, and set the Color and Sort order.
Under Documentation, switch on Requires documentation and set a Doc threshold (days) if the type needs supporting evidence.
Under Behavior, set Allow half-day and Allow negative balance.
Under Limits, set Max consecutive days and Min notice (days), or leave them empty for no limit.
Leave Active switched on.
Select Create leave type.

The code is immutable

The code cannot be changed once the type exists. It must be lowercase letters, digits, and underscores, start with a letter, and be at most 50 characters.

Example: sick_leave is valid. Sick Leave and 2nd_leave are not, and annual_leave cannot later become holiday.

Option	Description
Paid	Absence the employee is paid for.
Unpaid	Absence the employee is not paid for.

Documentation

Option	Description
Requires documentation	Whether an attachment is required for this type.
Doc threshold (days)	The length beyond which the attachment becomes required.

The threshold means short absences are not burdened with paperwork while longer ones are evidenced.

Example: HC Corp UK Ltd requires a medical note for sick leave beyond a set number of days. A one-day absence needs nothing; a two-week one does.

Behaviour and limits

Option	Description
Allow half-day	Employees can request mornings or afternoons only.
Allow negative balance	Requests are permitted that would put the balance below zero.
Max consecutive days	The longest single request allowed. Leave empty for no limit.
Min notice (days)	How far ahead a request must be submitted. Leave empty for no limit.

Example: setting a minimum notice on annual leave at HC Corp UK Ltd stops requests arriving the evening before, without a manager having to refuse them individually.

Deactivating rather than deleting

Types supplied as system defaults cannot be deleted, only deactivated. An inactive type is hidden from the request form, so nobody can select it, while the history of leave already taken under it stays intact.

Prefer deactivating for any type with history, whether or not it is a system default.

What happens next

The type appears in the request form once it is active, but it grants nobody anything on its own. Create a policy for it next: the policy carries the annual allocation, the accrual rules, and who qualifies, and balances are generated from the active policies.