Allowance adjustments and TOIL

4 min read By TimeOff Support

Allowance adjustments let admins add or remove days from an employee’s leave allowance.

Use them for one-off changes, corrections, overtime, TOIL, or special agreements.

Some companies call this:

  • allowance adjustment
  • PTO adjustment
  • holiday allowance correction
  • annual leave adjustment
  • TOIL adjustment
  • Time Off in Lieu

In TimeOff.Management, you can manage these changes in two ways:

  1. Manual allowance adjustment Best for one-off changes and corrections.

  2. Automatic TOIL from an overtime leave type Best when employees regularly earn extra leave from overtime.

How allowance adjustments fit with allowance setup

Allowance adjustments are different from department allowance or individual allowance.

Department allowance and individual allowance set the employee’s main yearly allowance.

Allowance adjustments add to or take away from that allowance when something changes.

For example, use an allowance adjustment when you need to:

  • add TOIL for approved overtime
  • correct an allowance mistake
  • remove allowance added by mistake
  • add extra leave agreed by the company
  • adjust allowance for a special case
  • record a one-off HR decision

For a full overview of allowance setup, read: Setting up allowances

Manual allowance adjustments

Use a manual adjustment when you need to add or remove allowance for one employee.

Go to:

Employee Details → Allowance tab → Allowance adjustment

From here, admins can add or remove days and leave a comment explaining the change.

Allowance adjustment section in TimeOff.Management

When to use manual adjustments

Manual adjustments are best for occasional changes.

Use them when the change does not need a new allowance policy.

For example:

  • an employee earned one extra day of TOIL
  • an admin needs to correct a balance
  • an employee was given extra leave as a one-off agreement
  • allowance was entered incorrectly
  • unused allowance needs a manual correction
  • a special adjustment needs to be recorded with a comment

Add a clear comment

Always add a short comment when making an allowance adjustment.

This keeps the allowance history transparent.

Good comments are simple and specific.

For example:

  • “Added 1 day TOIL for approved overtime on 12 June.”
  • “Corrected allowance after contract update.”
  • “Removed 0.5 day added in error.”
  • “Added 2 days as agreed by HR.”

All adjustment records are saved, so admins can review them later.

Add or remove allowance

Manual adjustments can be used to increase or reduce allowance.

Use a positive adjustment to add days.

Use a negative adjustment to remove days.

Before saving, check:

  • the employee name
  • the number of days
  • the reason for the change
  • the comment
  • the company year or allowance period

This helps avoid mistakes in the employee’s balance.

TOIL and overtime

TOIL means Time Off in Lieu.

It allows employees who work extra time to receive additional leave instead of overtime pay.

In TimeOff.Management, TOIL can be handled in two ways:

  • add it manually with an allowance adjustment
  • add it automatically using an overtime leave type

Use manual adjustment for occasional TOIL.

Use an overtime leave type if TOIL is a regular part of your company process.

Automatically add TOIL for regular overtime

If employees regularly earn TOIL, create a leave type for overtime.

When the overtime request is approved, TimeOff.Management can add the correct amount of TOIL to the employee’s allowance.

To do this:

  1. Create a new leave type, such as Overtime.
  2. Set the leave type to Add to allowance.
  3. Add a coefficient to control how overtime converts into TOIL.
  4. Save the leave type.

Read more: Leave types

Overtime coefficient examples

The coefficient controls how much allowance is added.

For example:

  • Coefficient 1 means 1 day of overtime adds 1 day of TOIL.
  • Coefficient 1.5 means 1 day of overtime adds 1.5 days of TOIL.

Example with coefficient 1:

Overtime leave type with coefficient 1

Example with coefficient 1.5:

Overtime leave type with coefficient 1.5

What happens after overtime is approved

Once the overtime request is approved, the employee’s allowance is updated.

For example:

  • overtime with coefficient 1 adds 1 day
  • overtime with coefficient 1.5 adds 1 day and 4 hours, assuming an 8-hour standard day

The added TOIL appears in the employee’s allowance overview.

The employee can then use the added allowance for bookings as usual.

Allowance breakdown showing TOIL added after overtime is approved

Manual adjustment or automatic TOIL?

Use this table to choose the right option.

SituationBest option
One employee needs a small correctionManual allowance adjustment
One employee earned TOIL onceManual allowance adjustment
Employees regularly earn TOIL from overtimeOvertime leave type
Your company wants approval before TOIL is addedOvertime leave type
You need a clear record of why allowance changedManual allowance adjustment with a comment
You need a repeatable TOIL processAutomatic TOIL through a leave type

When not to use allowance adjustments

Do not use allowance adjustments to replace normal allowance setup.

For example, do not use manual adjustments when you really need to:

  • set the same allowance for a whole department
  • give one employee a different fixed yearly allowance
  • set up accrual over time
  • increase allowance based on years of service
  • create a yearly leave type limit

Use the right allowance setting instead.

Read more: Setting up allowances

Best practice

Use allowance adjustments for one-off changes.

Use clear comments so every change is easy to understand later.

For regular TOIL, create an overtime leave type. This keeps the process consistent and reduces manual work for admins.