Employee policies

4 min read By TimeOff Support

TimeOff.Management gives you flexible policies to match the way your business works.

You can control access, visibility, and privacy. You can also manage how leave is earned and make sure your team is not short-staffed.

Everything is simple to set up and easy to manage.

Employee policies in main menu

In this guide

1. Watch by Email

“Watch by Email” policy lets selected users receive notifications about leave activity for selected employees. You can choose exactly which leave types to follow, so you only receive updates that matter to you. This is ideal for HR, project leads, or senior managers who need visibility without being direct supervisors. Configure it once and stay informed automatically.

The example below is intended for HR to use when employees book sick leave, helping them follow up on any required paperwork.

Example of Watch by email Policy

2. Team view visibility group

Visibility Groups allow you to extend access to Team View beyond standard department boundaries.

For example, if you have multiple teams working on a shared project—made up of employees from different departments—you can create a Visibility Group to let them see each other’s leave on Team View. This helps everyone stay aligned and understand team availability at a glance.

When a Visibility Group is applied, users included in the policy will be able to see each other on Team View, in addition to the colleagues they would normally see based on their department settings.

Another common use case is enabling collaboration between specific departments. For instance, you might want your warehouse and sales teams to view each other’s leave, while keeping this information hidden from other departments. A Visibility Group makes this easy to set up and manage.

Example of visibility group policy

3. Accrued Allowance Schedule

The Accrued Allowance Schedule lets you create a tailored policy for how annual leave is earned over time.

You can set up a simple, proportional accrual—where allowance builds up evenly across the company year. Alternatively, you can design more specific schedules to match your business needs.

For example, if employees work on a 10-month contract within a 12-month period, you can configure the policy so that their time off accrues only during those 10 working months.

  1. Once you click “Add New Policy”, a new window will appear. From the menu, select “Edit Policy.”
Select edit accrued policy
  1. Next, give the policy a name, add the users who will be affected, and click Save Changes.

    Then, from the same menu, select “Edit Schedule.” Here, you can add a single entry if you want a fixed number of days to be released each month, or set the allowance to be spread proportionally throughout the company year.

    How to release allowance in accrued policy
  2. The policy is now active.

New accrued Policy

4. Employee Management Roles

Assign management permissions (view, add, edit, delete) for selected employee groups without full admin rights. Example: allow HR to view employee data by creating a role and adding employees; assign the HR team member as Role Owner.

HR visibility roles

5. Restrict Absence Overlap

Define groups that can’t all be off simultaneously. Options:

  • At most one employee absent
  • At least one employee present

Choose which leave types the rule affects.

Restrict absence overlap policy settings

6. Tenure Based Allowance

Automatically increase allowance based on start date and configured bands. Each band adds to the base allowance (not cumulative). Only the last applicable band applies.

Tenure-based allowance policy example

Ensure starting allowance is 0 before bands apply:

  • Individual: Employee → Allowance → Override department allowance → 0
  • Department: Settings → Departments → Set allowance to 0 days

The system moves employees between bands automatically when milestones are reached. Example allowance view after 10 years:

10-year adjustment example

7. Company Leave Data View

Provide selected employees (e.g., PAs, admins) access to Team View and individual calendars across all departments for coordination. Assign in policy editor or in Employee details → Policies tab.

Assign company leave data view from policy
Assign company leave data view from employee

8. Access to Reports

Grant selected employees access to the Reports section for departments where they are an Employee, Approver, or Secondary Approver. Admins retain full access. Assign in the policy editor; you can modify or revoke anytime.

Assign access to reports policy

This can also be assigned in Employee details → Policies tab.

Assign reports policy in employee