How do I create a new leave type?

1 min read By TimeOff Support

You can create leave types such as Holiday, Sick Leave, Working from Home, Unpaid Leave and TOIL, or define your own custom categories

Go to:

Settings → Leave types → Add new

What do I need to configure?

Give the leave type a Name and Colour, then choose how it should behave.

The most important setting is Effect on allowance:

  • Deduct from allowance — use when the leave should reduce the employee’s main holiday or PTO balance.
  • Add to allowance — use for leave that earns allowance, such as overtime or TOIL.
  • No effect on allowance — use when the leave should be recorded without changing the main allowance, such as Sick Leave or Working from Home.

You can also configure:

  • a leave type limit;
  • Advance Notice;
  • whether entitlement is measured per leave year or over a Rolling window;
  • Team View privacy settings.

Select Save changes when the setup is complete.

Do I need to set a limit?

No.

For an Annual leave type, the limit can be left blank if there is no separate cap for that type.

A limit is useful when you want to cap how much Sick Leave or Working from Home an employee can book. You can track these leave types separately without setting a limit.

Rolling-window leave types require their own limit and do not deduct from or add to the employee’s main allowance.

Will employees see the new leave type immediately?

Usually, yes — employees who are not controlled by a Leave Access policy receive newly created leave types by default.

However, if an employee is covered by a Leave Access policy, creating the leave type is only the first step.

You must also add the new leave type to the relevant Leave Access policy before those employees can use it.

For complete setup options, see Leave types.