Understanding Leave Balances and Accruals

How Balances Work

Every employee assigned to a leave policy has a balance that tracks how much time off they have available. The balance changes through:

• Grants: Initial or annual allowance given to the employee
• Accruals: Time earned gradually over pay periods
• Usage: Time deducted when time-off requests are approved
• Adjustments: Manual corrections made by an admin
• Carryover: Unused time that rolls into the next year
• Reversals: Corrections that undo a previous transaction

Balance Types

Balance-Based Policies

Employees receive a fixed allowance (e.g., 15 vacation days per year). The full amount is granted at the start of the year or when the policy is assigned.

Accrual-Based Policies

Employees earn time off gradually. For example:

• 1.25 days per month = 15 days per year
• Accruals happen automatically based on the policy's frequency (monthly, bi-weekly, etc.)

CrewHR runs accrual calculations automatically. You do not need to manually grant accruals.

Tracked Policies

Tracked policies record time off without maintaining a balance. This is common for unpaid time off where there is no limit on usage.

The Leave Ledger

Every balance change is recorded as a transaction in the leave ledger. This provides a complete audit trail.

Viewing the Ledger

As an admin:

1. Go to Time Off and select an employee
2. View their policy assignments and balances
3. Click to see the ledger history

As an employee:

1. Go to Time Off in the employee portal
2. Click History on any balance card

Each ledger entry shows:

• Date of the transaction
• Type (grant, accrual, usage, adjustment, carryover, reversal)
• Amount (positive for additions, negative for deductions)
• Running balance
• Notes or context

Manual Adjustments

Admins can manually adjust an employee's balance when needed:

1. Navigate to the employee's leave balances
2. Click Adjust Balance
3. Enter the adjustment amount (positive to add, negative to deduct)
4. Add a note explaining the reason
5. Save

Common reasons for manual adjustments:

• Correcting an error
• Granting bonus time off
• Adjusting for a policy change
• Accounting for time off from a previous system

Carryover

At the end of the year, carryover rules determine what happens to unused time:

• No carryover: Unused time is forfeited. Balance resets to zero.
• Limited carryover: A set number of days or hours carry over. Any excess is forfeited.
• Unlimited carryover: All unused time carries forward.

Carryover is processed automatically by CrewHR based on the policy's carryover settings.

Carryover Expiry

Carried-over time can have an expiry date. For example, "Use carried-over time within 3 months of the new year." After the expiry, any remaining carried-over time is removed.

Reversals

If a transaction was made in error, admins can reverse it:

1. Find the transaction in the ledger
2. Click Reverse
3. A new transaction is created that undoes the original

This is cleaner than deleting transactions because it preserves the full history.

Tips

• Check balances before approving requests: Verify the employee has sufficient balance
• Document manual adjustments: Always add a note explaining why when making adjustments
• Review carryover settings annually: Make sure your carryover rules still match company policy
• Use the ledger for disputes: If an employee questions their balance, the ledger shows every transaction