Create leave policies, submit requests and evaluate balances

How holiday management works in Jobilino

1. Holiday policy as a basis

   A leave policy defines how many days an employee receives per year, when their leave year begins, and whether only working days or all calendar days are counted. It is created once and assigned to a contract.

   Tipp: A policy can be attached to any number of contracts. You do not need to create a new one for each employee.

2. Contract links employee and policy

   Every employee has a contract. The contract determines which leave policy applies, how carry-over leave from the previous year is handled, and in which country the employee works (relevant for public holidays).

3. Leave is consumed via time entries

   A leave day in Jobilino is always a time entry with a leave-consuming time type (e.g. 'Vacation'). As soon as the entry is approved, the balance is reduced automatically. As long as it is still under review, the day is 'reserved' (pending) but has not yet been deducted.

4. Balance is continuously maintained in a booking journal

   Jobilino maintains a transparent journal for every employee: annual entitlement (+), carry-over from the previous year (+), days used (–), expired carry-over days (–), and manual corrections (+/–) by HR. This way, every balance can be fully accounted for.

   Tipp: If required, the admin can record manual corrections with a reason without changing the original entitlement.

5. Carry-over and expiry at the turn of the year

   At the end of the holiday year, the remaining balance is retained as a 'carry-over' in the new year – optionally capped at a maximum number of days and with an expiry date (e.g. 31 March).

   Tipp: The carry-over and the new entitlement are managed separately so that you can see at any time what is the base holiday entitlement and what is the previous year's remainder.

The two key differences – at a glance

1. Difference 1: Working days vs. calendar days (how are they counted?)

   In the leave policy, you define whether 'Count leave as calendar days' is active or not. This setting determines how a leave period is converted into the balance.

   Tipp: Working days (default, toggle off): only Mon–Fri are counted; weekends and public holidays of the contract country are skipped. Calendar days (toggle on): every day within the period counts – including Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Example: leave Mon–Sun (7 calendar days). With 'Working days', 5 days are deducted; with 'Calendar days', 7 days are deducted.

2. Difference 2: Calendar year vs. contract start anniversary (when does the leave year run?)

   Also in the policy: 'Leave year' = calendar year (default) or contract start (anniversary). This setting determines from when the new entitlement arises and when the old one expires or is carried over.

   Tipp: Calendar year: 1 January – 31 December, the same for all employees (most common in Austria/Germany). Contract start date (anniversary, Beta): the leave year begins on the employee's start date and ends on the day before the next anniversary – useful when contracts are tied to a specific reference date.

3. Entitlement in the first year (pro rata)

   If an employee joins during the year, they automatically receive a pro-rata entitlement for that year. Example: start date 1 July with 25 annual leave days → 12.5 days for the current leave year.

Create leave policy

admins

1. Open administration

   Log in to the dashboard and open 'Administration' → 'Leave Policies'.

2. Add new policy

   Click 'Add' and assign a descriptive name, e.g. 'Standard 25 Days – Working Days – Calendar Year'.

   Tipp: The name will appear later in the contract form – choose it so that it summarises the rule.

3. Define annual leave

   Enter the annual leave entitlement in days, e.g. 25.

4. Select holiday year (difference 2)

   Select 'Calendar year' (1 Jan – 31 Dec) or 'Contract start date (anniversary)'.

   Tipp: Most customers use 'Calendar year'. 'Contract start date' is useful if you want to manage the holiday year individually per employee.

5. Select counting method (difference 1)

   Enable 'Count leave as calendar days' or leave it disabled. Disabled = working days (with public holiday skip), Enabled = every day counts.

   Tipp: Please note: individual time types can override this setting (e.g. 'Special leave' can calculate in fixed calendar days, regardless of the policy).

6. Save

   Click 'Save'. The policy is immediately available and can be assigned to contracts.

   Tipp: A policy cannot be deleted as long as contracts are linked to it. Please remove the assignments first.

Assign a leave policy to an employee

admins

1. Open employee

   Go to 'Administration' → 'Users' and select the employee.

2. Edit contract

   Open the employee's current contract.

   Tipp: If no contract exists yet, first create one with a start date and country – the country controls the public holiday logic.

3. Select policy

   Under 'Leave Policy', select the appropriate policy from the dropdown.

   Tipp: Without an assigned policy, no leave balance will be maintained for this employee.

4. Set carry-over options

   Optionally enter 'Maximum carry-over' (in days) and 'Carry-over expiry date' (DD.MM, e.g. 31.03.).

   Tipp: Leaving these fields blank means: unlimited carry-over and no expiry. These fields belong to the contract, not to the policy – this way two employees with the same policy can have different carry-over rules.

5. Save

   Click 'Save'. Jobilino automatically creates a period for the current leave year and calculates the pro-rated entitlement.

Request holiday

employee

1. Open time tracking

   Open the app or the dashboard and navigate to 'Time Tracking'.

   Tipp: On the overview page you will see a tile showing 'Days remaining' – this is your current holiday balance.

2. Request holiday

   Tap 'Request holiday' (or 'New entry' and select a holiday type).

   Tipp: In the request, the time type 'Holiday' is already pre-selected.

3. Select period

   Select the start and end date. Holiday is recorded on a daily basis.

   Tipp: Tip: A single day also works – simply set the start date equal to the end date.

4. Optional: Deputy and note

   If required, specify a substitute and write a note for the approver.

5. Save

   Click 'Save'. The request will automatically move to the status 'Under Review' and your balance will be provisionally reserved (pending).

   Tipp: The balance will only be finally deducted upon approval.

View balance and bookings

employee

1. Open holiday tile

   Tap the 'Days remaining' tile on the time tracking overview.

2. View holiday bookings

   You can see all bookings in chronological order: entitlement, carry-over, consumption and corrections – with the balance before and after each booking.

   Tipp: The 'Days' column may differ from the number of calendar days if the policy counts working days – weekends and public holidays are not included there.

Approve or reject requests

team leader

1. Open pending requests

   Navigate to 'Requests' or 'Approvals' in the dashboard.

2. Check the employee's balance

   The current balance is displayed for each request – including the carryover from the previous year and reserved days.

   Tipp: This allows you to see immediately whether an employee has sufficient entitlement for the request.

3. Approve

   'Approve' will deduct the balance (CONSUME).

4. Reject

   'Reject' removes the reservation (no deduction). Please enter a brief reason.

   Tipp: If the balance is insufficient, Jobilino will reject the request upon saving with the message 'Not enough holiday days available'.

Manually adjust balance

admins

1. Open employee

   Go to the employee and click on the 'Holidays' / 'Contract' tab.

2. Enter correction

   Under 'Manual Adjustment', enter the number of days – positive (+2) or negative (–1) – and provide a reason.

   Tipp: Examples: 'Anniversary bonus +2', 'Payout of 5 days –5', 'Opening balance correction +3'.

3. Save

   The correction appears immediately as a separate entry in the employee's journal. The original entitlement remains unchanged.

   Tipp: This ensures that what was a 'standard entitlement', what was a 'carry-over' and what was a 'manual correction' remains traceable at all times.

Year-end: Carry-over and Forfeiture

admins

1. Automatic Carry-over

   Jobilino automatically generates a new leave period for each employee once a year. The remaining balance from the previous year is posted as a ROLLOVER into the new year – limited by the 'Maximum Carry-Over' setting if applicable.

   Tipp: You do not need to create anything manually. The carry-over is recorded as a separate line and is not included in the standard entitlement.

2. Expiry of the Carry-Over

   If an expiry date for the carry-over has been set in the contract (e.g. 31 March), Jobilino posts a REVERSAL line on the cut-off date equal to the unused carry-over balance.

   Tipp: This allows the employee to see immediately when and why their balance has decreased.