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Manage Leave Balances

Manage employee leave balances.

Updated over 3 weeks ago

Leave balances in Workforce.com help employees apply for leave, and help managers review and approve requests.


Leave Balances

A leave balance shows how much paid holiday an employee has left to use.

You can view leave balances in two ways:

  1. Option 1: By navigating to an employee’s profile > Leave and Unavailability > Leave Balances

  2. Option 2: By going to Time & Attendance > Leave > Leave Balance Report

What the columns mean:

  • Leave Type: The category of leave (e.g. Holiday Leave, Sick Leave).

  • Starting Balance: How much holiday the employee had at the beginning of the period.

  • Current Balance: How much holiday they have left right now (Starting balance + Accrued - Leave taken).

  • Accrued: How much holiday they have built up so far in the period.

  • Leave Taken: How much holiday they have already used.


Option 1: Import Leave Balances

To import leave balances in bulk:

  1. Go to Time & Attendance > Leave > Leave Balances.

  2. Select Click here to download your starting balances (.csv).

  3. Download the CSV template and enter the opening balances for each staff member. Leave blank if no balance applies.

  4. Return to the previous page.

  5. Choose the file and upload the CSV.

  6. Select Import All Starting Balances in Hours or Import All Starting Balances in Hours or Days (depending on whether balances are shown in hours, days, or both).

  7. Once uploaded, balances will appear in each Employee’s profile and in the Leave Balance Report.

Option 2: Add a leave balance in an employee profile

To add/update leave balance in an employee's profile:

  1. Go to Staff and select the employee.

  2. Navigate to Leave & Unavailability > Leave Balances.

  3. Select + Add Leave Balance.

  4. Choose the Leave Type and enter the amount in hours or days.

  5. Click Create.


View Leave Balances

To view an employee’s leave balance:

  1. Go to Staff and select the employee.

  2. Navigate to Leave & Unavailability > Leave Balances.

View the Leave Balance Report for all employees:

  1. Go to Time & Attendance > Leave > Leave Balance Report > Generate Report.


Recalculate Leave Balances

If balances in Workforce.com appear incorrect, you can reset them in two ways:

  • Option 1: Import a CSV file with the correct balances

  • Option 2: Recalculate on the staff profile

How recalculation works

The Recalculate Leave tool recalculates balances based on Workforce.com data. It will:

  • Deduct any approved leave after the Correct at Date

  • Add any leave accrued from approved shifts after the Correct at Date

  • Replace the existing balance with the recalculated amount

Steps to recalculate

To recalculate an employees leave balance:

  1. Go to Staff and select the employee.

  2. Navigate to Leave & Unavailability > Leave Balances.

  3. Select Recalculate Leave

  4. Complete the form:

    • Leave Type → the category of leave

    • Incoming Balance → the starting balance or total entitlement

    • Correct at Date → the date the starting balance was correct

  5. Select Recalculate Leave

Important: Recalculations cannot be undone — each recalculation is logged in the Leave Balance Audit Trail (Time & Attendance > Leave > Leave Balances > Leave Balance Audit Trail) showing who made the change.

The recalculation will then:

  • Reset the balance for the selected leave type

  • Use the Correct at Date as the starting point

  • Deduct approved leave since that date

  • Add accrued leave from approved shifts since that date

  • Apply any adjustments such as accrual rates

  • Replace the existing balance with the new figure


Manage leave balances for the new leave year

Set leave types to reset or roll over at the start of a new leave year:

  1. Go to Time & Attendance > Leave > Leave Types.

  2. Select Edit on the leave type.

  3. Scroll to Step 4: Advanced Settings.

  4. Tick Reset this leave balance at the start of a new leave year.

This resets balances to the pro-rated entitlement. Learn how leave balances are prorated in this guide.

You can also set a maximum rollover. Learn how to set a maximum rollover in this guide.


Troubleshoot Incorrect Leave Balances

If you believe a leave balance is incorrect, check the following:

  • Should the staff member accrue leave, or do they start with a balance?

  • Does the staff member have the correct tag that matches the leave type?

  • Is the starting balance correct?

  • Does the Audit Trail show any relevant changes?

  • Are the leave type rules set correctly?

  • Are other staff members experiencing the same issue?

  • Does the calculation itself look correct?

If the balance is still wrong after these checks, recalculate the leave balance.


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