This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the Vacation Policy module. This module is designed to help administrators transition employees from anniversary-based accruals to a standardized calendar-year system, while managing carryover expirations and mid-year hire proration effectively.

Navigation & Setup

  • Module Location: Navigate to Company > Benefits > Vacation Policy.

  • Assignment: Policies can be assigned to staff under Benefits > Assign or directly via the Individual Employee Edit Screen.



Key Policy Settings

When configuring a new rule, as shown in the image above, pay close attention to the following fields:


Effective Date

  • The effective date is when the rule begins and takes over from any previous policy. For example, if the effective date is 1/1/2026, the system will issue the first allocation on that date and continue applying the rule in future years (such as 1/1/2027), as long as the employee remains eligible.


Eligibility

  • This defines how many months an employee must work after their hire date before they become eligible to receive benefit hours.


Posting Period

  • The posting period determines how benefit hours are distributed. This can either be a full yearly allocation (for example, 80 hours granted at once) or spread out over time, such as through bi-weekly accruals.


Carryover Expiration

  • This setting controls how long unused hours from the previous year remain available. You can define a specific expiration date, such as March 31 of the following year, after which any remaining carried-over hours will expire.


Proration

  • When this option is enabled, the system will adjust benefit hours for employees hired mid-year. The hours are calculated based on the remaining portion of the year after the employee becomes eligible.


Give Hours Only if Employee Status is Active

  • When enabled, benefit hours will only be granted if the employee is in an active status. For example, if the rule’s effective date is 1/1/2026 but the employee does not become active until 3/1/2026, the system will delay issuing hours until the employee is active.


Managing Transitions: Employee View

The system provides a clear audit trail for employees transitioning between rules. In the employee's Benefit tab, you can view how old anniversary hours and new calendar-based hours interact.


As seen in the images above, the Details section tracks subtractions from old rules and additions from new rules, including "Carry Over" lines that show hours valid until the specified expiration date.Then in the benefit balance line we can see that the employee only has 80 hours left despite carrying over 75 hours on 1/1/26 since they expired on 3/31/26

Example Scenarios 

1. Transition Year (Dual Accrual)

This scenario occurs when an employee earns vacation under the old anniversary system just before the new calendar policy begins.

  • Example: An employee hired in August 2024 earns 80 hours on their anniversary in August 2025.

  • Transition: On 1/1/2026, they receive another 80 hours under the new policy.

  • Total: They may temporarily have 160 hours available, provided the 2025 hours are used before the expiration date (e.g., 3/31/2026).

2. Early-Year New Hire (Prorated)

If an employee is hired early in the year but has a 6-month eligibility wait.

  • Example: Hired 3/2/2026; Eligible 9/2/2026.

  • Calculation: Only 3 full months (Oct, Nov, Dec) remain in 2026 after eligibility.

  • Result: They receive a prorated 20 hours (80 / 12 * 3) for the remainder of 2026. Full 80-hour accruals begin on 1/1/2027.

3. Late-Year New Hire (Deferred Proration)

When eligibility is not reached until the following calendar year.

  • Example: Hired 10/4/2026; Eligible 4/4/2027.

  • Result: No hours are posted on 1/1/2027. On their eligibility date (4/4/2027), they receive 53.33 hours for the 8 remaining months of 2027. Full 80-hour accruals begin on 1/1/2028.