Guide to Leave Entitlement Rules

Oct 29, 2019

HRStop's Leave Management System enables organizations to automate the leave accrual process based on custom eligibility rules. These rules determine who is entitled to a particular leave type and how much leave they can receive over time.

This article walks you through everything you need to know to configure, manage, and update leave entitlement rules tailored to your company policies.


What Are Leave Entitlement Rules?

Leave Entitlement Rules define the eligibility criteria and credit frequency for different types of leaves. These rules ensure that only the qualified employees receive the appropriate number of leaves, which are credited automatically.

Only employees who meet the eligibility criteria defined in the rule will be able to view or apply for that leave type.


Navigation Path

Go to: Control Panel → Leaves → Entitlement


How to Add a New Leave Entitlement Rule

To define a new rule, follow these steps:

1. Open Entitlement Module

Navigate to: Control Panel → Leaves → Entitlement

Click on “Add New Entitlement Rule”.


2. Configure Eligibility Criteria

You can set rules based on one or more of the following filters:

CriteriaDescription
CategoryLeave category (e.g., Sick, Casual, Earned, Maternity)
Departmente.g., Sales, HR, Engineering
Designatione.g., Manager, Developer, Intern
Employment Typee.g., Full-Time, Part-Time, Contractual
EntityUseful for multi-location or multi-brand setups
GenderIf the leave applies to a specific gender
BandEmployee's level/grade within the organization
Marital StatusIf the rule applies only to married/unmarried employees

Tip: You can leave a field blank if you don’t want to apply a restriction on that parameter.


3. Enable Experience-Based Eligibility (Optional)

  • Check the box “Entitle leave based on experience level”.
  • Specify the minimum number of experience months or years required.

Example: Only employees with 6+ months of experience are eligible for Earned Leave.


4. Set Leave Accrual Limits

  • Leave Count (per annum): Total number of leaves allowed in a year.
  • Maximum Leave Cap (Optional): Restricts the maximum number of leaves an employee can hold in their balance.

E.g., If you assign 12 annual leaves but cap at 18, an employee will stop receiving credits after accumulating 18 unused leaves.


5. Select Credit Frequency

Choose how often the leave should be credited:

OptionDescription
MonthlyCredits every month (e.g., 1 leave/month)
QuarterlyEvery 3 months
Semi-AnnualTwice a year
OnceOne-time allocation

Click “Show Credit Plan” to preview monthly leave credits based on the selected frequency.


6. Configure Pro-Rata for New Joiners (Optional)

To assign partial leaves to new joiners:

  • Check “Prorate leaves for new joiners”
  • Enter:
    • Number of days of attendance required before entitlement
    • Percentage of leave applicable

Example: If someone joins on the 20th of the month and works for 5 days, they might be entitled to only 50% of the month’s leave.


7. Save the Rule

Click on “Save”.
The rule will now appear in the Existing Leave Entitlement Rules section.


Example Use Case

Use Case:
You want to assign 12 Earned Leaves per year (1 per month) to full-time employees in the Engineering department, but only if they have completed 6 months in the organization.

Configuration:

  • Category: Earned Leave
  • Department: Engineering
  • Employment Type: Full-Time
  • Experience-Based Eligibility: Yes (6 months)
  • Leave Count: 12
  • Credit Frequency: Monthly
  • Maximum Leave: 18
  • Pro-Rata: Enabled for new joiners (10 days attendance = 50% entitlement)

How to Edit/Update an Existing Rule

You can update existing entitlement rules if business policies change.

Steps:

  1. Navigate to Control Panel → Leaves → Entitlement
  2. Scroll to Existing Leave Entitlement Rules
  3. Click Edit under the rule you wish to modify
  4. The form above will auto-populate
  5. Make changes and click Update

Note:
Changes take effect from the next accrual cycle. They do not impact the current leave balance of employees.


How Leave Accrual Works

  • Leave credit is automated as per the entitlement rules.
  • Credits are processed on the first day of each cycle (e.g., 1st of every month).
  • Pro-Rated logic ensures fair entitlement for mid-month joiners.

Important Notes

  • A leave type is visible to an employee only if they meet the eligibility criteria.
  • Need-Based Leave types have no upper limit, so max leave cannot be defined for them.
  • Only Super Admins and designated HR Admins can manage entitlement rules.

FAQ

Leaves are credited automatically by the system as per the Leaves entitlement rules one has defined in their Hawk HR portal. Kindly go through the following points to trouble shoot the same: 1. **Credit Frequency**: Leaves are credited as per the frequency defined in the Leave Entitlement rule which can be Monthly, Quaterly , Annually and Once. 2. **Employee profile is not updated as per the Entitlement Rule**: Entitlement rules are defined on various factor such as Employment Type, Service Status,Department, Designation,Band, Location, Entity etc. If the the employee details do not matches that of the entitlement rule, leaves will not be credited into their account. 3. **Entitlement rule has an Experience Barrier**: If the Entitlement rule has an experience limitation then only the employees having more experience than that will be eligible for leave credits under that category. 4. **Maximum Leave Count allowed**: If the entitlement rule has Maximum count allowed defined in it , then the system will stop crediting the leaves in employee account once their leave count reaches that mark. 5. **Defer Crediting**: Defer Crediting allows the leave count accumulation in the system which is used when you wish to credit the accumulated balance (from their date of joining) in employees account once they are confirmed. Checking this box in Leave entitlement rule will stop the leave credit for all the employees who falls under their entitlement rule. 6. **Incorrect Balance**: Please check the entitled balance per annum that will be credited based on the credit frequency. 7. **Employee Leave Entitlement**: Please note that Hawk HR allows the Admin to define the Leave Entitlement rule on employee basis as well and this rules are given priority over the group Entitlement rules. In case of wrong credit or non credit, please check if a employee leave entitlement rule has been defined for the concerned employee.