Overview
Humanforce WFM now provides native support for managing leave in days, as well as in hours.
This is useful for organisations where leave entitlements, balances, and payroll processing are managed in days. For example, some organisations in regions such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom commonly record annual leave, sick leave, and other entitlement types in days rather than hours.
With Leave in Days, employees can request leave in days, including:
- Full-day leave
- Partial-day leave
- Blocks of leave across multiple days
Employees can view their leave balances in days, managers can review and approve leave requests in days, and leave timesheets can be processed with the correct day-based leave duration.
Hour-based leave continues to work as normal. An employee can have a combination of hour-based and day-based leave types at the same time.
Setting up Leave in Days
Who can set this up?
Leave in Days can be configured by users with access to Shift Type Settings, such as HR Administrators or Payroll Administrators.
Step 1: Configure the leave type unit
Go to:
Admin > Award Configuration > Shift Type Settings
Open or create the relevant leave type settings group.
In the settings modal, locate the Unit Type dropdown and select Days.
Once Days is selected, the related fields will display in days, including:
- Rate
- Max Consecutive Requestable Days
- Max. Accrual Cap
- Max. Leave Balance Cap
You can also select Display in Weeks if you want employees and managers to see leave balances in both days and weeks.
For example:
5 days (1.0 weeks)
Select Save to apply the change.
Important: Once a leave type is saved with Unit Type = Days, it cannot be changed back to hours. This is because existing leave balances, leave requests, timesheets, and historical records may already be stored in days. Confirm the setup before saving.
Step 2: Assign leave accrual settings to employees
Employees must have the relevant Leave Accrual settings assigned to their employee profile so that leave accrues and displays in the correct unit.
Go to:
Employment Management > Employee Profile > Edit > Employment > Leave Accrual
Some employees may not currently have leave accrual settings assigned. Assign the appropriate leave accrual settings for the employee.
Step 3: Convert existing leave balances, if required
If your organisation is moving an existing leave type from hours to days, employee leave balances may need to be converted. This is usually completed through a balance import or migration process.
Contact your Humanforce team to plan the transition before using the day-based leave type.
How Leave in Days works for employees
Requesting full-day leave or a block of leave
Employees can request one or more full days of leave using a day-based leave type.
In WFM Cloud, go to:
Employee > Availability
In the Humanforce Work app, go to:
Apply for Leave
Select a leave type that has been configured in days. Day-based leave types display with a (days) suffix.
Turn on the Default leave hours toggle.
Select the Start date and End date for the leave request.
When default leave hours are used, the time fields are disabled. The system calculates the total leave in days using the employee’s source hours, such as rostered hours, profile hours, or template hours.
The employee’s available balance and total leave requested are displayed in days.
For example:
Annual Leave: 3 days requested
Submit the request.
Note: If one or more selected days do not have source hours, such as a day where the employee is not rostered, the employee may be prompted to submit leave for rostered days only.
Requesting partial-day leave
Employees can also request a partial day of leave using a day-based leave type.
Select the leave type configured in days.
Turn off the Default leave hours toggle.
Enter the required Start time and End time.
The system converts the requested hours into a fraction of a day using the employee’s source hours.
For example, if the employee’s standard day is 8 hours and they request 4 hours of leave, the leave request is recorded as:
0.5 days
The available balance and requested amount are displayed in days.
Important: If no source hours exist for the selected day, the employee will see an error message advising that no default hours are available. The employee will need to adjust the dates or speak to their manager.
Viewing leave balances
Employees can view day-based leave balances on the Employee Home page and in leave request screens.
Day-based leave balances are displayed in days.
For example:
5.25 days remaining
If Display in Weeks has been enabled by an administrator, the balance will show both days and weeks.
For example:
5 days (1.0 weeks)
Hour-based leave types continue to display in hours.
Leave notifications
Leave-related notifications display the correct unit based on the leave type.
For example:
Your 1.0 day of annual leave has been approved.
Or:
You requested 0.5 days leave.
This applies to confirmation messages, in-app notifications, and push notifications.
How Leave in Days works for managers
Approving leave requests
Managers can review and approve day-based leave requests in the Leave Approvals screen.
Leave balances and requested leave amounts display in the correct unit:
- Day-based leave types display in days.
- Hour-based leave types display in hours.
If an employee has insufficient leave balance, the manager will see a message showing the remaining balance in days.
For example:
Insufficient leave balance. 0.5 days remaining.
When a manager approves a day-based leave request, Humanforce WFM automatically creates the corresponding leave timesheet entry with the correct day-based leave duration.
Adding leave timesheets in days
Managers can add leave timesheets for day-based leave types.
When adding a leave timesheet, the shift type name displays with a (days) suffix so managers can identify that the leave type is processed in days.
Timesheets continue to include time and hour information where required, but Humanforce WFM stores the leave duration in days for the day-based leave type.
This ensures payroll receives the correct leave duration without requiring manual conversion from hours to days.
Payroll processing and exports
Leave in Days supports payroll processing for day-based leave types.
When a payrun is created, Humanforce WFM retains the leave duration value in days for leave types configured with Unit Type = Days.
Payroll exports can use day-based leave information so that payroll systems do not need to convert leave hours into days.
The following export options are available:
| Export option | Description |
|---|---|
| Shift Type in Days | Filters shift types where the unit type is set to days. |
| Leave Duration in Days | Exports the leave duration value for day-based leave types. |
This helps ensure leave is exported in the correct unit for payroll processing.
Using Leave in Days on the Humanforce Work app
Leave in Days is supported in the Humanforce Work app on both iOS and Android.
Employees can request leave in days using either default hours for full-day leave or custom hours for partial-day leave.
Leave balances and requested leave totals display in days.
Managers can view and approve leave requests with day-based values shown on the approval screen.
Day-based leave type names display with a (days) suffix in the app.
Push notifications also display leave amounts in the correct unit.
Note: Leave in Days must be enabled for your organisation before it is available in the Work app.
Important things to know
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Unit Type is permanent | Once a leave type is saved with Unit Type = Days, it cannot be changed back to hours. |
| Source hours are required | Humanforce WFM requires source hours, such as rostered hours, profile hours, or template hours, to calculate the day value. If no source hours exist, the request may be blocked or the relevant day may be excluded. |
| Maximum of 1 day per calendar day | An employee cannot request more than 1 day of leave for a single calendar day, even if they have multiple shifts rostered. |
| Overnight shifts | An overnight shift that crosses midnight is counted as 1 day of leave, based on the shift start date. |
| Mixed leave types are supported | Employees can have both hour-based and day-based leave types. Each leave type displays in its configured unit. |
| Shift hierarchy is not currently supported | Leave in Days should not be used for leave types that have a shift hierarchy configured. |
| Display in Weeks is optional | Display in Weeks only changes how balances are displayed. It does not change how leave is calculated or stored. |
Frequently asked questions
Can employees request a block of leave in days?
Yes. Employees can select a start date and end date to request a block of leave across multiple days.
The system calculates the total leave in days using the employee’s source hours for the selected dates.
Can employees request partial-day leave?
Yes. Employees can request partial-day leave by turning off Default leave hours and entering custom start and end times.
The system converts the requested hours into a day value.
For example, 4 hours of leave against an 8-hour standard day is recorded as 0.5 days.
Can I switch an existing leave type from hours to days?
A leave type can be configured with Unit Type = Days, but once saved, the unit type cannot be changed back to hours.
If your organisation is moving from hour-based leave to day-based leave, existing balances may need to be converted through an import or migration process.
Contact Humanforce team for assistance.
What happens if an employee has no rostered or profile hours for a day?
Humanforce WFM requires source hours to calculate leave in days.
If source hours do not exist for a selected day, the employee may be prevented from submitting the request or prompted to submit leave for rostered days only.
Does Leave in Days affect payroll exports?
Yes. Payroll exports can include day-based leave duration values.
This means payroll systems that process leave in days can receive the leave duration directly in days, without needing to convert from hours.
Does the Humanforce Work app support Leave in Days?
The Humanforce Work app support for leave in days for employees to request leave and for managers to approve leave.