How to create and manage Time Off Policies (PTO)

Paid Time Off Policies (PTO) in 7shifts help employers stay compliant with labor laws and manage vacation and sick leave entitlements. By creating policies, employers can streamline requests and ensure accurate tracking of entitlements for 7shifts Payroll and general scheduling.

Things to know

• All PTO policies follow the calendar year for rollover, meaning balances reset or roll over on January 1.
• PTO policies renew at the start of the calendar year and cannot be set to renew on an employee's hire date.
• An employee must have a hire date set in their profile to be assigned to an Hourly Accrual policy.
• Leaving the Maximum Carry Over field blank allows employees to carry over unlimited hours.

Create Time Off Policies

1. In the 7shifts web app as an Admin.
2. Navigate to Settings and select Company Settings.
3. Select the Time Off tab.
4. Enable the Paid Time Off and/or Sick Paid Time Off settings.
5. Under the Policies section, click + Create Policy.
6. Fill in the policy details based on your specific your legal requirements.
7. Customize the settings based on the chosen accrual type and click Save.
   

Accrual Types

• Fixed: The Admin sets a specific number of paid hours or days off that employees receive per calendar year.
• Hourly accrual: Employees earn paid time off based on the actual number of hours they work.
• Unlimited: The Admin allows employees to take an unlimited number of days off within a calendar year.

Policy Settings

• Waiting period for using: This defines the number of days a new employee must wait after their hire date before they can use their time off.
• Automatically prorate new employees based on start date: This setting adjusts the entitlement for Fixed policies based on when the employee was hired during the year. 
  
  Example: If an employee starts mid-year and is entitled to 20 PTO days annually, they would receive 10 days for the remainder of the year.
• Maximum carry over: This determines the maximum amount of time off that can be moved into the next calendar year. If you leave this field blank, employees can carry over unlimited hours. To prevent any hours from carrying over, enter "0". 
• Maximum accrual: This sets a cap on the total amount of paid time an employee can earn within a single calendar year.
• Waiting period for earning: This applies to hourly accrual policies and defines how many days an employee must work before they begin earning PTO.

Manage and Assign Policies in Bulk

After creating a Time Off Policy, Admin users can manage and assign employees in bulk:

1. Navigate to Settings > Company Settings > Time Off.
2. Click the edit pencil icon next to the specific policy you wish to update:
   
3. Review and update the policy details as needed.
4. To assign multiple employees at once, select +Assign.
   
5. Choose the employees in bulk and click Assign employees.

Next Steps

Now that your policies are set up, you can manage individual adjustments within employee profiles.