How-to
Guide to leave entitlement rules
On this page
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 qualified employees receive the appropriate number of leaves, which are credited automatically.
Only employees who meet the eligibility criteria defined in the rule can 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 the Entitlement module
Navigate to Control Panel → Leaves → Entitlement.
Click “Add New Entitlement Rule”.
2. Configure eligibility criteria
You can set rules based on one or more of the following filters:
| Criteria | Description |
|---|---|
| Category | Leave category (e.g., Sick, Casual, Earned, Maternity) |
| Department | e.g., Sales, HR, Engineering |
| Designation | e.g., Manager, Developer, Intern |
| Employment Type | e.g., Full-Time, Part-Time, Contractual |
| Entity | Useful for multi-location or multi-brand setups |
| Gender | If the leave applies to a specific gender |
| Band | Employee's level/grade within the organization |
| Marital Status | If 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.
For example, if you assign 12 annual leaves but cap the balance at 18, an employee stops receiving credits after accumulating 18 unused leaves.
5. Select credit frequency
Choose how often the leave should be credited:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Monthly | Credits every month (e.g., 1 leave/month) |
| Quarterly | Every 3 months |
| Semi-Annual | Twice a year |
| Once | One-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 “Save”.
The rule now appears 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
- Navigate to Control Panel → Leaves → Entitlement.
- Scroll to Existing Leave Entitlement Rules.
- Click Edit under the rule you want to modify.
- The form above auto-populates.
- Make your 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-rata 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 you cannot define a maximum leave for them.
- Only Super Admins and designated HR Admins can manage entitlement rules.
Frequently asked questions
Why are my leaves not getting credited, and how do I troubleshoot this?
The system credits leaves automatically as per the leave entitlement rules defined in your HRStop portal. Go through the following points to troubleshoot the issue:
1. Credit Frequency: Leaves are credited as per the frequency defined in the leave entitlement rule, which can be Monthly, Quarterly, Annually or Once.
2. Employee profile is not updated as per the Entitlement Rule: Entitlement rules are defined on various factors such as Employment Type, Service Status, Department, Designation, Band, Location and Entity. If the employee details do not match the entitlement rule, leaves are not credited to their account.
3. Entitlement rule has an Experience Barrier: If the entitlement rule has an experience limitation, only employees with more experience than that are eligible for leave credits under that category.
4. Maximum Leave Count allowed: If the entitlement rule defines a maximum count allowed, the system stops crediting leaves to the employee's account once their leave count reaches that mark.
5. Defer Crediting: Defer Crediting accumulates the leave count in the system. Use it when you want to credit the accumulated balance (from the date of joining) to employees' accounts once they are confirmed. Selecting this check box in a leave entitlement rule stops the leave credit for all employees who fall under that entitlement rule.
6. Incorrect Balance: Check the entitled balance per annum that is credited based on the credit frequency.
7. Employee Leave Entitlement: HRStop also allows the admin to define leave entitlement rules for individual employees, and these rules take priority over group entitlement rules. In case of a wrong credit or no credit, check whether an employee leave entitlement rule has been defined for the employee concerned.