Managing your employee’s time off is a key part of managing your payroll and your business. Not only do you need to be managing your schedule and normal business operations around employee time off, you’ve also got various rules to comply with when it comes to managing employee’s leave entitlements. It can feel like hard work!
In this article, we’ll focus on how you can use PaySauce to manage leave requests, review a leave schedule and record leave entries in your pay run. We’ll also cover how to manage corrections to leave as well.
Leave is a big topic, and we have a couple of related articles you might want to review as well:
Leave entitlements: this article covers the basics on leave entitlements for when you aren’t too sure of the rules when it comes to leave.
Recording public holidays: this article covers public holidays specifically, as we know this can be a really tricky area for employers to manage
Using the PaySauce app (for employees): this article covers all the basics your employees need to know about how to use the PaySauce app, including how they can request leave and view their balances.
Leave requests
Submitting leave requests
Your employee can use the PaySauce app to submit a leave request to you. When they submit this request, it then comes through to your “workflow” to approve or decline.
For instructions on how to submit a leave request, employees can check out our article written specifically for how they can action this in the PaySauce app.
Submitting a request on behalf of an employee
If your employee hasn’t submitted a leave request, you are able to submit a leave request on their behalf. You can also record leave directly into the pay run, but sometimes using a leave request is easier for you - especially if the leave spans more than one pay period or isn’t in your current pay run dates (that is, you want to record it for a future date).
On your computer (PaySauce on the web)
Go to the ‘Employees’ section in PaySauce.
Select your employee from the list, then choose the ‘balances’ tab.
Click on the ‘New Leave Request’ button which appears on the right hand side of the page under the balances.
On the leave request window, enter the details of the leave. You need to specify a ‘from’ date, which is the date the leave starts, as well as a ‘to’ date, which is the last day of the leave period.
For a single day of leave, enter the date of the leave in both ‘from’ and ‘to’.
The dates will default to using a full day, however you can change this to either a half day or to ‘enter hours’. If you select ‘enter hours’, the hours field will become available to type into.
Choose the type of leave in the leave drop down box.
Add a message to be recorded against the request if you wish.
Click Ok to finish and save the request.
The leave request window will show you:
Actual days - the actual number of calendar days covered in the leave request
Leave days - the number of days that would be recorded using this leave request and deducted from the employee’s balance
Leave hours - the number of hours that would be recorded using this leave request and deducted from the employee’s balance
Stat days and hours - the number of any statutory holidays which occur in this date range, which will be automatically excluded from the leave request
On your mobile (PaySauce app)
Open your PaySauce app and tap the Leave icon.
The Leave Request screen will appear. Tap the plus button in the red frame at the top.
Select the employee and tap next.
Select the leave type then tap next.
A leave calendar will appear. For a single day of leave, tap the day required. For multiple days, tap the first day and then the last day of the leave period. All the days to be included in the leave request should show as highlighted.
The leave request will default to full days. If the employee is set up to have standard hours with a work pattern, there will also be an option to select a half day or to specify hours. If your employee is on varied hours or casual and has no work pattern, you will only be able to submit the request in full days.
Tap next at the bottom of the screen and the selected details will appear. You can enter a short description for the leave request if you want.
Tap send request.
You’ll still need to follow the usual steps of approving the leave and applying it to your pay run.
Approving leave requests
When an employee submits a leave request to you, you need to either approve or decline the request.
When you approve or decline a leave request, a notification will appear for the employee to confirm if the leave was approved or declined.
Using PaySauce on the web (computer) to approve leave
When an employee submits a leave request, it will be visible to approve or refuse in your task list. Your task pane appears when you are viewing your company settings and information.
Click on your company name in the top left hand corner to view the company settings and task list.
The leave request task card will show the information about the leave request, such as the leave type, dates and total number of hours.
If you want to view more information, you can click on the text ‘leave request’ in the leave request task card. This will open more details in a pop up window. This window will show you their current balances if you need to check the balances before approving.
Click on approve to approve the request, or refuse to decline it. You have the option to record a note.
You can also approve leave in the leave calendar view.
Using the PaySauce app to approve leave requests
You can access leave requests through both the Leave and Notifications sections. Tap on either to view requests that you need to approve.
If you have tapped the Leave icon, the top of the screen will show you three states: pending, approved and declined. Tap pending to view any leave requests that need approval.
If you have tapped the Notifications icon, tap on the leave request that you want to review.
Each leave request will show the name of the employee and the dates of the leave request. Tap on the request to show more details.
You can view the start date, end date, leave type and total hours requests. Any notes the employee has added will also appear for you.
The employee’s leave balances will also show on the request.
Tap approve or decline.
If you want the employee to edit the leave request, decline it and ask them to resubmit it with new information. You can edit leave entries when they are in your pay run, but you cannot edit the request that the employee has submitted to you.
Reviewing upcoming leave
If you want to check and see who has leave coming up, you can do this either through the leave calendar (on your computer) or in a list (on your app).
Using PaySauce on the web (computer) to review leave
PaySauce has a leave calendar which allows you flexible views of upcoming and past leave.
Select Employees on the left hand side menu
At the top of the employee list select the Leave icon, on the right
The leave calendar will default to showing you the current month. Use the arrows in the top left corner to move forward or back.
The leave calendar will default to showing you leave requests that are pending or approved. Other leave request states are closed or declined, and you can change the view on your calendar to include or exclude different leave states by using the drop down next to the arrows (to the left of the date in the top centre of the calendar). To view all leave in the month, including leave already applied in previous pays, click on the states drop down and select ‘closed’ to add these to your view.
By default, the leave calendar will show you all leave types. You can change this to only view the leave types you want to view by using the drop down list to the right of the date.
You can change the view between month, week or day by using the buttons on the far right of the leave calendar.
You can add or remove employees from your view of the leave calendar by clicking their name on the employee list on the left hand side.
Each employee’s request will show as a coloured band across the dates of their leave request. You can click on the coloured band to see the details of the leave request. If the leave request is pending, you can approve it here. If the leave request has already been approved, you can remove it by clicking ‘remove leave request’.
Each coloured band will show an icon to indicate its state: a tick for approved, a question mark for pending and a cross for declined.
Using the PaySauce app to review upcoming leave
Tap the Leave icon.
Tap ‘Approved’ at the top of the screen to view a list of approved leave requests.
If you’re using our Rosters app, you’ll also see leave requests on the calendar when building your roster. Check out the article here: Rosters
Recording leave in your pay run
Applying leave requests to your pay run
Once you have approved a leave request, you must apply it to your pay run. This does not happen automatically, as you must ensure the details are correct at the time you process the pay. We recommend, as best practice, checking the leave view each pay as part of your usual pay run process.
Your employee’s pay must be in the ‘data entry’ state to apply leave requests. If you have already calculated the employee’s pay, move them back to data entry by clicking on the circle arrow on their pay card.
In ‘Run a Pay’, select the Leave icon at the top of the screen - second from the left.
In the ‘view’ drop down menu, select ‘leave requests’.
Change the ‘States’ from ‘All’ to ‘Current’ so that you see leave requests for the current period only. You can also include ‘overdue’ to capture leave requests from previous periods which have not yet been applied to a pay run.
Check the details for the leave are correct, reviewing the dates, payment and hours.
You can hover your mouse over the information icon to view additional details about the leave request and the employee’s balances.
The leave type will default to the one selected by the employee in the leave request. You are able to change it in the ‘type’ drop down box if you need to, for example, if they don’t have a sufficient balance.
The hours being applied are automatically drawn from either the work pattern or the average daily hours, depending on the employee’s set up. You can use the down arrow next to the hours field to review other options or you can type into the hours field if you need to change the hours.
The rate applied is automatically selected based on the appropriate rules for the leave type as well as the employee and company settings. You can click the down arrow to select other system calculated options.
When you’re ready to apply the payments to the employee pay cards, tick the box next to their name and click the ‘apply leave payments’ button in the top right.
You can select all employees in the list by clicking on the checkbox in the heading line.
Select the employee's checkbox and click ‘Apply Leave Payments’.
Go back to ‘Run a Pay’ and the leave will be recorded in the employee pay card.
Applying cash up requests
If your employee has requested to cash up some annual leave or alternative leave and you have approved the request, you will apply the cash up request in a similar way to approving the usual leave requests.
In ‘Run a Pay’, select the Leave icon at the top of the screen.
In the ‘view’ drop down menu, select ‘cash up requests’.
Check the details for the leave are correct, reviewing the dates, payment and hours.
You can hover your mouse over the information icon to view additional details about the leave request and the employee’s balances.
When you’re ready to apply the cash up to the employee pay cards, tick the box next to their name and click the ‘apply leave payments’ button in the top right.
Go back to ‘Run a Pay’ and the cash up will be recorded in the employee pay card.
The normal pay (salary or wages) should not be reduced, because the cash up is being added on top the employee’s normal earnings.
Entering leave into the pay run (without a request)
If you don’t have a leave request from an employee but need to make a leave entry, you can do this quickly directly in the pay run.
On your computer (PaySauce on the web)
In ‘Run a Pay’, click on the leave icon on the employee’s pay card.
In the leave view, you have the employee's leave balances and rates on the left. You can also see the employee’s leave requests in the top left.
The right hand side will show you the current leave entries for the pay run (if there are any).
Click on the plus button in the top right corner to add a new leave entry into this pay run.
Choose the leave type from the drop down box.
Select the leave days by clicking on each day that needs to be recorded as leave on the calendar.
The checkbox ‘Leave is outside the current range of the period’ button will open the full calendar year if for some reason you need to enter a date outside your current pay period.
The hours will automatically be populated based on the employee’s work pattern if they have one, or an average if they are set to ‘varied hours’. Change the hours if you need to.
The rate will be calculated based on the leave type’s payment settings.
Select ‘Ok’ then ‘Save’ to finish.
On your mobile (PaySauce app)
Tap the Payroll icon.
Tap on the employee's name that you wish to apply leave for.
Tap the ‘leave**’** symbol at the top of the next window - it looks like a sun.
Tap the + symbol at the top of the red frame, or tap the ’add leave’ button.
Select the type of leave requested and then tap ‘next’.
Tap the days that are to be recorded on leave (tap each date on the calendar), then tap ‘next’.
On the next window check you're happy with the number of hours and the hourly rate, then tap ‘save leave’.
Use the ‘back’ button to step back to the ‘pending’ screen and check the totals for the pay for that employee.
Checking leave entries in your pay run before processing
After applying leave requests or recording leave entries, you will want to make ensure the ordinary worked hours are correct. We don’t want employees to get paid both leave and normal pay for days they are away! If you have an employee on a salary or working a fixed number of hours every week, check that the payment has reduced with the 'leave reduction' arrow. You should see an arrow next to the salary or wages line. If you hover your mouse on this arrow, it will tell you the total number of hours that the payment has been reduced by due to the leave entry.
You may also want to check the number of days paid. The number of days paid field only shows for staff on the ‘varied hours’ employment setting. If you have this days paid box to enter, ensure that the total number of days paid includes paid worked days and paid leave days. You should not include any unpaid leave or any cashed up leave days when calculating the total of the days paid. It's important that the days are correctly recorded as it helps to determine the employee's average daily rate for future leave payments.
Removing or amending leave entries that have been applied to your pay run
Sometimes you may want to remove leave entries or public holidays that have been applied to an employee’s pay. You can either remove these or edit the entry directly.
From the ‘global’ leave view:
First, ensure your employee’s pay is in ‘data entry’. If you have already calculated the pay, return it to data entry by clicking on the circle arrow icon on their pay card in the pay run processing area.
To remove the leave payments, go back to your ‘Global Leave View’ in your top left corner. This is the small box with the mountain and sun.
Change the leave view in the drop down box to ‘leave summary’.
Use the checkbox to select employees that you wish to remove leave for and click the ‘remove leave payments’ button in the top right.
The leave request will still exist, so you can re-apply it and change details if you need to.
From the employee’s pay card:
Your employee’s pay card should be in data entry - if it is already calculated, return it to the data entry state by clicking on the circle arrow icon on their pay card. Click the leave icon on the employee’s pay card to open a view of the leave entered into the employee’s pay.
Click the cross button next to a leave entry to remove it.
Click on the pencil icon next to a leave entry to edit it.
Click the Ok button at the the bottom of the leave screen, then the Save button at the top.