Leave rules explained

These are the rules HCM applies to leave from the October 2026 release. They explain why a request is accepted or refused, and why the numbers on a balance card change.

Which days a request uses

• A request is paid from the holiday years that are open on the request's own dates, oldest first.
• Only what a year has earned by the request's first day counts. Days you will earn later cannot be used yet.
• Booking next year's leave uses next year's days, not this year's.
• Statements show only holiday years that have opened.

Pending requests hold days

A request waiting for approval reserves its days. A new request must fit around everything you have already asked for. The card shows "N pending approval", while Used and the remaining number count approved leave only.

Approval checks the balance again

When a manager approves, HCM adds this request to all approved leave and checks the balance once more. If it no longer fits, the approval is refused with "The leave balance no longer covers this request." and the request stays pending.

Year boundaries

• When a holiday year closes, unused days up to the Carryover cap (days) move to the next year. The rest lapses.
• An overdraft is different. If the year ends below zero, the full minus carries into the next year as a negative "carried in". The cap does not limit it.
• With Can be taken for (months) above 12, two holiday years overlap and both can be used.

Requests

• Whole days only. Weekends, public holidays and company days are not counted.
• A request covers at most a year from start to end.
• It must contain at least one working day.
• It cannot overlap a pending or approved request of any type.
• The working days are fixed when the request is sent.

Routing

• @manager:L1, @manager:L2 and so on count only managers who can decide: not terminated, with a sign-in account.
• If nobody suitable is found at that level, or the requester has no manager, the step goes to the HR administrators.
• Nobody can approve their own request.
• A step already routed keeps its approver, even if that manager leaves later. Ask the person to cancel and send the request again to route it afresh.
• A type with Requires approval off is approved on submit.

Rule set-up is in Approval rules and routing to managers.