Leave Management
Leave Management in JobNext handles the complete leave lifecycle — from configuring leave types and eligibility rules, through employee requests and manager approvals, to balance tracking and payroll integration. Every leave-related change is recorded as a transaction, giving full auditability of accruals, usage, encashment, and adjustments.
Leave Lifecycle Overview
Leave Dashboard
Navigate to HR → Leave to open the Leave Dashboard. This page shows all leave requests within a selected date range, organized by leave category tabs.
Date Filters
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| From | Start date for the leave request search range (defaults to one month before today) |
| To | End date for the leave request search range (defaults to today) |
Click the Search button (magnifying glass icon) after setting dates to refresh the results.
Leave Category Tabs
Leave requests are organized into three tabs based on category:
| Tab | Leave Types Shown |
|---|---|
| Annual Leaves | Annual Leave (AL) and related long-term leave types |
| Sick Leaves | Sick Leave (SL) and medical leave types |
| Other Leaves | Casual Leave (CL), Travel Leave, Emergency Leave, Hajj Leave, Festival Leave, Paternity Leave, Maternity, LWP, Omrah Leave, etc. |
Each tab displays a grid of leave requests with a Status dropdown filter (Pending, Approved, Rejected, All). The Combine button allows merging multiple selected leave records.
Action Buttons
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Leave Request + | Opens the staff selection page to create a new leave request for one or more employees |
| Leave Balance | Opens the Staff Leave Balance page to view and manage leave balances for all employees |
Leave Types (Setup & Rules)
Leave Types define the rules and limits for each category of leave. The following leave types are available in the system:
| Code | Leave Type | Category |
|---|---|---|
| AL | Annual Leave | Annual |
| SL | Sick Leave | Sick |
| CL | Casual Leave | Other |
| TL | Travel Leave | Other |
| EL | Emergency Leave | Other |
| HL | Hajj Leave | Other |
| PL | Paternity Leave | Other |
| FL | Festival Leave | Other |
| NYL | New Year Leave | Other |
| ML | Maternity | Other |
| LWP | Absent - Leave Without Pay | Other |
| OL | Omrah Leave | Other |
Paid vs. Unpaid
Each leave type is configured as either Paid or Unpaid. For example, Annual Leave is typically paid while "Absent - Leave Without Pay" (LWP) is unpaid. Even if a leave type is configured as "Paid", attendance finalization rules can still mark specific days as unpaid (LOP) under certain operational conditions.
Carryover vs. Non-Carryover
| Type | Behavior | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Carryover | Unused balance carries forward to the next leave year, subject to a maximum carryover cap | Annual Leave |
| Non-Carryover | Balance resets/renews each leave year — unused days are lost | Festival Leave, New Year Leave |
If an employee's carryover leave exceeds the configured maximum, the excess is automatically reduced during the payroll leave management process. For example, if the Annual Leave carryover cap is 60 days but the employee has 75 unused days, the system reduces the balance to 60 when payroll runs.
Leave Limits (Constraints)
| Limit | Description |
|---|---|
| Max Leave at a Time | Maximum number of days allowed in a single leave request |
| Max Leave per Year | Annual entitlement cap — the maximum leave days an employee can take in one year |
| Max Leave in Service | Lifetime cap — the maximum total leave days an employee can take during their entire service |
Eligibility Restrictions
A leave type can be restricted to specific employee groups based on:
- Gender — e.g., Maternity Leave restricted to female employees
- Nationality — e.g., Hajj Leave restricted to employees of specific nationalities
- Religion — e.g., certain religious leave types restricted by faith
If an employee does not match the eligibility criteria, the system will prevent them from applying for that leave type.
Encashment
Some leave types allow encashment — converting unused leave days into a cash payment. This is typically available for Annual Leave and is governed by company policy. Encashment is processed during Leave Settlement (see Leave Settlement section).
Leave Eligibility by Designation
For leave types where entitlement varies by role (especially Annual Leave), eligibility is configured per designation/grade:
| Designation | Annual Leave Entitlement (Example) |
|---|---|
| Engineer / Technician | 30 days/year |
| Supervisor / Foreman | 45 days/year |
| Manager / Senior Manager | 60 days/year |
This eligibility configuration determines how many days are accrued each month during payroll processing. The configuration is set up in HR → Masters → Leave Eligibility, where you select a leave type, designation, and the number of entitled days.
Creating a Leave Request
Leave requests can be created by HR administrators on behalf of employees, or by employees through the Self-Service portal. Below is the HR workflow.
Step 1: Select Staff
From the Leave Dashboard, click Leave Request +. This opens the Select Staff For Leave page.
The staff grid displays all active employees with the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Business Unit | The BU the employee is assigned to |
| Emp No | Unique employee number (e.g., OMNISVC111) |
| Name | Employee's full name |
| DOJ | Date of joining |
| Camp | Camp/accommodation assignment (if applicable) |
| Designation | Employee's current designation |
| Cadre | Employee's cadre/trade classification |
| Department | Employee's department |
Use the filter dropdowns (Business Unit, Camp, Designation, Cadre, Department) or the search box to narrow down the list. Select one or more employees using the checkboxes, then click Apply For Leave.
Step 2: Fill the Leave Request Form
After selecting staff, a dialog opens with the leave request form and a summary of the chosen staff below.
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Leave Type | Yes | Select from the dropdown: Sick Leave, Casual Leave, Travel Leave, Emergency Leave, Hajj Leave, Annual Leave, Paternity Leave, Festival Leave, New Year Leave, Maternity, Absent - Leave Without Pay, Omrah Leave |
| Job | No | Optional link to a specific job/project — type to search and select. Used when the leave is associated with a particular work site |
| From | Yes | Start date of the leave period. Click to open the date picker |
| To | Yes | End date of the leave period. Click to open the date picker |
| Reason | No | Free-text field to explain the reason for leave (e.g., "Family emergency", "Medical appointment") |
| Half Day | No | Check this box if the employee is taking only a half-day leave (applies to the From date) |
The Staff Chosen section at the bottom of the dialog confirms which employee(s) the leave will be applied to, showing their Cadre, Designation, Department, Emp No, and Name.
Step 3: Submit the Request
Click the Apply For Leave button inside the dialog to submit the request. The system will:
- Validate the leave type against the employee's eligibility (gender, nationality, religion)
- Check the request against leave limits (max at a time, max per year, max in service)
- Create the leave request with a Pending status, ready for approval
You can select multiple employees on the Select Staff page and apply the same leave to all of them simultaneously. This is useful for company-wide holidays or group leave situations.
Leave Approval Workflow
After submission, leave requests follow the company's approval workflow:
- Request Created — status is set to Pending and appears in the Leave Dashboard
- Approver Notified — the designated approver (typically the employee's manager or HR) receives a notification
- Review & Decision — the approver evaluates the request considering leave balance, team workload, and project schedule
- Approve or Reject — the approver records their decision with optional comments
When a leave request is approved, JobNext automatically posts the leave into the employee's leave transaction records. This reduces the employee's available leave balance by the number of approved days. The leave will also appear in attendance records for the approved period.
Creating a leave request does not immediately reduce the leave balance. The balance only changes when the request is approved and the transaction is posted. This is a common source of confusion — always check whether a request has been approved before expecting the balance to update.
Leave Balance
The Leave Balance page provides a comprehensive view of every employee's leave balances across all leave types. Access it from the Leave Dashboard by clicking Leave Balance.
Staff Leave Balance Grid
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Status Badge | Green "Active" or red "Inactive" badge showing the employee's current employment status |
| Emp No | Employee number |
| Name | Employee's full name |
| Designation | Current designation |
| Department | Department assignment |
| Cadre | Cadre/trade classification |
| BU | Business Unit |
| Camp | Camp assignment |
Use the filter dropdowns (Designation, Department, Cadre, BU, Camp) or search to narrow the list. The Export button downloads the data to Excel.
Viewing Individual Leave Balances
Click the view button (magnifying glass icon) on any employee row to open a popup showing their leave balance breakdown.
The popup grid shows:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Leave Code | Short code for the leave type (e.g., SL, CL, AL) |
| Description | Full name of the leave type |
| Balance | Current available balance in days (e.g., 8.00, 365.00, 0.00) |
Each leave type row has a drill-down button to view the detailed transaction history for that leave type.
How Leave Balance is Calculated
An employee's leave balance is the net result of all leave transactions posted against them:
| Transaction Type | Effect on Balance | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Entitlement / Accrual | Increases balance | Payroll processing adds monthly entitlement |
| Leave Taken (Approved) | Decreases balance | Approved leave request is posted |
| Leave Encashment | Decreases balance | Leave settlement converts days to cash |
| Carryover Cap Adjustment | Decreases balance | Payroll reduces excess above carryover maximum |
| Non-Carryover Renewal | Resets balance | New leave year starts; old balance expires, new entitlement granted |
| Manual Adjustment | Increases or Decreases | HR manually adjusts balance via Upload Leave Balance |
Upload Leave Balance
The Upload Leave Balance button on the Staff Leave Balance page allows HR to bulk-upload or adjust leave balances via an Excel file. This is useful for:
- Initial data migration when onboarding to JobNext
- Bulk corrections or adjustments
- Importing balances from an external system
Attendance Integration
Leave Management is tightly integrated with the Attendance module. This integration works in both directions:
Auto-Generated Leave Requests
When attendance is uploaded and finalized, JobNext can automatically generate leave requests for absent days recorded in attendance. This ensures consistency between attendance records and leave transactions — if attendance shows an employee was on leave, the corresponding leave request will be created if one doesn't already exist.
Attendance Validation of Leave
During attendance upload and finalization, JobNext validates leave data against business rules:
- Leave + LOP totals cannot exceed the number of days in the month
- Cross-job conflicts are checked — leave recorded on one job cannot overlap with attendance on another job for the same day
- Leave balance is verified to ensure the employee has sufficient balance for the leave type
Paid vs. Unpaid Override
Even if a leave type is configured as "Paid", attendance finalization can convert specific leave days to unpaid (LOP) based on operational rules. Common scenarios include: insufficient leave balance, missing eligibility, company policy overrides, or probation period restrictions. The leave type's paid/unpaid setting is the default policy, while attendance finalization applies the operational rules.
Payroll Leave Entitlement
Leave balances are not only reduced by leave taken — JobNext also adds leave entitlement as part of monthly payroll processing. This is how leave accrues for employees.
Non-Carryover Leave (Annual Reset / Renewal)
For leave types that do not carry forward (e.g., Festival Leave, New Year Leave), the payroll process:
- Checks if a new leave year has started
- Resets the balance by granting the full yearly entitlement
- For new joiners, the entitlement may be pro-rated based on their joining date
Carryover Leave (e.g., Annual Leave)
For carryover leave types, the payroll process:
- Accrues the monthly entitlement (yearly entitlement ÷ 12)
- Maintains the running balance across years
- Enforces the maximum carryover cap — if the balance exceeds the configured cap, the excess is automatically reduced
Financial Year vs. Joining Date Anniversary
Depending on company configuration, leave renewal and carryover checks may be based on either:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Financial Year | Leave year follows the company's financial year (e.g., April–March or January–December). All employees reset on the same dates. |
| DOJ Anniversary | Leave year follows each employee's joining date anniversary. Each employee has a different renewal date. |
Leave Settlement
Leave Settlement is used when leave needs to be "closed out" financially — typically during employee separation, end-of-contract, or special encashment periods. Settlement components include:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Leave Salary | Payment for leave days the employee is entitled to but hasn't taken |
| Leave Encashment | Converting unused leave balance into cash payment based on per-day rate |
| Air Ticket / Airfare | Air ticket payment or encashment (if applicable per company policy and employee eligibility) |
| Recovery | Deductions or pending salary adjustments applied during settlement |
Leave Settlement Process
- Navigate to HR → Leave and locate the leave request to settle
- Open the Leave Settlement screen
- Select the employee and the leave request being settled
- Review the settlement details: leave balance, eligible encashment days, leave salary per day, leave days encashed, leave carried forward
- Review air ticket eligibility (if applicable)
- Review totals: Gross Pay, Recovery, Allowances, Net Pay
- Enter "Pay From" account (cash/bank) if required
- Click Request Approval or Update to save the settlement
Upon approval, the settlement amounts are posted into payroll/accounting entries. This creates finance vouchers for the leave salary, encashment, and air ticket amounts, and updates the employee's leave balance transactions accordingly.
Common Workflows
Workflow 1: Apply Leave for an Employee (HR)
- Go to HR → Leave
- Click Leave Request +
- On the Select Staff page, filter/search for the employee
- Check the employee's checkbox and click Apply For Leave
- In the dialog: select Leave Type, enter From and To dates, add a Reason
- Check Half Day if applicable
- Click Apply For Leave in the dialog to submit
- The request appears in the Leave Dashboard with Pending status
Workflow 2: Check and Export Leave Balances
- Go to HR → Leave
- Click Leave Balance
- Use filters (Designation, Department, Cadre, BU, Camp) to narrow the list
- Click the view button (magnifying glass) on any employee to see their detailed balance breakdown
- Click Export to download the complete leave balance data to Excel
Workflow 3: Approve/Reject Leave Requests
- Go to HR → Leave
- Set the date range and select the appropriate tab (Annual, Sick, or Other)
- Use the Status filter dropdown to show "Pending" requests
- Review the request details — employee, leave type, dates, reason
- Approve or Reject the request with optional comments
- Approved requests automatically update the employee's leave balance
Best Practices
- Check balance before applying: Always verify the employee's leave balance before creating a request to avoid rejection or LOP conversion
- Apply early: Submit leave requests well before the payroll cut-off date to ensure approvals are processed in time
- Verify auto-generated requests: If leave was captured via attendance upload, confirm that the corresponding leave request exists and has been approved
- Review settlement eligibility: Before requesting leave settlement, confirm the employee's eligibility for encashment and air tickets per company policy
- Monitor carryover limits: Regularly review annual leave balances approaching the carryover cap to avoid losing days
- Run payroll before checking balances: Leave entitlements are renewed during payroll processing — balances may appear low until the month's payroll runs
Frequently Asked Questions
Common causes:
- The leave type is restricted by gender, nationality, or religion and the employee doesn't match the criteria
- The leave type is inactive in the system
- The request exceeds the "max leave at a time" limit for that leave type
- The employee has reached the "max leave per year" or "max leave in service" cap
Leave balance only reduces when the request is approved and the transaction is posted. Creating a request alone does not change the balance. Ask the designated approver to process the request.
The system enforces a carryover cap for leave types that carry forward. If the employee's balance exceeded the configured maximum at year-end, the excess was automatically reduced during payroll processing. Check with HR for the current carryover cap value.
Attendance finalization can override the leave type's paid/unpaid setting based on operational rules. Even if the leave type is configured as "Paid", specific days may be converted to LOP if the employee has insufficient balance, doesn't meet eligibility criteria, or company policy requires it.
Leave entitlements are renewed as part of payroll processing, not automatically at the calendar year change. The balance will update once the first payroll of the new period is run. Also check whether your company uses financial year or DOJ anniversary cycles.