Half day
A half day is an agreed arrangement in which somebody works about half their scheduled shift and takes the rest as leave. Half days are planned and approved in advance. They normally draw half a day from a leave quota rather than a whole one.
The value of a half day is granularity. A dentist appointment at 3pm does not need a whole day of somebody's annual allocation. A system dealing only in whole days forces exactly that waste.
Two details decide whether it works. Whether the quota can hold fractions. And which half the person is taking, since that determines cover.
There is a boundary case worth settling early too. What happens when a half day and a public holiday land together.
Two half days in one week catch people out. Some policies treat them as one day off the balance and nothing more. Others count each as an occasion, which matters where a policy limits how often short absences may be taken. Read your own wording first.
Where this shows up in PeopleMuster
PeopleMuster runs leave as a quota per type per year with a per-person allocation grid. How half days draw against a balance is a matter of that configuration rather than a separate feature.
Questions people ask
Does a half day use half a leave day?
Normally yes, where the quota supports fractions. Where it does not, teams round. It is worth knowing which way your system rounds before relying on it.
Which half of the day does a half day cover?
Whichever the request says. Recording it matters for cover. Two people taking the same morning off is very different from two people taking opposite halves.
Can a half day be taken at short notice?
That is your leave policy's decision, not a technical limit. Many teams allow it, because a half day disrupts cover less than a full one.