Leave quota
A leave quota is the number of days allocated to a person under one leave type for a defined period, usually a year. Quotas are held per type rather than as one pool. Ten days of one kind and five of another are separate balances that do not borrow from each other.
Per-type quotas are what make a leave system readable. One combined pool cannot answer the question people actually ask. How much of the specific thing they want is left.
Keeping them separate has a cost. Somebody with nothing left in one type and plenty in another will ask to move days across. The answer has to be a policy, not an improvisation.
Allocations also vary by person. Length of service, role and contract all commonly change the number. So a quota is really a grid rather than a figure.
A quota only helps if people see it before they need it. Balances discovered at the moment of asking produce unrealistic requests and refusals that feel arbitrary. Showing used against allocated, per type, turns it into arithmetic anybody can do.
Where this shows up in PeopleMuster
PeopleMuster holds an annual quota on each leave type, plus a per-user grid showing used against allocated for every type. A balance is a lookup, not a calculation.
Questions people ask
Can a quota be different for different people?
Yes, and it usually is. Allocation commonly varies with role, contract and length of service. That is why the balance is held per person, not per type alone.
Can unused days from one type move to another?
Only if your policy allows it. Types are separate balances by design, so any transfer is a deliberate rule somebody has to write down.
What happens when a quota is exhausted?
Further requests under that type have nothing to draw on. Teams usually route them to an unpaid type or refuse them. Your policy should say which.