PeopleMuster

Leave policy generator

Answer a few questions about how leave works at your company, and this leave policy generator writes a numbered policy from your answers. It covers leave types and quotas, notice, sick notes, carry-over and new joiners. Copy the draft or download it as a text file. It's free, with no signup.

Leave types

Leave policy

  1. 1. Purpose and scope

    This policy sets out how employees of the company request, approve and take leave. It applies to every employee.

  2. 2. The leave year

    The leave year runs from 1 January to 31 December. Every quota in this policy resets on 1 January.

  3. 3. Leave types and quotas

    Each employee receives the following leave in every leave year.

    • Annual leave: 20 days per leave year (paid, can be encashed).
    • Sick leave: 10 days per leave year (paid).
    • Unpaid leave: no set quota; each request is approved case by case (unpaid).

  4. 4. Joining part-way through the year

    An employee who joins after the leave year has started receives a share of each quota in proportion to the full months left in the year, rounded to the nearest half day.

  5. 5. Requesting leave

    Request planned leave at least 10 working days before the first day off. Requests go to your line manager, who approves or declines them and gives a reason for any decline.

    Leave is taken once it is approved. If two requests would leave the team short, the one made first is considered first.

    For an absence you could not plan, tell your line manager as early as possible on the first day.

  6. 6. Sick leave

    Tell your line manager before your usual start time on each day of sickness, unless you have agreed a longer absence.

    For sickness lasting more than 3 consecutive working days, your line manager may ask for a note from a doctor.

  7. 7. Unused leave

    Up to 5 unused days of annual leave carry over into the next leave year. Days above that lapse at the end of the leave year.

    Unused days of annual leave can be encashed. The company confirms the amount and the payment date in writing.

  8. 8. Records

    The company keeps a record of every request, approval and day taken. Each employee can see their own used and remaining days for every leave type.

  9. 9. Other terms

    Where an employment contract or local law gives an employee more leave than this policy, the more generous term applies.

  10. 10. Review

    HR owns this policy and reviews it once a year. Questions about it go to HR or to your line manager.

The short version

  • You get a complete leave policy in up to 10 numbered sections, written from your own rules.
  • Every number in the draft is one you typed. Change a field and the policy rewrites itself.
  • Set a leave type to 0 days and the policy treats each request case by case, which suits unpaid leave.
  • Read the draft against your employment contracts, then publish it where your team can find it.

What each answer changes in your policy

Each field maps to one clause, so you can see exactly where a rule lands. Leave a field at 0 and its clause switches to the simpler wording, so the draft never carries a rule you didn't choose.

The month you pick sets the leave year, and every quota resets on the first day of it. A year starting in April runs from 1 April to 31 March. Each leave type becomes one line with its days, whether it's paid and whether unused days can be encashed.

Notice sets how many working days ahead a planned request must go in. The sick-note number sets when a manager may ask for a note from a doctor. Carry-over caps the unused paid days that roll into the next year; anything above the cap lapses. Tick the new-joiner box and people who start mid-year get a share of each quota for the full months left.

The draft closes with a clause that gives the employee the more generous term wherever a contract or local law gives more leave. That keeps one policy usable in any country your team works from.

Publish the policy and run it in PeopleMuster

A policy works when people can find it and the leave system follows it. PeopleMuster keeps both in one place, so the policy your team reads and the leave they request live in one system.

Paste the draft into PeopleMuster Policies, where every policy sits in a category with a summary, and an assistant answers staff questions from them. Then set up the same leave types in the leave module. Each type there carries its annual quota and the same two flags you just chose: paid or unpaid, and encashable.

PeopleMuster costs $3 per person, per month, with every module included. The pricing page has the annual plan and the 14-day free start.

Leave policy questions

What should a leave policy include?

A leave policy needs 8 parts: who it covers, when the leave year runs, each leave type with its quota, how new joiners are treated, how to request leave, how sick leave works, what happens to unused days, and who owns the policy. This generator writes every one of them from your answers.

How do I write a leave policy for a small business?

Decide your leave types and the days for each, then set three rules: how much notice a request needs, when a sick note is asked for and how many days carry over. Fill those into the generator and you have a numbered draft. Read it once against your employment contracts before you publish it.

Should unused leave carry over to next year?

That's your call, and the generator writes it either way. A cap of a few days lets people save a short break without balances piling up. Set the carry-over to 0 and the policy says unused leave lapses at the end of the year.

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