Blog
Guides, tips, and best practices for managing team leave and integrations.
annual leave Employee Not Taking Holiday? What a Manager Should Do (and Why It's a Risk)
If an employee won't take their holiday, put their balance and the year-end deadline in writing, encourage them to book dates, and set dates if needed. In the UK and EU, unused leave only lapses if you can show you gave a real chance to take it.
Does Holiday Pay Include Overtime, Commission and Bonuses? UK Rules (2026)
Yes. In the UK, holiday pay for at least 4 of the 5.6 weeks must include regularly paid overtime, commission and seniority or qualification payments, averaged over the last 52 paid weeks; the other 1.6 weeks can be paid at basic, and bonuses count only if tied to your own performance.
bank holidays Do Bank Holidays Count as Annual Leave? UK Rules for Full-Time and Part-Time Workers (2026)
They can: UK workers get 5.6 weeks' paid holiday (28 days for a five-day week) and employers may include bank holidays in it. Part-timers get 5.6 weeks pro rata and can't be made to use leave for a bank holiday on a day they don't work.
annual leave Can My Employer Make Me Take Holiday? Shutdowns and Enforced Leave in the UK and Ireland (2026)
Usually, yes. In the UK your employer can make you take holiday, for example during a Christmas shutdown, if it gives notice of at least twice the length of the leave or your contract says so; in Ireland the employer sets leave dates but must consult you at least a month ahead.
Annual Leave Entitlement in Ireland: Days, Public Holidays and How to Calculate It (2026)
Most employees in Ireland get 4 working weeks of paid annual leave (20 days on a five-day week) plus 10 public holidays. Here is how the 1,365-hour, 117-hour-a-month and 8% methods work, with worked examples for full-time and part-time staff.
floating holidays Floating Holiday Policy for Religious Holidays: Template, 2027 Dates and Pitfalls
A floating holiday policy gives every employee one to three paid days a year to place on the religious or cultural dates that matter to them, such as Diwali, Eid, Lunar New Year or Orthodox Easter. Here's a template, the 2027 dates and how to run it fairly.
ramadan Ramadan and Eid at Work: How to Handle Eid Leave Requests Fairly (2027 Dates)
Handle Eid leave requests by publishing the expected dates early, letting people book a provisional window, and using caps, floating holidays and shift swaps. In 2027 Ramadan is expected from 8 February, Eid al-Fitr on 9 March and Eid al-Adha on 16 May, subject to moon sighting.
holiday pay Paid for Unused Holiday When Leaving a Job? UK, Ireland, Germany, France & Netherlands (2026)
Yes: in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and the Netherlands you must be paid for statutory holiday you've earned but not taken when you leave. Here's how each country calculates it, with a worked UK example.
annual leave Can My Employer Refuse My Holiday Request? UK and Ireland Rules (2026)
Yes, but within limits. In the UK your employer must refuse with at least as many days' notice as the leave you asked for and can't stop you taking your statutory holiday; in Ireland the employer sets dates but must consult you a month ahead.
sick leave Sick During Annual Leave: Do You Get the Holiday Days Back? (UK, Ireland, Germany, France)
Yes. If you fall ill on holiday in the UK, Ireland, Germany or France, the sick days can be taken back as annual leave, provided you report the illness and give the evidence required: self-certification or a fit note in the UK, a doctor's certificate in Ireland and Germany, an arrêt de travail in France.
Holiday Pay for Irregular Hours: The 12.07% Rule and Rolled-Up Holiday Pay (UK 2026)
Irregular-hours and part-year workers in the UK accrue holiday at 12.07% of hours worked each pay period, capped at 28 days, and employers may pay it as rolled-up holiday pay of 12.07% on each payslip for leave years from 1 April 2024. Worked example and record-keeping rules.
shared calendar One Shared Leave Calendar for the Whole Office, in Google or Outlook
Put every approved absence in one shared Google or Outlook calendar that updates itself, so the team sees who's out in the calendar they already use, without anyone adding events by hand.
unlimited pto How to Run Unlimited PTO Without Losing Track of Who's Resting
Unlimited PTO only works if you can still see who's off, who's covering, and who hasn't taken a break in months. Here's how to set it up so it stays generous and visible.
multiple offices Managing Leave Across Two Offices: Holidays, Work Weeks and Rules That Differ
Opening a second office changes leave more than people expect: different public holidays, work weeks, leave years and rules. Here's how to run both cleanly from one leave system.
audit log Why Your Leave System Needs an Audit Log (and What It Should Record)
"Who approved this?" and "who changed my balance?" need answers you can trust. Here's what a leave audit log should record, how long to keep it, and how it settles disputes in minutes.
reports Scheduled Leave Reports: A Monday Summary and Month-End Balances, by Email
Stop rebuilding the same leave reports by hand. Schedule a weekly who's-out summary and a monthly balance report by email, and send them to exactly the people who need them.
burnout Spotting Burnout Early: What Your Leave Data Says About Team Energy
People who don't take time off are a bigger risk than people who do. Here's how a team energy score reads burnout signals from leave patterns, with nobody filling in a survey.
absence forecasting Absence Forecasting for Small Teams: See Your Busiest Weeks Coming
How absence forecasting uses your own leave history to flag the weeks you'll be short-staffed, check each department's cover over the next 30, 60 or 90 days, and plan before it hurts.
bradford factor Bradford Factor Reporting in Practice: Automatic Scores, Used Fairly
How to track the Bradford Factor automatically from your leave data, which absences should count, how spells are grouped, and how to use the scores fairly instead of as an automatic trigger.
slack Running Leave From Slack: Commands, Approvals and the Who's-Out Digest
A practical guide to handling leave inside Slack with Absenca: every /absenca command, one-click approvals, automatic Slack status and a daily or weekly who's-out digest.