Annual leave management software for Rolling year leave planning

By Kieran - Founder

Does your business track employee leave based on a rolling year system?
e.g. Employee allowance is based on their start date rather than a fixed period for the entire company.

This kind of policy can make it harder to keep track of leave entitlements, Absentia is great for managing this scenario and can help you keep on top of your company's leave.

Often referred to as a "rolling year", "anniversary year" or "Individual leave year" leave policy - When an employee's leave year begins on their start date (or anniversary of their start date) rather than a fixed period for the entire company.

Individual leave year: This describes the system itself, where each employee has their own "leave year" that starts on their first day of employment.

Pro-rated leave: This term describes the concept of calculating holiday entitlement based on the portion of the leave year an employee has worked. This is common for employees who start mid-year.

How Absentia can help

Absentia can help you manage your rolling leave year policy. Our system can automatically calculate leave entitlements based on an employee's start date, and track leave balances throughout the year. This makes it easy to manage leave for employees with different leave years, and ensures that everyone gets their full entitlement.

Our leave management software also includes features like leave requests, approvals, and reporting. Give your employees access to their leave balances and allow them to request time off online.

Examples of rolling leave years

If you base your leave year on the employee's start date, all your staff have different holiday periods.

If someone joins in June; their holidays run from June until May the following year. If someone else joins in September; their holidays run from September until August the following year.

Why use a rolling leave year?

Many companies choose to use a "rolling year" or "anniversary year" leave policy for their employees. This system sets each employee's leave year to begin on their personal start date, rather than having a fixed period for the whole company. There are several reasons why this approach is preferred.

It promotes fairness and flexibility. Each employee gets their full leave entitlement based on their own start date, which can be seen as more equitable. This is especially important for new hires, who might otherwise have to wait a long time to accrue leave if the company used a fixed period system.

Additionally, the rolling year system allows for continuous accrual of leave. This makes it easier to manage and predict leave balances, reducing the administrative burden on HR departments. Tracking leave continuously also simplifies the process, as each employee's leave year is personalized, eliminating the need to adjust for partial years or different accrual rates.

The rolling year policy also helps avoid bottlenecks where many employees might want to take their leave at the same time, such as at the end of a fixed leave year. This can be disruptive to business operations, so spreading out leave periods naturally helps maintain smooth operations.

Companies that use individual leave years

We have found that companies with a high proportion of part-time workers, or those with requirements to cover all periods of the year prefer the rolling year system.

In our experience construction companies, retail, and hospitality businesses are more likely to use individual leave years