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The Annual Leave system tracks team member time off, manages leave requests, and maintains leave balances throughout the year.

What is Annual Leave?

CharleOS handles all types of time off:
  • Annual leave (holiday entitlement)
  • Birthday leave (extra day off)
  • Sick leave
  • Unpaid leave
  • Compassionate leave
  • Other types
The system tracks balances, manages approvals, and integrates with scheduling to adjust capacity automatically.

Who uses Annual Leave

Delivery Team

All team members can:
  • View leave balance
  • Request leave
  • See team leave calendar
  • Check pending requests
  • Edit pending requests
  • Cancel approved leave

Managers

Managers can:
  • Review team leave requests
  • Approve or reject requests
  • See direct reports’ leave
  • View team calendar
  • Manage leave balances
  • Override or adjust as needed
Managers only see leave requests for their direct reports, not the entire company.

Leave types

TypeDescriptionRequires Balance
Annual LeaveHoliday entitlementYes
Birthday LeaveExtra day off for birthdayYes (1 day/year)
Sick LeaveIllness or injuryNo (unlimited)
Unpaid LeaveTime off without payNo
Compassionate LeaveBereavement or emergencyNo
OtherMiscellaneous leaveNo
Annual leave and birthday leave count against your allowance. Other types don’t deduct from your balance.

Day types

Leave can be requested as: Full Day
  • Entire working day off
  • Deducts 1 day from balance
Half Day (AM)
  • Morning off, work afternoon
  • Deducts 0.5 days from balance
Half Day (PM)
  • Work morning, afternoon off
  • Deducts 0.5 days from balance
Half days must be a single day. Multi-day requests must use full day type.

Leave status

All leave requests progress through statuses: Pending
  • Just submitted
  • Awaiting manager review
  • Can be edited or cancelled
Approved
  • Manager approved
  • Confirmed time off
  • Deducted from balance
  • Shows in schedule
  • Can still be cancelled
Rejected
  • Manager declined request
  • Not deducted from balance
  • Review notes explain why
Cancelled
  • Request withdrawn
  • Balance restored (if applicable)
  • Could be cancelled by requester or manager
Approved leave can be cancelled, but balance is only restored if the cancellation happens before the leave starts.

Leave balance

Annual leave allowance

Your annual leave allowance is set based on your employment terms and may increase with tenure. Check your profile or speak with your manager to confirm your current allowance.

Birthday leave

Everyone gets:
  • 1 extra day for birthday
  • Available once per year
  • Refreshes on birthday
  • Use any time after birthday

Balance calculation

Your remaining balance considers:
  • Annual allowance
  • Approved leave (deducted)
  • Pending leave (not deducted yet)
  • Taken leave (already occurred)
Example:
  • Allowance: 25 days
  • Approved future leave: 5 days
  • Remaining balance: 20 days
Pending leave doesn’t deduct from balance until approved. This lets you see your actual available days.

Leave calendar

Personal calendar

View your own leave:
  • All your requests
  • Approved dates highlighted
  • Pending dates shown differently
  • Past leave visible

Team calendar

See team leave:
  • All team members’ approved leave
  • Plan around team availability
  • Coordinate time off
  • Avoid conflicts
Only approved leave shows on team calendar. Pending requests remain private until approved.

Key features

Request workflow

Submit

Select dates and submit request

Review

Manager reviews and decides

Confirmed

Approval confirmed, leave scheduled

Balance tracking

Real-time

Always see current balance

Forecast

Preview balance after booking

Allowance

Track remaining entitlement

Schedule integration

Leave automatically:
  • Reduces daily capacity
  • Blocks scheduling on those days
  • Shows in timeline view
  • Updates team availability
  • Adjusts client schedules

Bank holidays

System handles bank holidays:
  • Not counted as leave days
  • Excluded from calculations
  • Calendar shows holidays
  • No deduction from balance

Common scenarios

Scenario 1: Week-long holiday

1

Check balance

View current leave balance (20 days remaining)
2

Select dates

Choose Monday-Friday week off (5 days)
3

Preview

System shows: “After booking: 15 days remaining”
4

Submit

Request submitted to manager
5

Approved

Manager approves, balance now 15 days

Scenario 2: Birthday leave

1

Birthday occurs

System grants 1 birthday leave day
2

Request when convenient

Use anytime after birthday (same year)
3

Select birthday type

Choose “Birthday” leave type
4

Submit

Request approval
5

Enjoy day off

Take your birthday day

Scenario 3: Sick day

1

Call in sick

Notify manager as per company policy
2

Log in system

Manager creates sick leave entry
3

No balance impact

Sick leave doesn’t deduct from annual leave
4

Schedule updates

Capacity blocked automatically
Sick leave is typically managed by managers, not self-service, to ensure proper tracking and compliance.

Best practices

Request early

Submit requests well in advance

Check team calendar

Coordinate with team availability

Monitor balance

Track remaining leave throughout year

Use it

Don’t save all leave until year-end

Half days

Consider half days for flexibility

Plan around projects

Avoid leave during critical deadlines

Access control

What you can do

All users:
  • View own leave balance
  • Request annual, unpaid, birthday leave
  • See team leave calendar
  • Edit pending requests
  • Cancel approved leave (future dates)
Managers:
  • Review direct reports’ requests
  • Approve or reject leave
  • View team leave overview
  • Create leave for sick/compassionate
  • Adjust balances if needed

What you can’t do

Team members:
  • Can’t approve own leave
  • Can’t see pending requests of others
  • Can’t create sick/compassionate leave (manager does this)
  • Can’t modify past leave

Troubleshooting

Check you have enough balance for annual leave. Ensure dates are in the future. Verify half days are single day only.
Balance shows approved leave only. Pending requests don’t deduct until approved. Check your requests table for pending items.
Birthday leave only available after your birthday has occurred this year. Check birthday is set correctly in your profile.
Requests may take 1-3 days for review. Send a reminder message if urgent. Check request is still pending (not accidentally cancelled).
Cancel the approved leave and submit a new request with correct dates. Do this as soon as possible.

Next steps