Checking Leave Balances

Learn how to view your available leave time, understand accruals and usage, and track balances for different leave types such as vacation, sick time, and personal days.

Overview

The Leave Balances feature allows you to view and track your available time off across different leave types. Understanding your leave balances helps you plan time off effectively and ensures you’re aware of your available leave time before making requests.

Accessing Your Leave Balances

From the Dashboard

The quickest way to check your leave balances:

1. Log into your Shifts account
2. On your dashboard, find the Leave Balances widget
3. View a summary of your current balances for each leave type
4. Click View Details for more comprehensive information

From the Time Off Section

For a more detailed view:

1. From the main menu, select Time Off
2. Click the My Balances tab
3. See a complete breakdown of all your leave balances

Understanding Your Balance Display

Balance Components

Your leave balance display includes several key pieces of information:

• Starting Balance: The amount you began with at the start of the year or accrual period
• Accrued: Additional time you’ve earned during the current period
• Used: Time you’ve already taken this year
• Pending: Time requested but not yet taken
• Available: Your current available balance (Starting + Accrued - Used - Pending)
• Remaining: Projected remaining balance for the year based on accrual rates

Leave Types

Different types of leave are tracked separately:

• Vacation/PTO: Planned personal time off
• Sick Leave: Time for illness or medical appointments
• Personal Days: Flexible days for personal matters
• Other Leave Types: Additional categories defined by your organization

Each type may have different accrual rates, usage rules, and expiration policies.

Balance History and Transactions

To see how your balances have changed over time:

1. Go to Time Off → My Balances
2. Click the Transaction History tab
3. View a chronological list of all balance changes including:
   • Accruals: When you earned additional time
   • Usage: When you used leave time
   • Adjustments: Manual changes by administrators
   • Expirations: When unused time expired
4. Use the date filters to view specific periods

Accrual Schedules

Understanding how you earn leave time:

1. Go to Time Off → My Balances
2. Click the Accrual Schedule tab
3. View details about your accrual rates, including:
   • Accrual Frequency: How often you earn leave (per pay period, monthly, etc.)
   • Accrual Rate: How much time you earn in each period
   • Annual Cap: Maximum amount you can accrue in a year
   • Carryover Rules: How much unused time carries to the next year

Accrual rates may vary based on your years of service, employment type, or role.

Year-End Projections

To plan your time off for the rest of the year:

1. Go to Time Off → My Balances
2. Click the Projections tab
3. View your projected end-of-year balances based on:
   • Current balances
   • Scheduled accruals
   • Approved upcoming leave
   • Expected accrual until year-end

Checking Team Balances (Managers Only)

If you’re a manager, you can view your team’s balances:

1. Go to Team Management → Leave Balances
2. See an overview of all team members’ current balances
3. Click on an individual employee for detailed balance information
4. Use filters to focus on specific leave types or employees
5. Export balance reports for planning purposes

Leave Balance Alerts

The system provides alerts about your leave balances:

• Low Balance Warnings: Notifications when a balance is nearly depleted
• Expiration Alerts: Reminders when time is about to expire
• Accrual Notifications: Alerts when new time has accrued
• Maximum Balance Alerts: Warnings when approaching maximum accrual limits

Common Questions

Why is my balance different than expected?

Several factors may affect your balance:

• Recent Time Off: Recently approved requests may have been deducted
• Pending Requests: Time requested but not yet taken reduces available balance
• Accrual Timing: Some accruals may process on specific dates
• Balance Adjustments: HR may have made manual adjustments

What if my balance looks incorrect?

If you believe your balance is incorrect:

1. Check your transaction history to see all changes
2. Review pending time off requests
3. Verify your accrual schedule
4. Contact your manager or HR administrator if you still believe there’s an error

Best Practices

For effective leave balance management:

1. Check balances before requesting time off to ensure sufficient time
2. Review your balances regularly, especially before accrual period ends
3. Be aware of expiration policies and use time that doesn’t carry over
4. Plan around accrual dates if you need a specific amount of time
5. Keep track of pending requests that reduce your available balance

Related Resources

• Leave Types
• Requesting Time Off
• Team Leave Calendar

This article should be updated when:

1. The leave balance display interface changes
2. Accrual calculation methods are modified
3. New leave balance features are added
4. Balance reporting tools change
5. Year-end processing or carryover rules change