Best Practice for Updating Leave Entitlement

Scenario 1: Changes to Leave Entitlement for New Year (Effective 2026)

Example: Annual Leave entitlement increases from 14 days to 18 days per year in 2026

Recommended Setup (Best Practice):

1. Duplicate the existing Time Off policy in the same Time Off Category
2. Update the policy configuration as required : Entitlement to be 18 Days per year
3. Assign the new leave policy to employees with an effective date of 1 January 2026.

What This Means for Employees

• From 1 January 2026, employees’ leave will follow the new policy configuration
• Entitlement and balances for 2025 or previous years in the old policy remain
• The employee will only see the policy that is currently in effect.

What This Means for Admins

• You will have two policies under the Annual Leave category. 
• Once the new policy becomes effective in 2026, one of them will no longer be used.
•  When you download the report, it will display all accurate entitlements and balances from the old policy and new policy.

Scenario 2: Leave Entitlement Changes for Ongoing Year

Example: You are now in 2025. The policy initially granted a leave entitlement of 14 days starting in 2024, but midway through 2025, management decides to increase the entitlement for everyone for the remainder of the year.

Recommended Setup (Best Practice):

1. It is not recommended to change leave entitlement settings in an active policy, as this will impact or override employees’ historical transactions and balances.
2. You will need to reduce/subtract their 2025 available balance, please follow the steps outlined in this article: Adjust Time off Balance in Bulk
3. Leave remarks that indicate clearly to employee that it's a leave entitlement adjustment

What This Means for Employees

• The employee’s new entitlement will be displayed by adjustment and be visible in the employee’s Time Off balance
• This adjustment does not affect leave already taken.

For further support & guidance, contact support@omnihr.co