Table of contents
- Basics
- Breaks
- Work Hours
- Overtime
- Absences
- Creating a policy from a template
- Using the AI policy wizard
When creating Time Tracking policies, it is important they are set up to meet your organisation's needs and legal requirements. Policy creation is therefore restricted to platform Super-admins and Admins.
To create a new policy, navigate to Time Tracking > Policies > Actions > 'New policy'. You will be prompted to choose how to start:
- From scratch: configure every setting manually across the tabs below.
- From a template: start from a pre-configured best-practice setup. See Creating a policy from a template.
- Using the AI wizard: generate a draft policy from a text description or uploaded document. See Using the AI policy wizard.
Basics
The first policy creation tab is titled 'Basics'. Here you define the foundational rules for the policy. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.
- Policy name*: the name of this policy, used for clear structure and organisation across your policy list.
- Add description: optional, but useful for giving a quick summary of what the policy covers and who it applies to.
- Cycle frequency*: choose between weekly, biweekly, or monthly**. This defines how often timesheets need to be submitted.
- Cycle start*: determines when a new timesheet gets created. The cycle repeats at the frequency chosen above, starting from this day. The cycle start date can be set to a date in the past.
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Submission deadline*: define the number of days after the cycle ends by which employees must submit their timesheet.
- Example: for a weekly cycle starting on Monday and ending on Sunday with a 3-day submission deadline, employees can submit their timesheet until the following Wednesday.
- Submission reminder: an automatic reminder will be sent to the employee and approvers this many days before the submission deadline (defined above) to ensure time sheets are submitted and approved on time.
Breaks
By default, the toggle for break inclusion in the Time Tracking policy creation is off. However, should you like to define break rules for your organization, simply click on the toggle for it to turn purple. When setting up the break rules, you’ll have to:
- Minimum duration* - this is calculated in minutes. Each break that employees record must meet the minimum break duration requirement. In the settings below, you can choose whether employees will or will not be allowed to submit a sheet with a shorter break than defined here.
Break rules
These are guidelines set by Super-(admins) to ensure employees take necessary rest periods during their workdays. Multiple rules can be added. To start creating them, click on ‘New break rule’:
- Work duration* - this is the time worked on a given day. Define the number of hours that must be tracked before the break duration rule applies.
- Break duration* - the number here should be greater than or equal to the minimum break duration that’s set above.
Break rule format examples. Let's say we created two break rules:
1) The first rule defines the work duration as 6 hours and the break as 30 minutes. Employees who work more than or equal to 6 hours must record at least a 30-minute break. If employees work less than 6 hours, there are no mandated break duration requirements.
2) The second rule has a work duration of 9 hours and a break of 45 minutes. The second break rule only applies if the employee records more than 9 hours of work that day. If they do, then they must take an additional 45-minute break on that day. Therefore, the total amount will be 45 minutes + 30 minutes if work hours exceed 9 hours. It can be broken down into multiple breaks as long as each satisfies the minimum break duration.
- For instance, if someone starts their day at 8 AM, they must take a break by 2 PM at the latest, adhering to the requirement not to work more than 6 consecutive hours without rest.
Please note: Break duration is cumulative; therefore you can take multiple smaller breaks as long as the total break amount meets the break duration requirement. Multiple breaks can be recorded as long as each break period is equal to or greater than the the minimum break duration.
Break settings
- Allow employees to submit time entry even when break rules are not met - even if defined break rules aren’t met, employees will still be able to submit their time tracking entry if this setting is enabled. However, employees will be notified that break rules aren’t met and a warning will be shown at the time of the sheet submission so that approvers are informed.
- Restrict employees from submitting time entries if breaks rules are not met - if this setting is enabled, employees won’t be able to successfully submit their time tracking entry because they haven’t met the break rules. Employees will be notified about this.
- Automatically add breaks if they are missing or don’t meet the break rules - if this setting is enabled, the required break gets deducted from the tracked working time to automatically meet the break rules. In this case, employees will see a warning that a shorter-than-expected break time was submitted. They will be able to save these entries, as well as edit the entry and the auto-applied break.
Please note: Break rules settings are only enabled when at least one break rule is defined.
Work Hours
- Maximum work duration*: set the maximum number of hours an employee can record per day. This value cannot exceed 24 hours.
- Allow employees to submit hours worked over the limit: employees can successfully submit timesheets that exceed the maximum.
- Restrict employees from submitting hours worked over the limit: employees can only submit a number of hours equal to or lower than the maximum.
Overtime
The overtime toggle is off by default. To define overtime rules for your organisation, click the toggle to enable it.
Overtime cliff*: the number of overtime hours covered by the salary. Hours within the cliff do not count towards the employee's overtime balance. The cliff is defined per cycle frequency (weekly, biweekly, or monthly, as set in Basics).
How is the overtime cliff calculated? Example:
- Standard hours: 40 hours/week
- Overtime cliff: 5 hours
- If an employee works 44 hours: no overtime balance accrued (44 - 40 = 4, which is within the 5-hour cliff).
- If an employee works 46 hours: 1 hour of overtime balance (46 - 40 - 5 = 1).
Overtime threshold
The overtime threshold is the number of hours an employee must work before additional time is counted as overtime. Choose between:
- Based on the employee's work schedule: overtime starts accumulating once the employee has worked beyond their assigned work schedule in Leapsome. This is the recommended option for employees with a defined schedule.
- Based on fixed threshold: admins define a fixed number of hours per day. Any time above that threshold is counted as overtime (for example, anything above 8 hours per day).
Example for overtime threshold calculation:
- Standard hours: 40 hours/week (threshold)
- 44 hours worked: 4 hours of overtime (44 - 40)
- 50 hours worked: 10 hours of overtime (50 - 40)
Overtime balance
The overtime balance represents the total extra hours an employee has worked that have not yet been paid out or taken as time off. It can accumulate across cycles and carry over to the next cycle.
From the Overtime balance dropdown, choose:
- Unlimited overtime balance: overtime accumulates without a cap.
- Limited overtime balance: overtime is capped at a maximum number of hours and minutes you define. Once an employee reaches this cap, additional overtime is not counted towards their balance.
Please note: When 'Limited overtime balance' is selected, the cap is enforced across all overtime calculations, including the timesheet details view, overtime modals, and any conversion or adjustment flows. A notice is shown to employees when their overtime reaches the limit.
How is the overtime balance calculated based on the limit? For example:
- Previous overtime balance: 10 hours
- This week's overtime: 8 hours
- New overtime balance: 10 + 8 = 18 hours
Undertime
You can optionally enable undertime. Undertime occurs when an employee works fewer hours than their scheduled or required hours (for example, leaving early, arriving late, or taking longer breaks than allotted).
When enabled, undertime is deducted from the employee's overtime balance.
Undertime formula: Undertime = Hours set in work schedule - Hours actually worked
Absences
In this tab, Admins define which absence types are included in compensable hours. The following options are available:
- Paid time off: included based on the Activity type (Working or Non-working (paid)) of the respective absence policy.
- Public holidays: included according to the assigned holiday calendar.
Please note: The 'Absences' tab is only applicable if your organisation has purchased the Absences module.
Creating a policy from a template
Leapsome provides a curated library of best-practice time tracking policy templates, designed to help you set up compliant, reliable policies quickly.
When to use it: when setting up time tracking for the first time, when migrating from another system, or whenever you want a reliable starting point that follows common regulatory patterns.
How to use the template library
- Navigate to Time Tracking > Policies and click '+ New policy'.
- Select 'From template'.
- Browse the available templates. You can search by name or filter by category.
- Click a template to open a preview. The description gives a quick overview of what the template covers, and all configuration tabs are visible with pre-filled settings. Click on 'Create policy from template' to continue.
- Review and adjust any settings as needed before saving.
Templates do not affect policies you have already created. Any future changes Leapsome makes to templates will not affect your saved policies.
Using the AI policy wizard
The AI policy wizard helps you generate a draft policy from a text description, an uploaded document, or a combination of both.
When to use it: when you have an existing policy document from a previous HR system, or when you want to describe your requirements in plain language and have Leapsome generate a draft for you to review.
How to use the AI policy wizard
- Make sure to enabled the ''Time tracking - wizard to configure policies' feature in 'Feature access matrix'.
- Navigate to Time Tracking > Policies and click '+ New policy'.
- The wizard panel appears at the top of the modal. You can also access it during the implementation wizard when setting up time tracking for the first time.
- Describe your policy in plain text, upload a document (PDF, DOCX, or screenshot), or do both.
- Example prompt: 'Full-time employees work 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. 30-minute unpaid break after 6 hours. Overtime above 10 hours per day for hourly workers in Germany.'
- Submit your input. The wizard generates a draft policy pre-filled across all configuration tabs. Fields the AI could not determine are left blank with a note to complete them manually.
- Review all fields. You can re-prompt the wizard to adjust the draft before accepting.
- Click 'Accept' to save the draft as an active policy, or 'Reject' to start over.