Time Off Policy Accrual Schedule Options
What options are available for accrual schedules?
Purpose: To help you understand the options available when setting up accrual schedules in a time off policy.
Accrual schedules
There are multiple options available in BambooHR for scheduling automatic time off accruals for your employees. Listed below is a brief explanation of each accrual schedule option.
The total amount of time off per year is divided by 365 and accrued daily.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For a daily accrual, the accrual will deposit on the day the employee works or the day after the employee has worked.
A daily accrual grants a time off deposit every day of the year.
To set up a daily accrual, take the year's total amount of time off and divide it by 365. Enter this amount in the Accrual Amount field and select Daily from the drop-down menu. In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours every year. 96 hours ÷ 365 days = 0.263 hours per day.
The total amount of time off per year is divided by 52 weeks and accrued weekly.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For a weekly accrual, the period is seven days, and the accrual will deposit on the day of the week selected. In the example above, the accrual can deposit on Monday before the employee works that week or Monday after the employee has worked the previous week.
A weekly accrual gives your employees a time off deposit once each week.
To set up a weekly accrual, take the total amount of time off and divide it by 52. Enter this amount in the Accrual Amount field and select Weekly from the drop-down menu. Choose the day of the week you want the deposit to occur. In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours every year. 96 hours ÷ 52 weeks = 1.846 hours per week deposited every Monday.
The total amount of time off per year divided by 26 weeks and accrued every two weeks.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For an every-other-week accrual, the accrual can deposit on the first day before the employee works the two weeks or after the employee has worked the past two weeks.
An every-other-week accrual gives your employees a time off deposit every two weeks (26 times a year).
To set up an every-other-week accrual, take the total yearly amount of time off and divide it by 26. Enter this amount in the Accrual Amount field and select every other week from the drop-down menu. Choose which day you want the accrual to begin.* In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours every year. 96 hours ÷ 26 time periods = 3.692 hours deposited every other week.
*The start date determines when the accrual will occur. This date typically coincides with your pay period schedule. In the example above, I started my accrual cycle on Friday, February 7th, and the every-other-week accrual period is February 7th to February 20th. It will then follow every other week from that date and forward.
The total amount of time off per year is divided by 24 periods and accrued twice a month.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For a twice-a-month accrual, the accrual can deposit on the first day before the employee works half of the month or after the employee has worked the previous half of the month.
A twice-a-month accrual gives your employees a time off deposit two times a month (24 times a year).
To set up a twice-a month-accrual, take the total amount of time off and divide it by 24. Enter this amount in the Accrual Amount field and select Twice a month from the drop-down menu. Choose which dates you want the deposits to occur.* In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours every year. 96 hours ÷ 24 time periods = 4 hours deposited twice a month.
*Dates of accrual base on the dates selected. In the example above, I have selected the 1st and 15th of each month, and the accrual periods will start on those dates each month.
The total amount of time off per year is divided by 12 months and accrued monthly.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For a monthly accrual, the accrual will deposit each month on the selected date. It can deposit at the start of each monthly period or the day after the employee has worked the previous monthly period.
A monthly accrual gives your employees a time off deposit once a month (12 times a year).
To set up a monthly accrual, take the total amount of time off and divide it by 12. Enter this amount in the Accrual Amount field and select Monthly from the drop-down menu. Choose which date you want the deposit to occur each month.* In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours every year. 96 hours ÷ 12 months = 8 hours deposited on the 1st of every month.
*The selected date determines when the accrual deposits for the employee each month. In the example above, I have chosen the 1st day of every month for the accrual deposit. The accrual period is February 1st to February 28th (or 29th during Leap year) and will continue monthly throughout the year.
The total amount of time off per year is divided by four installments and accrued once each quarter.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For a quarterly accrual, the accrual will deposit on each quarter's selected date. It can deposit at the start of each quarter or the day after the employee has worked the previous quarter.
A quarterly accrual gives your employees a time off deposit four times a year or once per quarter.
To set up a quarterly accrual, take the total amount of time off and divide it by four. Enter this amount in the Accrual Amount field and select Quarterly from the drop-down menu. Choose which dates you want the deposits to occur each quarter.* In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours every year. 96 hours ÷ 4 quarters = 48 hours deposited four times a year.
*The selected dates determine when the accrual is given to the employee each quarter. In the example above, I have chosen to have the accrual deposit on the 1st day of the first month for each quarter. The accrual period is January 1st - March 31st and will continue quarterly throughout the year.
The total amount of time off per year is divided by two installments and accrued once between January and June and then between July and December.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For a twice a year accrual, the accrual will deposit twice a year on the selected date. It can deposit at the start of each twice-a-year period or the day after the employee has worked the previous twice-a-year period.
A twice-a-year accrual gives your employees a time off deposit two times a year. The accrual will deposit once between January 1st and June 30th and then between July 1st and December 31st.
To set up a twice-a-year accrual, take the total amount of time off and divide it by two. Enter this amount in the Accrual Amount field and select the Twice a year option from the drop-down menu. Choose which dates you want the deposits to occur.* In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours every year. 96 hours ÷ 2 time periods = 48 hours deposited twice a year.
*The selected dates determine when the accrual deposits for the employee during each half of the year. In the example above, I have chosen January 1st and July 1st for accrual deposits. The accrual period is July 1st - June 30th and will continue twice a year going forward.
The total amount of time off per year is given all at once on a specific calendar date each year.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For a yearly accrual, the accrual will be deposited on the date selected each year. It can be deposited at the start of each yearly period or the day after the employee has worked the previous yearly period.
A yearly accrual gives a year's worth of time off on a specific calendar date of your choice.
To set up a yearly accrual, take the total amount of time off for the year and enter it into the Accrual Amount field. Select Yearly from the drop-down menu. Choose the date you want the time off deposited.* In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours yearly on January 1st.
*The selected date determines when the accrual deposits for the employee each year. In the example above, I have chosen January 1st for the accrual deposit. The accrual period is January 1st to December 31st and will continue yearly.
Whether your company calls it front-loaded, lump-sum, upfront, or preloaded PTO, we've got you covered. If you are a company that grants your employees all of their annual allotment at the beginning of the period, you can do this in the yearly accrual schedule.
In the example above, we've added 25 days of PTO given upon hire, with a cap on the balance (exact amount), and use it or lose it. With this setting, employees will receive 25 days at the beginning of the year/upon hire.
Under the Carryover Rules section, we've set the carryover date to January 1st (the same date as above) and checked the "Reset negative balances to 0 days on carryover date." This way, on January 1st, the 25 days of PTO will be reset.
Under the Some Fine-tuning section, we've set the accrual to "The full amount for the accrual period" and "At the start of the accrual period." This ensures that employees will receive the full 25 days on January 1st, as we've set.
Does your company front-load PTO based on the employee's anniversary? Follow the same steps above, but select Anniversary instead of Yearly at the top of the Accrual Schedule settings.
The total amount of time off per year is given all at once on the anniversary of the employee's hire date.
Depending on the Employees receive accrued time... option selected, the accrual deposits at the start or end of the accrual period. For an anniversary accrual, the accrual will deposit on the employee's anniversary date each year. It can deposit for the upcoming year or for the previous year worked.
An anniversary accrual gives a year's worth of time off in one deposit on the anniversary of your employee's hire date.
To set up an anniversary accrual, take the total amount of time off for the year and enter it into the Accrual Amount field. Select Anniversary from the drop-down menu. In the example above, my employees receive 96 hours every year on their anniversary.
The total amount of time off per year is based on the number of hours the employee works and will be given accruals according to the selected accrual frequency.
If you are setting up a policy based on hours worked, please refer to this help guide.