Convert Time Off Categories From Hours to Days

This feature is included in the Core, Pro, and Elite packages.

How do I change the default hours per day?

Purpose: To help you understand how to convert your time off balances and history information from hours to days or vice versa. This guide will also teach you how to change your account's default hours per day.

Table of Contents

Convert Time Off Categories From Hours to Days

Screenshot of the Edit Time Off Category settings window in BambooHR. The form includes fields such as Category Name, checkboxes for whether policies are paid, and whether the category is visible on the calendar. A dropdown menu labeled “Track time in” is set to “Days,” with a field below asking how many work hours are in a day. At the bottom, there are options to choose an icon and calendar color, with green “Save” and gray “Cancel” buttons. This screen shows where administrators change a category from hours to days.

When creating a time off category, you can decide if you want it tracked in hours or days. If you would like to change an existing time off category to track in days instead of hours (or vice versa), go to Time Off in Settings, click Overview, hover over the category card, click the settings menu, and then click Edit Category. 

Click Hours, change it to Days (or vice versa), and enter how many hours are in a workday. Once you click Save, the time off category and its associated policies and data will convert to the new unit of time.

Default Hours for Time Off Settings

Screenshot of the Time Off Overview page in BambooHR settings. The left sidebar lists settings categories such as Access Levels, Approvals, Employees, and Time Off. In the main panel, multiple time off category cards are displayed, each with buttons for policies. In the top-right corner, an orange arrow points to a small gear icon menu labeled “Default Hours per Day,” showing how to adjust daily default hours for requests.

To set default hours for time off requests, navigate to Settings, select Time Off, and then select Overview. In the top right corner, you will see a small gear icon. Select Default Hours per Day from the dropdown menu. Enter the number of hours for each respective day and click Save.

Screenshot of the Default Hours Per Day settings page. A table lists days of the week from Monday through Sunday, each with an editable field for entering default hours. A heading indicates the group applies to “Everyone,” covering all employees by default. Buttons at the bottom allow saving or canceling changes.

Default hours will automatically save as "Everyone" for all employees, unless additional default hours are added.

Screenshot of the Default Hours Per Day settings with separate groups. The first group is labeled “Support (Remote)” and includes fields for entering default hours per day. A dropdown filter specifies which employees the defaults apply to, such as those in Customer Experience or Telecommuting. Below, a second group labeled “Everyone Else” applies to all remaining employees. Save and Cancel buttons appear at the bottom.

If you have employees with different working hours, you can create flexible default time off hours for these different employee groups to better match all your employees' working hours.

Animated GIF showing how to create an additional employee group in the Default Hours Per Day settings. The administrator clicks the green “Add New Group” button in the top-right corner, then enters a group name, assigns default work hours for each day of the week, and selects which employees the group applies to using a dropdown filter. After saving, the new group appears below the existing “Everyone” group, displaying its own customized default hours while unassigned employees remain in the general group.

To set additional default hours for time off requests, select Add New Group, add a group name, adjust the hours, select your employees using the filters, and click Save to save your changes.

Screenshot of the Default Hours Per Day settings showing two groups. The first group is labeled “Support (Remote),” with fields for entering hours per day and a dropdown assigning it to employees in Customer Experience and Telecommuting. The second group is labeled “Everyone Else,” applying to all remaining employees, with its own daily hours table. Save and Cancel buttons appear at the bottom.

You can add multiple groups depending on your employees' needs. Employees not assigned to a flexible default hours group will be included in the Everyone/Everyone Else group.

Screenshot of the Record Time Off window for an employee request. The form includes fields for date range, time off category, and daily amounts. A calendar-style table lists each day within the selected range, with pre-filled values in “days.” The total time off is displayed at the bottom, along with a text box for notes. Green “Save” and gray “Cancel” buttons appear at the bottom right. This shows how default hours appear automatically but can be adjusted before submitting.

When requesting time off, employees see their default hours automatically filled in but can adjust them as needed.