Create time off types
Time off types distinguish what an employee is taking time off for, for example vacation, sick leave, or home office. Every company starts with default time off types that can be adjusted.
Go to Time Off > Settings and click the (+) icon next to time off types.
Give it a name and decide whether the time off type is paid or unpaid.
Determine whether the time off type reduces target hours (for example, vacation) or not (for example, home office).
Create a time off policy: entitlement and cycle
The time off policy defines how many days of a time off type an employee is entitled to and on what cycle the entitlement is calculated.
Under Time Off > Settings, select the desired time off type and click (+) Add new policy.
Set the entitlement: a fixed number of days per year or an unlimited entitlement.
Determine the cycle on which the entitlement renews (for example, calendar year or a custom start date).
If needed, turn on pro-rata entitlement so employees who join or leave partway through the year automatically get their entitlement calculated proportionally.
Each employee can only have one policy assigned per time off type. If teams need different entitlements, create a separate policy for each group.
Set adjustment, balance, carryover, and deduction rules
In addition to the base entitlement, you can define further rules in the policy that affect an employee's available balance.
Adjustment (pro rata): adjusts the entitlement proportionally for employees who join or leave partway through the year, based on hire date, contract end date, or work schedule.
Negative balance: defines whether employees can request time off beyond their available balance, optionally limited to a maximum number of days.
Carryover: defines how many unused days can be carried over into the next cycle and whether the carryover expires.
Deduction rule: determines which days are deducted from the balance for a time off request, based on the work schedule, all calendar days, or a custom working week.
Note: without a negative balance turned on, an employee can't request time off that exceeds their available balance. Only allow a negative balance if this is intentional (for example, for time off in lieu of overtime).
Assign a policy to employees
A policy only takes effect once it's assigned to the relevant employees.
Go to Time Off > Company, click the three dots next to the relevant employee, and select Manage policies.
Under Assign policy, select the desired policy and set when it should take effect.
To assign a policy to several employees at once, use the three dots next to the desired policy under Time Off > Settings.
Convert overtime into time off in lieu
Instead of having overtime paid out, employees can take it as time off in lieu using a special time off type.
Create a dedicated "time off in lieu" time off type that is unpaid and reduces target hours.
Turn on a negative balance for this time off type, since the entitlement only arises from overtime actually worked.
An admin manually transfers the overtime worked by the employee as a balance onto this time off type.
Tip: transferring overtime into time off in lieu is currently done manually by an admin, not automatically from time tracking.
Approve time off requests
Before time off is confirmed, it must be approved by an authorized approver.
Go to Time Off > Requests.
Click a request to open the detail panel, and choose the green checkmark to approve or the red cross to reject.
For several requests at once: select them and use Actions > Approve all or Reject all.
By default, the direct manager (the "Reports to" field) approves their employees' requests. For individual employees, a different time off approver can be set in the profile under Personal > Business information, which overrides the "Reports to" field.
With a two-step approval process, a request must be approved by two approvers in sequence before it's finally approved. You can find the toggle for this under Time Off > Settings > Approvals. Where possible, configure the second step with a specific person rather than a group, since otherwise all group members receive notifications for every request.
Manage permissions and calendar visibility
Profiles and permissions let you control who can view which time off data and who can approve requests.
Under Settings > Profiles & permissions, a custom profile lets you control which role (for example, admin, manager, or employee with restricted access) can create requests, view time off data, or approve requests in the time off area. Default profiles can't be edited here.
Calendar visibility for time off is configured separately under Calendar > Settings, including whether past time off and private time off types are shown in the calendar or calendar export.
Set up time off blackout periods (optional)
Blackout periods prevent employees from requesting time off during business-critical periods (for example, year-end close or peak season).
Go to Time Off > Settings, select Blackout periods in the vertical menu, and click Settings.
Click Add blackout period, enter a title as well as a start and end date, and select the affected time off policies.
Note: blackout periods are a premium feature and aren't included in every plan. If the feature is greyed out, you can request an upgrade via Settings > Billing.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't an employee request time off?
Check whether the employee has a policy assigned for the desired time off type and whether their available balance is sufficient, or whether a negative balance is allowed. Also check whether an active blackout period is blocking the desired dates.
How does pro-rata entitlement work for employees who join or leave partway through the year?
If the adjustment is turned on in the policy, Kenjo automatically calculates the entitlement proportionally to the hire or leave date, instead of granting the full annual entitlement.
Is overtime automatically converted into time off in lieu?
No. An admin currently transfers overtime worked manually as a balance onto the corresponding time off type.
Can someone other than the direct manager approve requests?
Yes, a different person can be set via the time off approver field in the employee profile. A two-step approval process can also be turned on.
Why don't some employees see their colleagues' time off in the calendar?
This depends on the configured calendar visibility and the visibility setting of the respective time off type (public or private).