There are three main areas in the system that affect the functioning of vacation:

In vacation planner general settings you can set the holiday period. The update did not affect these settings, thus, they work as in the past.

Here is a brief summary of the vacation planner general settings:

When creating a vacation it is necessary to first create an absence type that is configurable for accrual.

An absence becomes configurable for accrual when you tick the box "show in vacation planner". Please note that "show in vacation planner" does not mean that the absence will be shown in the vacation planner but it means that when you create a vacation type you can choose this absence and add an accrual to it.

In the past, making the absence configurable for accrual was the only necessary step before the creation of the vacation type. However, since the last update there is one more setting to consider: "Accrual period starts".

"Accrual period starts": here you should define when the accrual for the absence starts.

Please, note that if you need to create a new accrual period you should add a new date clicking on the + sign. Do not delete or correct the existing accrual period because that would change all the calculations performed in the past.

The final step is the creation of a vacation type where you can define the accrual for the absence type previously created.

The first step when creating a vacation type is to select the "Absence type" where to add the accrual. The absences listed in the drop down are the absences that were made configurable for accrual ticking the box "Show in vacation planner" (see Absence settings paragraph). Therefore, only those absences will be listed here.

The update affects two main settings in the vacation type: validity period and the logic within "worktime period - previous/this year" introducing the concept of release periods.

When creating a vacation type you should set the validity of the settings adding a date in the validity fields.

Past behavior: these fields were used to set the validity of the settings according to holdiay periods' start date and end date. Any time a new settings was created you could set it valid only from the holiday period start date. The existing dates have been migrated to match the accrual period start date and end date, therefore you will not see the old dates anymore.

New behavior: in the validity fields you will continue to set the validity period of the vacation settings. However, unlike the old behavior, these dates are not tied to the holiday period's start date/end date anymore. Now you can set any date that falls within a holiday period.

It is important to note that these dates have changed their meaning. In the past they meant applicability against holiday period while now they mean applicability against accrual period. In most of the cases applicability against holiday period and applicability against accrual period is the same and you will continue setting dates according to the holiday period's start date/end date. The reason is that most of the changes in vacation take place on the first day of the holiday period.

However, there are some countries where you need the flexibility of making the settings valid and applicable against accrual period from a date that falls within a holiday period.

Example 1

Let's consider a client that in vacation planner general settings has a holiday period set to April 1, 2013. From January 2021, employees should start receiving 28 days instead of 25 days. In the past you would have not been able to make the new setting valid from January 1st 2021 but only from April 1st 2021 because the validity dates were tied to the holiday period start date. Instead, now you can make that setting valid from January 1st 2021, or any other date needed.

Old logic

In the past, when using the accrual method worktime period, you had the option to select the accrual calculation in last year/this year

With this logic you set a holiday period where you expected the amount to be released and had the calculation of accrual performed either in the same year or in the previous one.

Example

In the old Danish rules, you had a holiday period set valid from May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017 and worktime period starting in January last year. Thus, the accruals you could see in the vacation planner were calculated in the period January 1, 2015 - December 31 2015.

This previous/this year has been replaced by the new logic of release period.

New logic

In the new logic you have four release options:

For release is intended when the amount accrued is made available for the employees to be used.

Release in current holiday period

It can be used with the accrual method "worktime period" and "Apply on selected period basis (either month or 4 weeks). The full amount is released on the first day of the current holiday period or the first available day if the user starts in the middle of the holiday period for example.

Example: if the holiday period is January- December 2021 and the employee stars working on January 2021 the full amount for the period will be released at the start of the holiday period or user's start date.

Release in the next holiday period

It can be used with the accrual method "work-time period" and "Apply on selected period basis (either month or 4 weeks). The amount is released the first day of the next holiday period.

Example: if the holiday period is January- December and the employee stars working on January 2021 the full amount for the period will be released at the start of the holiday period starting in January 2022.

Note: The combination of work-time period + release in the next holiday period replaces the old work-time period + previous year.

The release in the next holiday period should be used also with Finnish clients using the accrual method "Credit month"

Work-time period-previous year VS work-time period-release next year

Comparing old and new logic

For settings that use work-time period with accrual released in the next holiday period the meaning of the validity period of the vacation settings changes fundamentally. Instead of setting a date range where you expect those accruals to be released you put in a range where those accruals are to be accrued.

Example 1.

A client has a holiday period, also called annual leave period, that goes from April 1 to March 31 and employees are granted 25 days per year. The 25 days are calculated during the 'qualifying year' which is the corresponding period immediately preceding an annual leave year. Your client asks you to create a vacation setting that calculates the annual leave starting in 2017.

Old Logic

You would have created a vacation setting valid from April 1st 2017 and used "worktime period - previous year". In this way the vacation days that were accrued in the previous year in 2016 are released in April 1, 2017

New Logic

With the new logic you should make a setting valid from April 1, 2016. You would choose the same accrual method, worktime period, but in combination with "Accrual released: next holiday period"

With this combination you will achieve the same result because you are setting the system to do the calculation in 2016 and to release the amount in the next year in 2017.

Example 2.

The old Danish rules give us another example that should make the change in meaning in the validity fields more clear for those of you familiar with Danish vacation calculation.

In the old logic you would have set a date range where you expect those accruals to be released. You would have had a vacation setting valid from May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017 with worktime period previous year. Instead, in the new logic you would set a date range where you expect those accruals are to be accrued. You should create a setting valid from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 and release next holiday period, which would be May 1, 2016.

Accrual Period end
It is used with periodical accrual methods and it releases the accrued amount on the last day of the period, either month or four weeks.

Periodical accrual methods include:

Example: an employee starts working on March 1st and is granted a total of 24 days per year. The accrual is monthly with release on Accruing period end. On March 31st the employee will receive a fraction of the annual amount that is supposed to receive for the all period (1/12 per month). This, the employee will have an available balance of 2 days in March 31st, 4 days in April 30th, 6 days in May31st, etc.

The amount is made available for spending from the last day of the month

In Finnish clients, it should be used with “depends on accumulated worktime”

German clients using “Creditable period” should use the release period “accrual period end”

After accrual period

It works almost as "Accrual Period end". The only difference is that the amount if released the first day of the following month.

If we take the same example used above:

Example: an employee starts working on March 1st and is granted a total of 24 days per year. The accrual is monthly with release on After accrual period. On April 1st the employee will receive the amount accrued in March, on May 1st the amount accrued in April, etc.

This release method is mostly used in Denmark where the monthly accrual should become available to be used the day after the end of the month where the accrual happens.