Holidays

Manage your organization's holiday calendar to ensure accurate attendance tracking and leave calculations. This guide covers holiday creation, types, and visibility settings.

Holiday Calendar

Navigate to Holidays from the main menu to view and manage your holiday calendar.

Calendar View

The holiday calendar displays:

• Monthly View: See all holidays in a month at a glance
• List View: Tabular list of all holidays
• Year Selector: Switch between years
• Holiday Indicators: Color-coded by holiday type

Creating Holidays

Add a New Holiday

1. Navigate to Holidays > Add New
2. Fill in the holiday details
3. Click Save

Holiday Fields

Field	Description	Required
Holiday Name	Name of the holiday	Yes
Date	Date of the holiday	Yes
Description	Additional details about the holiday	No
Holiday Type	Public, Optional, or Custom type	Yes
Applicable To	All employees or specific groups	No
Status	Active or Inactive	Yes

Example Holidays

Holiday	Date	Type	Description
New Year's Day	January 1	Public	New Year celebration
Independence Day	July 4	Public	National holiday
Thanksgiving	4th Thursday, November	Public	Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day	December 25	Public	Christmas celebration
Company Foundation Day	March 15	Optional	Company anniversary

Holiday Types

Public Holidays

Public holidays are observed by all employees:

• Mandatory: All employees are off
• Attendance: No attendance expected
• Leave Impact: Not deducted from leave balance
• Payroll: Paid day off for salaried employees

Optional Holidays

Optional (or floating) holidays give employees choice:

• Selection: Employees choose which to observe
• Quota: Typically limited (e.g., 2-3 per year)
• Advance Notice: May require prior approval
• Tracking: System tracks selected optional holidays

Restricted Holidays

Some organizations have restricted holidays:

• Essential Staff: Certain roles must work
• Compensation: May receive overtime or comp time
• Selection: Employees may swap for another day

Custom Holiday Types

Create organization-specific holiday types:

1. Navigate to Settings > Holiday Types
2. Click Add New
3. Define the type name and rules
4. Save

Multi-Day Holidays

Creating Multi-Day Holidays

For holidays spanning multiple days:

Option 1: Date Range

1. Enter the start date
2. Enter the end date
3. The system creates entries for each day

Option 2: Individual Entries

1. Create separate holidays for each day
2. Use consistent naming (e.g., "Diwali - Day 1", "Diwali - Day 2")

Example Multi-Day Holidays

Holiday	Start Date	End Date	Days
Eid al-Fitr	varies	varies	3
Chinese New Year	varies	varies	2-3
Christmas Break	Dec 24	Dec 26	3

Holiday Visibility

All Employees

By default, holidays apply to everyone:

• Appears on all employee calendars
• Affects attendance tracking globally
• Included in all leave calculations

Department-Specific Holidays

Restrict holidays to specific departments:

1. When creating/editing a holiday
2. Set Applicable To to specific departments
3. Select the relevant departments
4. Only those employees will observe the holiday

Location-Based Holidays

For multi-location organizations:

1. Create holidays per location
2. Assign employees to their work location
3. Location-specific holidays apply automatically

Regional Holidays

If you operate in multiple regions, create location-based holiday calendars to handle different regional observances.

Holiday Impact on Attendance

Automatic Handling

When a holiday is configured:

• Attendance Records: Marked as "Holiday" automatically
• No Check-in Required: Employees don't need to clock in
• Reports: Holidays excluded from absent counts
• Compliance: Maintains accurate records

Working on Holidays

If employees work on holidays:

1. They can check in normally
2. System flags as "Holiday Worked"
3. May trigger overtime calculations
4. Reports show holiday attendance

Holiday Impact on Leave

Leave Calculation

Holidays affect leave calculations:

• Leave Request: Holidays between leave dates are excluded
• Example: 5-day leave with 1 holiday = 4 leave days deducted
• Display: Leave form shows holiday exclusions

Weekend Interaction

When holidays fall on weekends:

Scenario	Common Handling
Holiday on Saturday	Some grant Friday off
Holiday on Sunday	Some grant Monday off
No adjustment	Holiday simply falls on weekend

Configure this behavior in Settings > Holiday Settings.

Recurring Holidays

Setting Up Annual Recurrence

For holidays that repeat annually:

1. Create the holiday for the current year
2. Enable Recurring option
3. Set recurrence pattern (annual)
4. Holidays auto-generate for future years

Variable Date Holidays

Some holidays don't have fixed dates:

Holiday	Date Pattern
Easter	Variable (spring)
Thanksgiving (US)	4th Thursday, November
Eid	Based on lunar calendar

For variable holidays:

• Create them manually each year
• Or use a script/import to set dates

Importing Holidays

Bulk Import

Import multiple holidays at once:

1. Navigate to Holidays > Import
2. Download the template file
3. Fill in holiday data
4. Upload the completed file
5. Review and confirm

Import Template Format

name,date,type,description
New Year's Day,2025-01-01,public,New Year celebration
Valentine's Day,2025-02-14,optional,Optional day off

Regional Holiday Packs

Some systems offer pre-configured holiday packs:

1. Go to Holidays > Import Regional
2. Select your country/region
3. Choose the year
4. Review and import applicable holidays

Holiday Reports

Available Reports

• Holiday Calendar: Full year holiday view
• Holiday Summary: Count by type
• Holiday Utilization: Optional holiday usage
• Holiday Attendance: Who worked on holidays

Exporting the Calendar

1. Navigate to Holidays
2. Click Export
3. Choose format (iCal, PDF, Excel)
4. Download for sharing or integration

Best Practices

Planning

• Set up holidays at the start of each year
• Verify variable date holidays annually
• Communicate the holiday list to employees
• Align with local labor law requirements

Management

• Review and update holiday list periodically
• Handle holiday conflicts proactively
• Consider cultural and religious diversity
• Document holiday policies clearly

System Configuration

• Enable automatic attendance marking for holidays
• Configure weekend-holiday handling
• Set up notifications for upcoming holidays
• Test leave calculations around holiday periods

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Next: Learn about Leave Types to configure your organization's leave policies.