Who it’s for: Sense HR Administrators and users with permission to manage Event Manager
Platform: Sense HR
Available on: Team / Professional / Elite / Enterprise
Before you begin
☑️ Make sure the Time-off Event and rule you want to configure have been created.
☑️ Know the entitlement policy that should apply, including the standard full-time allowance and whether entitlement resets each year or continues without a yearly reset.
☑️ For Yearly entitlement, know which Entitlement calculation method matches your policy.
☑️ Know whether entitlement is measured in Days, Hours or both for people included in the rule’s Scope.
💡 Tip: If different groups have different entitlement arrangements, use separate rules for the same Event rather than creating duplicate Events.
For information about planning rules and Scope, see:
For information about creating Time-off Events and rules, see:
About entitlement
Enable Entitlement for a Time-off Event where bookings should use and reduce an employee’s entitlement balance.
For example, Holiday commonly uses entitlement because employees receive an allowance against which Holiday is booked.
Entitlement is configured per rule, so different groups can have different entitlement arrangements for the same Event.
📖 Example: Your organisation uses one Holiday Event. Permanent and fixed-term employees have different entitlement arrangements.
Separate Holiday rules can provide the appropriate entitlement configuration for each group while everyone continues to book the same Holiday Event.
The settings available depend on the Entitlement period and other options you enable.
Understand entitlement settings and employee entitlement records
Think of the Event Manager rule as the entitlement policy and the employee’s entitlement record as the result for that individual.
Sense HR uses the rule configuration to calculate the employee’s entitlement record. The record stores how much entitlement they have and their remaining balance.
When they book the Event, Sense HR checks the booking against that recorded balance. It doesn’t recalculate their full entitlement from the Event Manager rule each time they make a booking.
Changes to Event Manager entitlement settings don’t necessarily update existing entitlement records immediately.
🖊️ Note: Changing an Event Manager rule doesn’t immediately recalculate existing entitlement records. The updated settings are used when entitlement is next calculated or recalculated, for example when a new entitlement period begins or an employee’s Working hours/FTE change.
For information about how rule changes can affect existing bookings when they are later edited, see:
Understand Days and Hours
Several entitlement settings provide separate Days and Hours values.
Where your policy supports both units, configure both values. Each employee’s entitlement record determines which value applies to them.
📖 Example: A Holiday rule could contain:
Days: 25
Hours: 200
An employee whose Holiday entitlement is measured in Days uses the Days value. An employee whose entitlement is measured in Hours uses the Hours value.
⚠️ Important: Days and Hours are separate values. Sense HR doesn’t automatically convert or check them against each other. Where you configure both, make sure each value independently reflects your organisation’s entitlement policy.
Navigation path
From the Sense HR Dashboard, go to:
Settings > Calendar & Planner > Event manager
Click the Time-off Event you want to configure.
Select the rule from the tabs at the top of the configuration page.
Go to Entitlement.
Enable Entitlement
Turn Entitlement ON where bookings for the Event should use an employee’s entitlement balance.
You can then configure the Entitlement period and the settings available for that period.
Choose the Entitlement period
Select how the entitlement should be managed:
Yearly — entitlement resets each year in line with your organisation’s Holiday year.
Ongoing — entitlement doesn’t reset each year. It continues from the employee’s start date throughout their employment.
The Entitlement period determines which additional settings are available.
Choose the Entitlement period and configure the standard full-time allowance for the rule.
Use Ongoing entitlement
Select Ongoing where entitlement should continue without resetting at the end of a yearly entitlement period.
When Ongoing is selected, Default FTE allowance and Balance & overbooking remain available. The additional Yearly settings aren’t shown.
Choose whether entitlement resets Yearly or continues as an Ongoing balance.
Use Yearly entitlement
Select Yearly for entitlement that operates within an annual entitlement period, such as Holiday.
For Yearly entitlement, you can configure settings including:
Default FTE allowance
Entitlement calculation or Accrual
Carryover
Length of service
Balance & overbooking
Choose whether entitlement is awarded upfront or accrued
For Yearly entitlement, first decide how employees should receive their entitlement.
Should employees receive their calculated entitlement upfront?
Leave Accrual OFF and choose an Entitlement calculation method.
The calculation determines how much entitlement applies. This is particularly useful for part entitlement periods, for example where an employee joins or leaves partway through the period.
Should employees earn entitlement progressively over time?
Turn Accrual ON and configure how and when entitlement accrues.
🖊️ Note: Entitlement calculation determines how much entitlement applies. Accrual determines when entitlement is earned.
⚠️ Important: Accrual configuration is available in Event Manager, but the entitlement workflow doesn’t currently apply these settings. Accrual support is planned for a future release.
Set the Default FTE allowance
Default FTE allowance is the standard full-time allowance used as the starting point for entitlement calculations.
Enter the appropriate allowance in Days, Hours or both.
📖 Example: If a full-time employee receives 25 days of Holiday for a complete entitlement year, enter:
Days: 25
The employee’s individual entitlement is calculated using the applicable entitlement settings and their own information, including their FTE where relevant.
🖊️ Note: Changing Default FTE allowance doesn’t automatically rewrite existing employee entitlement records. The updated value is used when the employee’s entitlement is next calculated or recalculated.
Choose the Entitlement calculation
Available for: Yearly entitlement when Accrual is OFF
Under Entitlement calculation, select how entitlement should be calculated for full and part entitlement periods.
The calculation determines how much entitlement is awarded upfront. Part-period calculations can apply, for example, when an employee joins or leaves partway through an entitlement period.
Fixed
Select Fixed to give the full configured entitlement regardless of the employee’s start date or FTE.
📖 Example: Your organisation gives every employee one day of Birthday Leave each year, including part-time employees.
Set the allowance to 1 day and select Fixed. Each employee receives the full one-day entitlement.
FTE-based
Select FTE-based to adjust the full entitlement according to the employee’s FTE, without pro-rating it for the length of a part entitlement period.
📖 Example: The full-time allowance is 25 days and an employee works 0.8 FTE.
FTE-based calculates their entitlement from the 25-day full-time allowance using their FTE.
Pro-rata – daily
Select Pro-rata – daily to calculate entitlement using the employee’s FTE and the days in their entitlement period.
This provides the most precise pro-rata calculation for a part entitlement period.
Pro-rata – monthly
Select Pro-rata – monthly to calculate entitlement using the employee’s FTE and complete months in their entitlement period.
Use this where your policy calculates part-period entitlement by complete months rather than individual days.
Step-based
Think of Step-based as a lookup table for the entitlement an employee should receive based on how many complete months are in their part entitlement period.
Sense HR uses the corresponding Total awarded from the Step-based rule.
📖 Example: Your entitlement year ends on 31st December.
Amelia starts at the end of September with 3 complete months in her first entitlement period. The Step-based rule shows 6 days as the Total awarded for 3 complete months, so Amelia receives 6 days.
Use Days added and/or Hours added to build the Total awarded for each step. Complete all 12 steps before saving.
💡 Tip: When is Step-based useful?
Use Step-based when your organisation has its own part-period entitlement policy that a standard daily or monthly pro-rata calculation can’t reproduce.
For example, your policy might use fixed or irregular increments depending on the number of complete months in the part entitlement period.
From the employee’s next full entitlement period, the full applicable entitlement is awarded.
Create or select a Step-based rule
Select the Step-based entitlement rule to use.
To create or manage Step-based rules, click Manage rules.
When creating a rule:
Enter a Rule name and optional Description.
Enter the Days added and/or Hours added for all 12 complete-month steps.
Check the resulting Total awarded values.
Save the rule.
🖊️ Note: Once a Step-based rule is in use, only its name and description can be edited.
Choose the calculation method that matches your entitlement policy.
Build the Total awarded for each number of complete months using Days added or Hours added.
Understand entitlement recalculation
Sense HR recalculates entitlement when relevant employee information changes.
If an employee’s working hours or FTE change during an entitlement period, Sense HR can divide the period into segments and calculate each using the working hours and FTE that applied at the time.
📖 Example: An employee works 0.8 FTE for part of the entitlement year and later changes to 1.0 FTE.
Sense HR calculates each part using the applicable FTE and combines the results to update the employee’s entitlement.
The applicable calculation method is also used when entitlement is calculated for a new entitlement period.
🖊️ Note: Step-based is an exception. From the next full entitlement period, the full applicable entitlement is awarded. If an employee’s FTE changes because their working hours change, that FTE change currently isn’t applied when they move from Step-based entitlement into their next full entitlement period.
Configure Accrual
Available for: Yearly entitlement
When Accrual is ON, employees are intended to earn entitlement progressively rather than receiving their calculated entitlement upfront.
When enabled, Entitlement calculation isn’t available.
🚧 Important: Accrual settings are currently for information only. The entitlement workflow doesn’t yet apply the configured Accrual settings. Support for calculating entitlement from this configuration is planned for a future release.
The current configuration includes:
Accrual start date;
Weekly or Monthly intervals; and
Accrual interval entitlement in Days and Hours.
If you want to configure the reference values for later use:
Accrual start date
Select the Accrual start date for the rule.
Accrual intervals
Select how frequently entitlement is configured to accrue:
Weekly
Monthly
Accrual interval entitlement
Enter the entitlement configured for each interval in Days, Hours or both.
Configure Carryover
Available for: Yearly entitlement
Use Carryover where unused entitlement can move into the employee’s next entitlement period.
Go to Carryover and turn Carryover ON.
Set Maximum carryover
Enter the maximum unused entitlement that can be carried forward in Days, Hours or both.
Leave Maximum carryover blank to allow unlimited carryover.
At rollover, unused entitlement carries forward up to the configured maximum.
💡 Tip: Leave Maximum carryover blank only where your policy genuinely allows unlimited carryover. To prevent carryover, turn Carryover OFF.
Set the maximum unused entitlement that can carry into the next entitlement period.
Configure Length of service
Available for: Yearly entitlement
Use Length of service to increase entitlement when employees reach service milestones.
Think of each milestone as an extra amount that is added once the employee reaches that length of service.
Once a milestone is reached, its extra entitlement continues to form part of the employee’s allowance in later entitlement periods. It isn’t added again every year.
Choose the Award timing
Go to Length of service and turn Length of service ON.
Under Award timing, select when eligible Length of service entitlement should be applied:
On rollover — applies any Length of service increase the employee has qualified for when their entitlement rolls into a new period.
On anniversary date — applies any eligible Length of service increase on the anniversary of their Employment start date.
On rollover is selected by default.
🖊️ Note: Selecting an Award timing doesn’t mean employees receive additional entitlement at every rollover or anniversary. An increase is applied only when they have reached a configured Length of service milestone.
Add Length of service milestones
Click + Add more to add a milestone.
For each milestone, configure:
Months
Enter how long the employee must have worked before they qualify.
Entitlement (hours) / Entitlement (days)
Enter the extra entitlement added when they reach that milestone.
The milestone amounts add together.
📖 Example: Your standard Holiday entitlement is 25 days.
You configure:
12 months: +1 day
60 months: +1 day
120 months: +2 days
An employee receives:
before 12 months → 25 days
after reaching 12 months → 26 days
after reaching 60 months → 27 days
after reaching 120 months → 29 days
Why 29?
At 120 months, the employee has reached all three milestones:
25 standard + 1 + 1 + 2 = 29 days
The 12-month day isn’t awarded again at 24 months, 36 months and so on. It simply remains part of the employee’s entitlement.
Set Max entitlement
Max entitlement sets the highest entitlement an employee can reach through Length of service increases.
📖 Example: An employee’s standard entitlement plus previous Length of service increases is 28 days. They qualify for another +3 days, but Max entitlement is 30 days.
Sense HR adds only 2 days:
28 + 2 = 30 days
The remaining 1 day isn’t added because the employee has reached the Length of service maximum.
🖊️ Note: Max entitlement limits Length of service increases only. Carryover is separate, so carried-over entitlement can take the employee’s available balance above this maximum.
If you use several milestones, enter the same Max entitlement for each. It is the overall ceiling for Length of service, not a separate maximum for each milestone.
Add the extra entitlement awarded at each service milestone and set the maximum entitlement where required.
Allow bookings over entitlement
Available for: Time-off rules using Entitlement
Go to Balance & overbooking.
Turn Allow to book over entitlement ON to allow bookings that exceed the employee’s remaining entitlement.
Leave it OFF to prevent bookings that exceed their remaining entitlement.
When overbooking is allowed, the employee’s entitlement balance can become negative.
Allow bookings to take the employee’s entitlement balance below zero where your policy permits it.
Save your changes
When you’ve finished configuring entitlement for the rule, click Save changes.
The configuration applies to people included in the rule’s Scope.
Where the Event has multiple rules, configure entitlement separately for each rule as required.
Best practice
✔ Choose between upfront entitlement and Accrual
Use Entitlement calculation where employees should receive their calculated entitlement upfront. Use Accrual where entitlement should be earned progressively over time.
Accrual configuration isn’t currently applied by the entitlement workflow.
✔ Choose the Entitlement period first
Decide whether entitlement should use Yearly periods or continue as an Ongoing balance before configuring the remaining settings.
✔ Choose the right Entitlement calculation
Select the calculation method that matches how your organisation calculates entitlement, including partial entitlement periods.
✔ Consider configuring both Days and Hours
If your organisation may use both entitlement units, configure both values. Sense HR uses the value that matches each employee’s entitlement record.
✔ Set Carryover limits deliberately
Leave Maximum carryover blank only where unlimited carryover is intended.
✔ Plan Length of service milestones before configuring them
Confirm the service periods, additional entitlement, Max entitlement and Award timing required by your policy before adding the milestones.
✔ Use overbooking carefully
Allow a negative entitlement balance only where employees are permitted to book beyond their recorded remaining entitlement.
FAQs
Click for answers to frequently asked questions
Click for answers to frequently asked questions
Q: Why can’t I configure entitlement for a Working Event in Event Manager?
A: Entitlement is available only for Time-off Events.
If an Event needs to use entitlement, create it as a Time-off Event. You can’t change an Event category after the Event has been created.
Q: What’s the difference between Yearly and Ongoing entitlement in Event Manager?
A: Yearly entitlement resets each year in line with your organisation’s Holiday year.
Ongoing entitlement doesn’t reset each year. It continues from the employee’s start date throughout their employment.
Q: Should I enter Days or Hours for entitlement in Event Manager?
A: Enter the values your organisation uses for Days, Hours or both.
Sense HR uses the value that matches each employee’s entitlement record. If your organisation may use both units, consider configuring both so the rule continues to work if an employee’s entitlement unit changes.
Q: Does Sense HR convert Days and Hours entitlement values automatically?
A: No. Sense HR doesn’t automatically convert or check the Days and Hours values configured in an Event Manager rule.
Configure each value independently according to your organisation’s entitlement policy.
Q: What does Default FTE allowance mean in Event Manager?
A: Default FTE allowance is the standard full-time allowance used as the starting point when Sense HR calculates entitlement for people covered by the rule.
Enter the appropriate allowance in Days, Hours or both.
Q: If I change Default FTE allowance, are employees’ existing entitlement records updated immediately?
A: No. Changing Default FTE allowance doesn’t immediately update existing entitlement records.
The new value is used the next time the employee’s entitlement is calculated, for example after a relevant working-hours change or when a new entitlement period begins.
Q: What does Entitlement calculation do for a Time-off Event in Event Manager?
A: Entitlement calculation determines how Sense HR calculates entitlement for people covered by a Time-off Event rule when Accrual is OFF.
The calculation determines how much entitlement is awarded upfront, including for part entitlement periods.
Q: What’s the difference between Fixed and FTE-based Entitlement calculation in Event Manager?
A: Fixed gives the full configured entitlement regardless of the employee’s start date or FTE.
FTE-based calculates entitlement according to the employee’s FTE.
Q: How do I give every employee one day of Birthday Leave, including part-time employees?
A: Configure Birthday Leave as a Time-off Event with Entitlement and set the allowance to 1 day.
Select Fixed under Entitlement calculation. Fixed gives the full configured entitlement regardless of start date or FTE, so part-time employees also receive the full one day.
Q: How does Event Manager calculate entitlement when an employee joins partway through an entitlement period?
A: Event Manager uses the Entitlement calculation method configured in the applicable Time-off Event rule.
Fixed gives the full allowance regardless of FTE or period length. FTE-based adjusts the full allowance by FTE. Pro-rata – daily and Pro-rata – monthly calculate part-period entitlement using FTE and days or complete months respectively. Step-based uses the applicable Total awarded from the configured Step-based rule.
Q: What’s the difference between Pro-rata – daily and Pro-rata – monthly?
A: Pro-rata – daily calculates entitlement using the number of days remaining in the entitlement period.
Pro-rata – monthly uses the number of complete months remaining.
Select the method that matches your organisation’s entitlement policy.
Q: What does Step-based entitlement do in Event Manager?
A: Think of Step-based as a lookup table for the entitlement an employee should receive based on how many complete months remain in the entitlement period.
Sense HR uses the employee’s start date to determine the number of complete months remaining, then uses the corresponding Total awarded from the Step-based rule.
Q: When should I use Step-based Entitlement calculation in Event Manager?
A: Step-based entitlement is useful where your organisation’s policy doesn’t fit a standard daily or monthly pro-rata calculation.
For example, your policy might use fixed or irregular increments depending on how many complete months remain. Step-based lets you define those increments so the resulting Total awarded matches your policy.
Q: Why can’t I save a Step-based entitlement rule?
A: You can’t save a Step-based entitlement rule until values have been configured for all 12 complete-month steps.
Complete the required Days added or Hours added values before saving.
Q: What happens to Step-based entitlement after an employee’s part entitlement period ends?
A: From the employee’s next full entitlement period, Sense HR awards the full applicable entitlement.
If their FTE changes because their working hours change, that FTE change currently isn’t applied when they move from Step-based entitlement into the next full entitlement period.
Q: Why can’t I see Entitlement calculation in Event Manager?
A: Entitlement calculation isn’t available when Accrual is ON for a Yearly entitlement rule.
When Accrual is OFF, you can select Fixed, FTE-based, Pro-rata – daily, Pro-rata – monthly or Step-based.
Q: Does Accrual in Event Manager currently calculate employee entitlement?
A: No. Accrual settings are available for Yearly entitlement in Event Manager, but the entitlement workflow doesn’t currently apply the configured settings.
Support for calculating entitlement from the configured Accrual start date, interval and interval entitlement is planned for a future release.
When Accrual is ON, Entitlement calculation isn’t available.
Q: When is an employee’s entitlement recalculated?
A: Sense HR recalculates entitlement when a relevant change requires a new calculation, for example when a new entitlement period begins or the employee’s working hours or FTE change.
Where working hours or FTE change during an entitlement period, Sense HR calculates the relevant parts of the period using the working hours and FTE that applied to each part.
Step-based currently doesn’t apply an FTE change caused by a working-hours change in the next entitlement period.
Q: What happens if I leave Maximum carryover blank in Event Manager?
A: Leaving Maximum carryover blank allows unused entitlement to carry into the next entitlement period without a maximum limit.
Leaving the field blank doesn’t turn Carryover OFF. To prevent unused entitlement carrying forward, turn Carryover OFF.
Q: How do I allow employees to carry unused Holiday into the next entitlement period?
A: Turn Carryover ON in the applicable Holiday rule.
Enter the Maximum carryover in Days, Hours or both. Leave Maximum carryover blank only where your policy allows unlimited carryover.
Q: How do multiple Length of service milestones work in Event Manager?
A: Length of service milestones are cumulative. When an employee reaches a milestone, its additional entitlement is added to the additional entitlement from milestones they’ve already reached.
For example, if you configure:
12 months: +1 day
60 months: +1 day
120 months: +2 days
... an employee who has reached 120 months has a total Length of service increase of 4 days.
Earlier increases aren’t awarded again each year; they remain part of the employee’s entitlement.
Q: Is Length of service entitlement in Event Manager added again every year?
A: No. A Length of service milestone isn’t an additional award that repeats every year.
Once an employee reaches a milestone, that increase continues to form part of their entitlement. Their Length of service entitlement increases again only when they reach another configured milestone.
Q: How do I give employees additional Holiday based on Length of service?
A: Turn Length of service ON in the applicable Holiday rule.
Select the Award timing, then click + Add more to configure each service milestone, the additional entitlement and any Max entitlement.
Q: What’s the difference between On rollover and On anniversary date for Length of service entitlement?
A: On rollover applies any Length of service increase the employee has qualified for when they move into their next entitlement period.
On anniversary date applies an eligible increase on the anniversary of the employee’s Employment start date.
For example, if the first Length of service milestone is 36 months, the employee doesn’t receive an increase at earlier rollovers or anniversaries. Award timing determines when a qualifying increase is applied, not how often an increase is given.
Q: What does Max entitlement mean in the Length of service settings?
A: Max entitlement sets the highest entitlement an employee can reach through Length of service increases.
If the full Length of service increase would take the employee above the maximum, Sense HR adds only enough to reach it.
Q: Should I enter a different Max entitlement for each Length of service milestone?
A: No. If you configure multiple Length of service milestones, enter the same Max entitlement for each milestone.
Max entitlement is the overall ceiling for entitlement reached through Length of service, not a separate maximum for each milestone.
Q: Can Carryover take an employee above the Length of service Max entitlement?
A: Yes. Max entitlement limits Length of service increases only.
Carryover is separate, so carried-over entitlement can take the employee’s available entitlement above the Length of service maximum.
Q: Can employees book more than their remaining entitlement?
A: Yes, where Allow to book over entitlement is ON in the applicable Event Manager rule.
The booking can take the employee’s entitlement balance below zero. Only enable this where your organisation permits negative entitlement balances.
Q: How do I let employees book Holiday before they have enough entitlement available?
A: Turn Allow to book over entitlement ON under Balance & overbooking in the applicable Holiday rule.
Employees covered by the rule can then make bookings that take their entitlement balance below zero.
Q: Can different groups have different entitlement settings for the same Event?
A: Yes. Use separate Event Manager rules where different groups need different entitlement settings for the same Event.
Each employee should be included in only one rule for that Event.
Q: Can someone book a Time-off Event without receiving entitlement for it?
A: Yes. Entitlement is optional for Time-off Events.
Leave Entitlement OFF in the applicable rule where people should be able to book the Event without using an entitlement balance.
Q: Why can’t I see Outside working hours after enabling Entitlement?
A: Allow booking outside working hours isn’t available for a Time-off rule when Entitlement is ON.
When Entitlement is OFF, the setting can be used to allow bookings outside the employee’s configured working hours, including on a Non-Working Day.
For more information, see:
Q: What happens to existing entitlement records if I turn Entitlement OFF?
A: Turning Entitlement OFF doesn’t delete existing employee entitlement records.
The balances are hidden from the normal entitlement interface and aren’t used when the Event is booked, but the records are retained and remain available in reporting.
Q: If I change entitlement settings, does it change Events that have already been booked?
A: No. Changing entitlement settings doesn’t automatically update existing booked Events.
If a booking is later edited, Sense HR uses the current applicable rule. The booking may therefore need to meet settings that differ from those in place when it was originally booked.
For more information, see: