Organisation settings
Owners and admins
Organisation holds your workspace name, country and timezone, and the setup panel that tracks what is still needed.
Changes take effect immediately. Existing leave records are not recalculated retroactively.
Help Center
LeaveVia help and guidance
Everything you need to set up your workspace and run leave day to day. This page is always up to date with the current product.
Browse the sections below.
Getting Started
A new workspace already comes with a Monday–Friday working pattern and a starter set of leave types, so you do not have to configure everything by hand. Steps marked Required are needed before employees can request leave.
1. Create your workspace
RequiredOwnerSign up, confirm your email address and sign in. On your first visit you are asked for your organisation name, country, timezone, data region and the month and day your leave year starts.
The data region field is recorded as an organisation preference. It does not currently change the physical hosting region: LeaveVia currently runs on a managed EU hosting environment.
The person who creates the workspace becomes its Owner. LeaveVia sets up a default Monday–Friday working pattern and a starter set of leave types for you.
Creating a workspace starts a 30-day free trial. No card is required to start. Everyone else joins an existing workspace through an invitation from their organisation.
2. Review organisation settings
RequiredOwner, AdminOpen Organisation. Check the name, country and timezone — they affect how dates and working days are calculated.
The Setup panel on the same page shows what is still missing before employees can request leave. Items marked Optional can be left for later.
3. Check the default leave configuration
OptionalOwner, AdminLeave settings → Leave types already contains sensible defaults such as annual and sick leave. Most small teams can start without changing anything.
Adjust a leave type if you need different rules for approval, half days, privacy or whether it draws from a balance. Leave types are never deleted — deactivate one to stop offering it while keeping past records intact.
4. Set your entitlement policy
RequiredOwner, AdminLeave settings → Leave policies is where you say how much leave people earn. Create a policy, set the entitlement rules and publish a version.
Published versions are never edited. If rules change later, publish a new version from the effective date — history stays exactly as it was.
5. Review working patterns and public holidays
OptionalOwner, AdminA default Monday–Friday pattern is created with the workspace. Adjust it if your week is different, or add another pattern for part-time staff.
Public holidays are optional. If you do not add them, every working day inside a leave request counts as leave.
6. Add and invite your people
RequiredOwner, AdminOpen People, add an employee record, then send an invitation to their email address. They set their own password and join your workspace.
Your plan sets the maximum number of people in your workspace. If you reach it, LeaveVia stops the action and tells you before anything is saved.
7. Assign managers and structure
OptionalOwner, AdminDepartments, teams and locations are optional, but they make availability and reporting much more useful.
Assign a manager to an employee so leave requests reach the right person and managers can see their own team.
8. Assign a leave policy to each employee
RequiredOwner, AdminBalances are only calculated once an employee is covered by a published policy. Assign the policy from Leave policies.
Two details decide the numbers: the employee needs a hire date on their People record, and the policy version you assign must already be published and effective on the date the assignment starts. A draft version calculates nothing.
9. Post entitlement so balances exist
RequiredOwner, AdminAssigning a policy sets out what someone will earn; it does not yet put days into their balance. Open Leave ledger, select the employee and leave type, and use Post due entitlement to post the entitlement already due.
Check the statement against your existing records. For leave already taken but not recorded in LeaveVia, use Post adjustment → Debit (remove days), with a clear reason. Add credits only for days not already included. An opening balance adds days; it does not replace a posted balance.
This matters because approving leave is checked against the posted balance, not the projected one. Until entitlement is posted, an approval can be refused for an insufficient balance even though the policy looks correct.
10. Have each person accept their invitation
RequiredEmployeeAn employee record on its own cannot request leave: the person has to accept their invitation and sign in, which links their account to that record.
Until they do, an owner, admin or manager can still record already-approved leave on their behalf from Approvals.
11. Submit the first leave request
RequiredEmployeeIn My leave, choose the leave type and the dates. LeaveVia shows how many days will be used before the request is submitted, skipping non-working days and public holidays.
12. Review and approve it
RequiredOwner, Admin, ManagerApprovals lists everything waiting for a decision, including cancellations and change requests. Approving deducts the days from the balance; rejecting leaves the balance untouched.
13. Check team availability
OptionalOwner, Admin, Manager, EmployeeAvailability shows who is away over a period. Managers and admins see the detail for their people; colleagues simply see that someone is away.
14. Connect a calendar (optional)
OptionalEmployeeEach person can connect their own Google or Microsoft calendar so approved leave appears there automatically. This is one-way: LeaveVia never reads your calendar contents.
User Guide
Task-by-task guidance for everything LeaveVia does today, with a note on who normally does it.
Workspace and people
People and invitations
Owners and admins
Add an employee record first, then invite that person by email. Invitations expire, can be resent and can be revoked before they are accepted.
An employee who leaves is marked inactive rather than deleted, so their leave history and balances remain correct.
Roles and managers
Owners and admins
Owner: full control of the workspace, including settings, people and deletion requests.
Admin: everything an owner can do day to day, including settings, people and approvals.
Manager: sees their own team, and reviews leave for the people assigned to them.
Employee: requests their own leave, sees their own balances, and sees who is away.
A person can be a manager for some employees and an ordinary employee for their own leave at the same time.
Work schedules
Owners and admins
A work schedule defines which weekdays are working days. It decides how many days a leave request actually consumes.
A default Monday–Friday schedule is created with your workspace; add more for part-time or shift patterns and assign them to employees.
Public holidays and closures
Owners and admins
Holiday calendars hold public holidays and organisation closure days, and can be attached to a location so different offices can differ.
Days in a holiday calendar are skipped when a leave request is calculated. Past dates are protected so historic calculations stay stable.
Leave rules and balances
Leave types
Owners and admins
A leave type is a category of absence — annual, sick, unpaid, training and so on. For each one you choose whether it needs approval, whether half days are allowed, how sensitive it is, and whether it draws from a balance.
Leave types also carry a supporting-evidence setting for your own internal policy. It records the expectation only — LeaveVia does not currently provide file or document upload, so any evidence is handled outside the app.
Leave types are deactivated rather than deleted, so reports and past requests keep their meaning.
Leave policies
Owners and admins
A policy says how much leave people earn and how it behaves: a yearly amount or monthly accrual, rounding, pro-rata for new joiners, and how much unused leave may carry over and when it expires.
Policies are versioned by date. A published version is never edited — publish a new version instead, and earlier periods keep the rules that applied at the time.
Optional service tiers increase entitlement after a number of years of service.
Entitlements and balances
Everyone
A balance is built from entitlement, any adjustments, carried-over days and leave already taken. Every change is recorded as a separate entry, so a balance can always be explained.
Employees see their own balances in My leave. Owners and admins can view a full statement per person and post adjustments or corrections where needed.
Requesting and approving leave
Requesting leave
Employees
In My leave choose the leave type and dates, optionally a half day, and add a note. Before submitting you see exactly how many days will be used.
Days are reserved as soon as you submit, so the same days cannot be spent twice while a request waits for a decision.
Withdrawing a request
Employees
While a request is still pending you can withdraw it yourself from My leave. Nothing is deducted from your balance.
Approving or rejecting
Owners, admins and managers
Approvals shows pending leave requests, cancellations and change requests. Approving a leave request deducts the days; rejecting releases them back.
Managers see requests for the employees assigned to them. Owners and admins see the whole organisation.
Cancelling approved leave
Employees, with approval
Approved future leave is cancelled by requesting a cancellation, which an approver reviews. When it is approved the days are returned to the balance.
Changing approved leave
Employees, with approval
Approved leave is never edited in place. You request a change with the new dates; a preview shows the difference in days.
On approval the original request is reversed and replaced by the new one, so the balance and the record both stay accurate.
Staffing coverage warnings
Owners, admins and managers
You can set minimum coverage rules for the organisation, a team or a location. When a request would breach a rule, LeaveVia shows a warning to the approver.
Coverage warnings are advisory — they inform the decision, they do not block it.
Availability, notifications and calendars
Team availability
Everyone
Availability shows who is away across a date range. Managers and admins see the leave detail for their people; everyone else simply sees that a colleague is away, without the reason.
Notifications
Everyone
LeaveVia notifies people when a request, cancellation or change is submitted, approved or rejected.
Notifications appear in the app straight away, and are also sent by email. You can turn email off per notification type in Notifications.
Emails deliberately contain no leave details — they tell you something needs attention and link you into LeaveVia.
Google Calendar
Every employee, for their own calendar
Connect your Google account from Calendar. Approved leave is then published into your calendar as a simple all-day entry.
It is one-way and privacy-safe: LeaveVia writes only its own entries and never reads your calendar.
Microsoft / Outlook calendar
Every employee, for their own calendar
Microsoft 365 and Outlook calendars work the same way as Google: connect your account, and approved leave is published one-way into your calendar.
Reporting and account
Reports and exports
Owners, admins and managers
Reports covers balances, leave usage, requests, carry-over and availability for the period you choose.
Each report can be downloaded as a CSV file for payroll or your own analysis. Managers see only the people they are responsible for.
Account settings
Everyone
Account shows your sign-in email and the workspaces you belong to, and lets you request deletion of your account.
Deleting a workspace
Owners
An owner can request workspace deletion from Organisation by typing the workspace name to confirm. There is a 30-day grace period during which the request can be cancelled.
Deleting your own account
Everyone
You can request deletion of your personal account from Account, also with a 30-day grace period.
If you are the only owner of a workspace, transfer ownership or request workspace deletion first — LeaveVia will not leave a workspace without an owner.
FAQ
Every workspace starts with a 30-day free trial and no card is required to start. You can add payment details at any time during the trial to continue on a paid plan.
Trial, plans and billing
How does the free trial work?
Every new workspace starts with a 30-day free trial of a paid plan. No card is collected at sign-up, so choose a plan and add payment details before the trial ends to continue.
Each organisation is entitled to one trial. Repeat trials for the same organisation are not available.
Is a credit card required to start?
No. You can use the full product for 30 days without giving any payment details.
What happens when the trial ends?
If you have added payment details and chosen a plan, your subscription simply starts and the first charge is taken after the trial ends.
If not, the workspace moves to a payment-required state. Nothing is deleted: all your data is preserved, and the Owner can still sign in, choose a plan and pay to restore full access at any time. There is no permanent free plan.
Can I add payment details during the trial?
Yes. The Owner can choose Team, Growth or Business and add payment details at any point during the trial. Your original trial end date is kept, and no charge is taken before it.
Is there a launch offer?
Yes. The first 50 paying organisations get 25% off their first 12 months: 12 monthly billing periods on monthly plans, or the first annual billing period on annual plans. After that, billing continues automatically at the normal price.
What are the current user limits?
Team 10 people, Growth 25, Business 50. For more than 50 users, contact us.
What happens when I reach my workspace capacity?
LeaveVia stops the action that would exceed it — adding a person or sending an invitation — and tells you before anything is saved. Everything already in the workspace keeps working.
How do renewals, cancellation and taxes work?
Paid plans renew automatically each billing period until cancelled. You can cancel from your billing page; access continues to the end of the period you have paid for.
Prices exclude VAT and other applicable taxes. Any applicable tax and the final total are shown before a payment is confirmed.
Leave
How are leave balances calculated?
From the policy that applies to the employee: their entitlement (yearly or accrued monthly), any pro-rata for a mid-year start, adjustments, carried-over days, and leave already approved.
Every change is a separate recorded entry, so a balance can always be traced back to what produced it.
Who can approve leave?
The employee's assigned manager, and the workspace owners and admins.
Can an approved leave request be changed?
Yes, by requesting a change. Approved leave is never edited directly: on approval the original is reversed and replaced by the new dates.
Can approved future leave be cancelled?
Yes. Request a cancellation and an approver reviews it.
What happens to the balance when leave is cancelled or modified?
Cancelling returns the days to the balance. Modifying reverses the original deduction and applies the new one, so only the net difference changes.
How do public holidays and non-working days affect leave?
They are skipped. A request spanning a weekend or a public holiday only consumes the working days in between, based on the employee's work schedule and holiday calendar.
People and permissions
What is the difference between Owner, Admin, Manager and Employee?
Owners have full control, including workspace deletion. Admins run the workspace day to day: settings, people and approvals.
Managers see and approve leave for the people assigned to them. Employees manage their own leave and can see who is away.
How do I invite someone?
Owners and admins add the employee in People and send an invitation to their email address. The link is single-use and expires; it can be resent or revoked.
Can I deactivate a member?
Yes. Set the employee to inactive rather than deleting them, which removes their access while keeping their leave history and reports correct.
What happens if I reach the user limit?
New people and new invitations are blocked with a clear message until you are within your workspace capacity again. Nothing already in the workspace is affected.
Calendars
How does Google Calendar integration work?
Each person connects their own Google account from Calendar. Approved leave is published into their calendar as an all-day entry. It is one-way — LeaveVia does not read calendar contents.
How does Microsoft / Outlook integration work?
The same way: connect the Microsoft account, and approved leave is published one-way.
What happens if I disconnect a calendar?
Publishing stops immediately and no further entries are written. Your leave records in LeaveVia are unchanged.
Does a calendar failure affect my leave records?
No. Calendar publication is separate from your leave data. If a calendar is unavailable LeaveVia retries later; approvals and balances are never affected.
Notifications
Which actions generate notifications?
Submitting, approving and rejecting leave requests, cancellations and change requests. LeaveVia may also contact the workspace owner separately about important billing or service updates; that is not an automated notification.
How are email and in-app notifications delivered?
In-app notifications appear immediately in the bell menu. Emails are sent from our production sender and contain no leave details — only that something needs your attention, with a link into LeaveVia.
Each person can turn email off per notification type in Notifications.
Security and privacy
Is one company's data visible to another company?
No. Every workspace is isolated, and each request is checked against the signed-in person's membership and role before any data is returned.
How is calendar connection information protected?
Calendar access is stored encrypted, used only to publish your approved leave, and revoked when you disconnect.
How do I request workspace deletion?
An owner requests it from Organisation and confirms by typing the workspace name.
How do I request personal account deletion?
From Account. If you are the sole owner of a workspace, hand over ownership or request workspace deletion first.
What is the deletion grace period?
30 days. During that time the request can be cancelled and nothing is removed.
Where can I read the legal detail?
Our policies cover data handling, processing terms and the providers we rely on.
Still need a hand?
Get in touch and we will help you get set up.