Managing employee leave can quickly become complicated without the right system. Paid time off, sick leave, maternity leave—each comes with its own rules, entitlements, and eligibility requirements. That’s where Zoho People makes life easier.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how to set up time off (leave requests) inside Zoho People, step by step. You’ll see how to customize different leave types, configure entitlements, apply restrictions, and make sure employees have the right access to the right kinds of leave.
Whether you’re an HR professional or simply the person tasked with setting up Zoho People for your company, this tutorial will help you configure time off requests the right way. Note that the settings and steps discussed here are based on the super admin login, it might show differently on a user or member perspective.
In Zoho People, time off refers to any type of leave request employees might submit. This could include:
PTO (Paid Time Off)
Sick Leave
Maternity Leave
Restricted Holidays
Other company-specific leave types
To begin setting up time off in Zoho People:
Go to settings, select Time Off under services.
Go to Time Off Policy. You’ll see all the leave types currently available. Zoho includes a few default ones, but you can edit, enable/disable, or add new types.
From here, you’re ready to start creating a new leave type.
To add a new time off option:
Click Add in the upper-right corner.
Choose between the following policies then click on Next.
Fixed entitlement
Experience based entitlement
Grant based entitlement
Attendance based entitlement
Enter the leave name (e.g., Maternity Leave).
Optionally, upload an image and assign a code (e.g., ML).
Choose the leave type:
Paid
Unpaid
On duty
Restricted holiday
Select the unit (days or hours). For example, maternity leave makes sense in days, not hours.
Add details such as:
Description
Validity period (if applicable)
Once these basics are entered, you can configure deeper rules around entitlement, applicability, and restrictions.
Under entitlement, you can decide how employees become eligible for this leave:
Based on Date of Joining
Example: Available only after 3 years with the company.
Based on Date of Confirmation
Useful if eligibility depends on confirmation of employment.
For accrual, Zoho People allows you to define how leave builds up over time. However, accrual requirements may depend on your local labor laws. For instance, in certain regions, employees must accrue PTO based on hours worked rather than receiving it upfront.
You’ll also need to decide when leave balances reset. Options include:
Calendar year reset
Work anniversary reset (one year from the date of joining)
This ensures balances don’t carry over indefinitely unless you want them to. You also have an option to enable carrying forward or encashment of unused leaves.
Advanced Options in Entitlement
Beyond basic setup, entitlement allows you to:
Set an opening balance (starting amount of leave days).
Define a maximum balance (cap on leave days).
Configure deductible holidays.
Zoho People gives you flexibility to apply leave rules based on employee demographics and roles. For example:
Eligibility by marital status – e.g., certain leave only available to married employees.
Eligibility by department, designation, location, or role.
You can also define restrictions, such as:
Whether weekends during a leave period should count toward the leave balance.
Specific rules around holidays, exceptions, or maximum balances.
These rules help HR teams maintain fairness and consistency while avoiding administrative headaches.
One key point: for leave types tied to date of joining or date of confirmation, this data must be properly maintained in each employee’s file.
For example:
If no joining date is entered in the system, the employee won’t see the leave type available to them.
Always verify that employee records are complete to avoid errors in leave requests.
Maintaining accurate employee data inside Zoho People is essential for the time off module to function correctly.
After configuring:
Review all fields (entitlement, accrual, reset, restrictions, and exceptions).
Click Submit/Save.
The new leave type will now be available for eligible employees to request.
Setting up time off in Zoho People doesn’t just mean creating categories—it’s about aligning leave policies with your organization’s needs and compliance requirements. From PTO to maternity leave, you have complete flexibility to define how employees can request and accrue time off.
Keep employee data updated.
Review local laws for accrual compliance.
Configure eligibility rules thoughtfully.
Zoho People makes managing employee leave simple, but the real value comes from tailoring the system to fit your policies. By setting up accurate leave types, entitlements, and restrictions, you empower employees to request time off smoothly—while ensuring HR runs efficiently.
👉 Need help customizing Zoho People for your organization? Contact Amazing Business Results today and let us streamline your HR processes.