How do I manually adjust an employee's vacation balance?

Use a manual vacation balance adjustment to correct an entitlement error, apply a one-off grant, or reconcile an employee's balance without changing the vacation policy. 

1. In the main menu, select Manage time. 
2. Under Manage Time in the left side menu, select Time off overview. 
3. Go to the tab Employee leave days. 
4. Select the Employee in question. 
5. Click on Add adjustment
6. Confirm that you are adjusting the correct vacation year. Vacation balances are tracked separately for each year. 
7. In Adjustment, enter the number of vacation days. Enter a positive number to add days or a negative number to subtract days. 
8. In Comment, enter the reason for the adjustment. Add a clear comment so the change can be understood later. 
9. Select Save. 

The adjustment applies immediately. Simployer One does not require an approval, and the employee's vacation balance updates in real time. 

Note

Select Cancel to close the Balance adjustment window without saving the change. 

What if the employee has no vacation balance or the add button is missing?

A missing balance or a missing Add adjustment option usually means the employee is not currently included in a vacation policy. An employee can only have a vacation balance — and therefore an adjustable one — if a vacation policy applies to them.

To check and fix this (requires you to have the role administrator or owner):

1. Go to Settings, then Time off settings.

2. Open the relevant vacation policy and review its policy scope. You do this by finding vacation on the page and click View. Then click Edit on the relevant vacation policy and find Policy scope in the bottom of the form.

3. Confirm the employee is included in the scope — check their employment type, team, department, or individual assignment against what the policy covers. An employee can be excluded from a policy's scope even if other similar employees are included.

4. If the employee is missing, add them to the policy scope so a balance is created for them.

This is a common cause for substitute or temporary employees, who may not automatically fall under the same policy scope as permanent employees.

How does the strict allowance limit affect a negative vacation balance?

A vacation balance adjustment can add or subtract days. Whether the resulting balance can go below zero depends on the strict allowance setting in the employee's vacation policy. 

To check the setting for the relevant vacation policy: 

1. In the main menu, select Settings. 
2. Select Time off settings. 
3. Select View on the vacation leave type. 
4. Select Edit on the relevant vacation policy. 
5. Review the strict allowance setting before entering a large negative adjustment. 

• Strict allowance is enabled: The vacation balance cannot go below 0. Simployer One applies only the part of the adjustment needed to reduce the balance to exactly 0. For example, if the employee has 3 days and you enter -5, the resulting balance is 0, not -2. 
• Strict allowance is disabled: The vacation balance can go below 0. Simployer One applies the full adjustment. For example, if the employee has 3 days and you enter -5, the resulting balance is -2. 

Important

When strict allowance is enabled, the resulting balance may not match the full negative adjustment you entered. 

What are unpaid vacation days and can they be removed

Unpaid days aren't entered directly — they're calculated. Unpaid days = the full vacation allowance in the employee's policy minus the paid days the employee has earned. An employee may take their full allowance; whatever isn't covered by earned paid days counts as unpaid.

How many days count as earned depends on the policy's allowance setup:

• Granted up front / unlimited: everything is paid, so there are 0 unpaid days.
• Earned, available the year after: only days earned in the previous year are paid. In an employee's first year, the whole allowance is unpaid.
• Earned "as you go": paid days equal what has been accrued so far.

When vacation is booked, paid days are used first, and any remaining days booked count as unpaid.

There is no field to change unpaid days directly, since it is read-only and calculated based on the policy, neither can the display for unpaid days at the moment be removed. They can get changed indirectly though by changing the policy, just be mindful if doing so that it actually means changing the policy. 

• Add a positive manual adjustment, which turns unpaid days into paid ones. For example, with a 25-day allowance and 10 earned days, a +15 adjustment results in 25 paid, 0 unpaid.
• Change the policy (allowance type, availability, or amount), which recalculates the balance.

A negative adjustment only reduces paid days — it does not add unpaid days. The only way to remove unpaid days is to grant them as paid (a positive adjustment) or change the policy.

How do I correct an incorrect vacation balance adjustment? 

You cannot edit a vacation balance adjustment after you save it. Correct the mistake by offsetting the adjustment or by deleting it and entering a new one. 

• Offset the adjustment: Add a second adjustment that reverses the incorrect amount. Both adjustments remain visible in the Balance adjustment history. For example, if you added 5 days but should have added 3, enter a new adjustment of -2. 
• Delete and replace the adjustment: Open the same Balance adjustment window, select the red trash can button next to the incorrect adjustment, and then add a new adjustment with the correct value. 

Tip

Use an offsetting adjustment when traceability matters. Deleting the original adjustment removes the record of the mistake. 

What information is recorded for vacation balance adjustments? 

Active vacation balance adjustments are listed in the Balance adjustment view. The view shows who made each adjustment and when the adjustment was made. 

Important

Deleted adjustments leave no trace. They are removed from the Balance adjustment view and do not remain visible in the audit log. 

Does the employee receive a notification about a vacation balance adjustment? 

No. Simployer One does not notify the employee when an Owner manually adjusts the employee's vacation balance. Communicate the change to the employee outside Simployer One when needed. 

Video guide: How to Adjust Vacation Balance
Adjust Vacation Balance in Time Off