See who is available, approve leave, plan shifts and keep time connected to the people doing the work. Billable hours, clients and projects belong here too.
September · Product team
Interactive example · Illustrative people and data
Who it’s for
Leave, rosters and hours decide whether the doors open on time and whether pay is right. These teams carry that weight.
Hourly staff on early and late shifts, with swaps arranged in group chats.
“The roster lives on a whiteboard, and I find out about swaps when someone doesn’t show.”
Managers build the week in the schedule builder, with approved leave already shown, and publish it. Swaps need the colleague to accept and the manager to approve before shifts change hands.
Different leave types, entitlements and holidays in each country.
“Our leave policy is one document with a table of country exceptions.”
Leave types, cycles and entitlements are set per policy. Public holidays follow each person’s country of residence, and country-based policies can be assigned automatically.
Month-end is spent recalculating balances in a spreadsheet.
“Every month someone asks why their balance is wrong, and I have to check by hand.”
Accruals, pro-rata entitlements for mid-cycle starters, carry-over limits and tenure bonuses run automatically. Employees see their projected balance before they ask.
Overtime, night shifts and missed punches every pay period.
“Payroll argues with my timesheets every fortnight.”
Clock-ins become timecards with exceptions flagged. Approved timecards roll into a pay period that calculates regular, overtime and premium hours from your pay rules.
Why the week falls apart
TodayBalances live in a spreadsheet that someone updates at month-end, if they remember.
With OctoberBalances update as leave is approved and accrued. Each person sees what is available, used, pending and due to expire.
TodayManagers approve leave without knowing who else is off that week.
With OctoberEach request shows the requester’s balances and team coverage, and warns when cover drops below your threshold.
TodayRosters sit on a whiteboard, and swaps are agreed in a chat nobody else can see.
With OctoberShifts are built, published and swapped in one place, with leave already on the grid and every swap approved.
TodayPaper timesheets are reconciled by hand before each payroll run.
With OctoberClock-ins flow onto timecards. Exceptions are resolved with a reason, and the pay period closes into payable line items.
Inside time and attendance
Leave, rosters and hours work from the same people, policies and calendar.
Leave requests
Employees pick a type and dates, and October counts the days, leaving out weekends and public holidays for their country. Managers see the balance, who else is away and the coverage that would be left before they decide.
Day of Reconciliation is a South African public holiday, so it isn’t deducted.
38% coverage. 4 of 8 on the floor team are already off that week.
Policies and accrual
Set leave types with their own cycle, accrual, carry-over limit, notice period and minimum service. Assign policies by person, department or employment type, and add tenure rules for longer service.
Shifts
Define shift types with times and breaks, generate a week from a rotation pattern and adjust it in the builder. Approved leave appears on the grid, so you don’t schedule someone who is away. Publish when it is ready.
Hours and pay
Staff clock in on the web or at a shared kiosk. Timecards flag missing punches and late starts, and every fix needs a reason. Close the pay period to calculate overtime, night premiums and break penalties from your pay rules.
13:00–21:02OK13:01–21:00Resolved07:15–15:0015 minClock-out added: 21:00. “Forgot to clock out after close. Confirmed with shift lead.” Lerato M. (manager) · 15 Dec
December at one store
An illustrative December at a clothing store with a floor team of eight and one store manager.
Generates the next two weeks from the store’s rotation pattern. Ruan’s approved leave is already on the grid, so nobody is scheduled in his place by mistake.
Requests 14–18 December. October counts four days, because the 16th is a public holiday.
Sees a 38% coverage warning with the four colleagues already off. Rejects with a reason and suggests the following week, which Zanele books instead.
Offers his Friday shift to Tariq. Tariq accepts and the manager approves, so the roster updates.
Opens timecard review. Adds Sibu’s missing clock-out with a reason and bulk-approves the clean timecards.
Closes the pay period. Overtime and night premium hours are calculated and the payroll file is exported.
A week that works. For everyone in it.
How it works
Create leave types and policies, sync public holidays for your countries and choose how much complexity you need.
Add shift types and rotation patterns, then build and publish schedules by department.
Review timecards, resolve exceptions and close the pay period to produce payable hours and the payroll file.
Fair and auditable
Approved timecards are locked. Only HR or admins can reopen them, and exported periods cannot be reopened.
Managers review and approve their direct reports. HR and admins see the whole organisation.
On the Enterprise leave tier, use multi-level approval chains and delegation when managers are away. HR can always approve.
Leave for a shutdown can only be entered by people with permission, and needs a recorded reason before it is auto-approved.
Where time connects
Leave policy, country and department on the record decide balances, holidays and coverage.
ExploreApproved leave and hours flow to payroll, and unused leave feeds settlements when someone leaves.
ExploreAttendance and overtime patterns feed staffing forecasts.
ExploreA mapped leave type can suggest a maternity or extended-leave process with handover and return tasks.
ExploreExplore the workflows, tools and practical details that support time & leave throughout the working day.
Balance cards per leave type show what's remaining, the cycle end and status. Employees request in seconds, managers approve inline, and planner and calendar views show who is out before it becomes a problem. Finance sees outstanding leave liability by department and leave type.
A schedule builder for managers, a shift-swap marketplace for employees, digital clock in and out, and staffing views that show required versus actual cover. Analytics track attendance patterns, overtime and coverage.
Log billable and non-billable time against clients and projects, or describe the work in a sentence and let AI Quick Add create the entry. Managers approve from a queue, and unbilled hours and amounts are always visible.
Create clients and projects, set budgets and rates, and turn approved time into invoices with your own numbering format. Reports cover revenue, utilisation and project profitability.
Meeting hours and cost per person with recommendations to protect focus time.
Explore the detail behind time & leave.
Yes. Leave types, accrual rules, cycles and public holidays are configured per location, and balances are calculated automatically.
Yes. Clients, projects, budgets, approvals, invoices and utilisation reporting are built in for firms that bill time.
We’ll walk through the real product with your team and show how it connects to the rest of October People.