Managing all different types of leave in a manual system can get messy very quickly.
Policies are buried in documents, spreadsheets are not updated properly, and managers handle requests inconsistently.
Leave Dates pulls every leave type into one easy system, so you know when your team is available, keeping you in control.
Leave is more than time off. It covers sickness, training, sabbaticals, family events, and holidays. Even unusual events like compassionate leave, wellbeing days, volunteer work or the odd 'Duvet Day', your leave policies can be created to fit your culture.
The Leave Types feature on Leave Dates helps you get creative with your employee offering and track what works for your team.
How does it work? Glad you asked. Let's take a look. 👇🏽
“Holiday and Absence management easily managed.”
“Easy to implement across multiple countries.”
Employees know exactly what each leave type is for, which reduces uncertainty and preserves other allowances.
Managers handle requests consistently across the team, building trust and transparency.
Leave types provide context without requiring personal explanations.
Colour-coded leave types make team availability visible at a glance.
Track trends and patterns in leave to plan workload and support wellbeing more effectively.
You can also create policies for other benefits and situations, like pawternity leave, volunteering days, study leave, compassionate leave, or a wellbeing day allowance.
Lucy runs a small, busy creative agency in Manchester. The team is close-knit and proud of doing things differently. They work hard, they back each other up, and they care about the culture.
Using Leave Dates to track time off, Lucy noticed that sick leave spiked during intense project cycles. At first, it did not add up. The team liked their work and they were not the type to skive.
Then it clicked. Creativity takes energy. If people run on empty for long enough, something gives.
Lucy did not want people to feel they had to push through until they hit the breaking point. She also did not want “I’m not ill enough” to stop someone from taking a breather.
Lucy created 'duvet days' for when a team member is not sick, but running low. A day to reset before tiredness turns into illness. No questions asked.
Lucy set an allowance of four duvet days a year for everyone.
She announced it in a way that suited the team. She joined the morning call from home, under her duvet, and told them to do the same when they needed to.
✔️ She created a new leave type called Duvet Days
✔️ Added a short description so everyone understood what it was for
✔️ Gave it a colour so it was easy to see on the wall chart
✔️ Set the allowance to 4 days per person
✔️ Made it simple to book, like any other leave.
Ta-da! Duvet Days became an official policy in Lucy's agency.
Bookings started coming in straight away. Within six months, Lucy saw a clear drop in unplanned absence.
The numbers helped tell the story, but the day-to-day impact mattered just as much. People seemed more energised. The team felt trusted. And managers found it easier to plan, because duvet days were booked like other leave.
Are you ready to create your first leave type?
Track absences, spot patterns, and make smarter decisions that keep your team happy and productive.
Creating your own custom leave types is easy in Leave Dates. Account admins can use the Leave Types function in settings to create these with a few clicks.
Read our guide on how to create and manage leave types here - https://help.leavedates.com/article/138-leave-types
Many companies are getting creative with their leave offerrings as a way to attract and keep great talent.
Here are a few examples:
Our wonderful customers from Word Monster, awarded one of the UK's best workplaces, give their team birthday leave and more.