HRM - step 2: Setting Up Vacation Days in Celery
The basics
Celery already sets up 15 vacation days for you by default.
But you might need to change this. For example:
- You agreed on a different number of days with your employee
- Different groups of staff get different amounts (like office staff vs. store staff)
- On-call workers get fewer days than permanent staff
When do you need to create your own arrangement?
You need to create a new arrangement when:
- Your employees have a different basic number of vacation days than the default
- You have on-call workers who are paid by the hour — they always need their own separate arrangement
If a part-time employee has the same number of vacation days as a full-time employee (just worked fewer hours), you don't need a separate arrangement for them. They fit into the standard one.
What each setting means
- Name Give the arrangement a short name. Add it in both Dutch and English — employees can pick their own language.
- Description Add a short extra explanation. Keep it brief, but you have a bit more space here than in the name.
- How are days given out?
- All at once — good for extra days based on age, job level, or years of service
- A little bit every day — the most common choice for standard vacation days
- Unlimited — used for sick leave arrangements
- Fixed period — used for special leave (like study leave or personal days)
- How much do they earn? Enter how many hours the employee earns per period. Everything in Celery works in hours, so employees can even take one hour off at a time.
- When does the arrangement reset? You can choose a calendar year or your own start date. You also choose when the arrangement kicks in:
- From their first day of work
- From the start of the new year
- From a date you pick yourself
Important: Any open leave requests must be finished before that reset date. Anything not done will not be carried over.
- Visible for employees You choose whether employees can see this arrangement in their own account. If you turn this on, they can see how many hours they have built up and how much leave they have left. If you turn it off, only the administrator can see the arrangement.
- When does it start? Normally it starts right away. But you can also set a waiting period — like "starts after 3 months of employment."
- Maximum hours allowed You can set a cap on how many hours an employee can save up. Once they hit the cap, they stop earning more until they use some.
- Can unused days carry over to next year? Yes or no — you decide.
- How many hours can carry over? If you allow carry-over, set the maximum here. Any hours above this number are removed automatically at the end of the year.
- How long do carried-over days last? You can give carried-over days an expiry date. For example: "must be used within 3 months." Celery uses these days first. Any that aren't used by the deadline are removed automatically.
- Part-time employees If a part-time employee works fewer hours but has the same vacation entitlement as a full-time employee, turn this on. Celery will automatically adjust their vacation hours to match their part-time percentage.
- Can employees go into negative leave? Since vacation hours build up a little each day, employees might request leave before they've earned enough. You can allow this — and then check at the time of the request whether they'll have enough hours by the time the leave starts.
Work schedules
The work schedule tells Celery how many hours a day an employee works. This matters for calculating leave.
- Standard schedule — use this for full-time employees and part-time employees who work the same number of hours per day as full-time staff
- Part-time with different daily hours — either create a separate schedule or attach them to an arrangement without a schedule. If you have more than one part-time employee like this, the "no schedule" option is easier
- On-call/hourly workers — always use an arrangement without a schedule
Payroll Integration
Celery's HR module tracks leave day by day. Your payroll runs on a different schedule. Because of this, the leave balance on a payslip will almost never match exactly.
Our advice: Don't show leave hours on the payslip when you're using the HR module. It avoids confusion.
Who does the arrangement apply to?
You can link the arrangement to some or all employees. Wait until everything is fully set up before linking employees. The step-by-step guide will tell you when the time is right.