Time off counters define how many days and hours are deducted from an employee’s allowance when they request leave. Each counter type (Working Days, Calendar Days, and French Calendar Days) uses different rules to count days. Planning tools (Contract, Work Schedule, and Shift Management) determine which days are working days and how many hours apply. The system evaluates each day in the leave period, assigns a value (0, 0.5, or 1.0), and calculates the final deduction accordingly.
Overview
Time off counters define how many days (and hours) are deducted when an employee requests time off. Factorial offers several counter types—Working Days, Calendar Days, and French Calendar Days—each with different rules for counting days. These counters work together with planning tools to determine which days are considered working days and how many hours correspond to each leave day.
When and why it should be used
- Apply the correct leave deduction rules based on your company’s policy.
- Ensure employees’ allowances decrease consistently and transparently.
- Align time off calculations with each employee’s planning tool configuration.
- Support different regions and legal requirements (e.g., French Calendar Days).
How to use
-
Start
The system begins processing a time off request. -
Select allowance
The user selects the allowance where the deduction will be applied. -
Choose a counter type
The system follows one of the three branches:- Working Days
- Calendar Days
- French Calendar Days
Working Days
-
Determine days from the planning tool chain
Days are counted based on the active planning tool in this priority order:
Shift Management → Work Schedule → Contract.
-
Determine hours from the active planning tool
Hours follow the same priority chain.
-
Calculate the outcome for each date
Each day receives a coefficient: 0, 0.5, or 1.0.
-
Sum the results
Days and hours are added together to obtain the final deduction.
Working Days: both days and hours depend on the active planning tool via the chain Shift Management → Work Schedule → Contract, including rest-day rules.
Calendar Days
-
Determine days based on the calendar
All days in the selected date range are counted (including weekends and holidays).
-
Determine hours from the active planning tool
Hours come from the planning tool chain (Shift → Work Schedule → Contract).
-
Calculate the outcome for each date
Each date receives a coefficient: 0, 0.5, or 1.0.
-
Select the range variant
- Contract variant: the system may extend the end of the range.
-
Work Schedule variant: strict date range, no extensions.
-
Sum the results
Days and hours are totaled.
Calendar Days: days are purely calendar-based (variant defines range), hours come from the active planning tool.
French Calendar Days
-
Determine days using French rules
Days are counted according to the French Ouvrées/Ouvrables definitions.
-
Determine hours from the active planning tool
Hours follow the planning tool priority chain.
-
Calculate the outcome for each date
Each day receives a coefficient: 0, 0.5, or 1.0.
-
Select the range variant
- Contract variant: may extend the end of the range.
-
Work Schedule variant: strict range.
-
Sum the results
Days and hours are combined to produce the final deduction.
Final deduction applied
The system applies the final days and hours deduction to the employee’s allowance.
French Calendar Days: days follow French rules and use the planning tool to determine working vs non-working, hours come from the active planning tool.
Key Concepts
Workable vs Non-Workable Leave Types
- Workable: All days in the leave period count, regardless of contract working days, weekends, or holidays
- Non-Workable: Only contract working days count
Counter Types Overview
-
Working days - Contract: Based on employee's contract working schedule. Only counts days that are defined as working days in the employee's contract, excluding weekends, holidays, and non-working days.
-
Working days - Work: Based on workable flag. Counts ALL days in the leave period, regardless of contract working days, weekends, or holidays.
-
Working days - Shifts: Based on shift management hours and rest days. Shift management takes priority over contract logic when present and has special handling for rest days.
-
Calendar Days - All: Pure calendar days with two range calculation variants. Counts all days in the leave period (including weekends and non-working days) but differs in how they handle date range boundaries.
-
Ouvreé/Ouvrable - All Planning Tools: French calendar-based counting with automatic planning tool integration. Unlike other counter types that require separate variants, French calendar days work with all planning tools through a unified fallback chain.
- Half Day Scenarios: Special handling for half day leave requests and half day company holiday interactions across all counter types.
How Time Off Deductions Work
The system processes each day in a leave period and determines:
- Days deducted: 0 (day off), 0.5 (half day), or 1.0 (full day)
- Hours counted: Based on the planning tool hours for that day, adjusted by the day type coefficient
The final deduction is the sum of all days in the leave period, with hours calculated from the active planning tool (Shift Management → Work Schedule → Contract fallback chain).
How Planning Tools Interact with Time Off Deductions
Planning tools affect time off deductions in two ways: day counting (which days are deducted) and hours calculation (how many hours are deducted).
For day counting, Working Days counters use planning tools to determine if a day is a working day—only days marked as working days by the active planning tool are deducted.
For example, if shift management shows Wednesday as a rest day, it won't be deducted in Working Days counters. Calendar Days counters, however, don't use planning tools for day counting—they count all calendar days regardless of planning tool status.
For hours calculation, all counter types use the active planning tool following the priority chain: Shift Management (highest priority) → Work Schedule → Contract (fallback).
For instance, if an employee has 8 hours in their contract, 7.5 hours in their work schedule, and 6 hours in shift management for Monday, a leave on Monday will use 6 hours from shift management since it has the highest priority.
Important Concepts
No Fixed Weekends
The system doesn't have fixed "weekends" (Saturday/Sunday). It uses the employee's contract working schedule to determine which days are working days.
Contract-Based Logic
All working day logic is based on the employee's contract, not calendar assumptions.
For example, an employee might work Wed-Sun, meaning Monday-Tuesday are not working days.
Planning Tool Distinction
Contract, Shift Management and Work Schedule are different planning tools with different logic:
- Contract: Base working schedule defined in the employment contract
- Work Schedule: Specific schedules that can override contract (fixed or flexible)
- Shift Management: Dynamic shift assignments that take priority over contract
Range Extension Behavior
Some counter types extend the leave period to include non-working days at the end:
- Calendar Days - Contract: Extends to include weekends/holidays after the specified end date
- Calendar Days - Work Schedule: Uses strict date boundaries, no extensions
- Working Days counters: Use strict boundaries, no extensions
- French Calendar Days: Behavior depends on legacy feature flag