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Plane brings leave management and time tracking together in the same system where you run payroll and manage your team. Instead of juggling separate tools for PTO tracking, leave approvals, and hourly time logging, you handle all of it from one place—and it flows directly into payroll when payday comes. Whether you need to set up vacation policies for salaried employees, track sick leave across multiple countries, or log hours for hourly contractors, Plane gives you the tools to manage time across your entire workforce.

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How time management works

Plane’s time management has two sides: leave (time away from work) and time tracking (hours worked). Both connect to payroll automatically. On the leave side, you define policies that determine how much time off workers earn, create and approve leave requests, and track balances as they accrue and get used. On the time tracking side, workers log hours worked, and those entries feed into payroll calculations. Here is how the key concepts relate to each other:
  • Leave policies define the rules—how leave accrues, what types are available, and how unused time carries over. See Leave policies for details.
  • Leave entitlements connect a policy to a specific worker. A worker can have multiple entitlements (one per policy that applies to them).
  • Leave balances track how much time off each worker currently has available, updated automatically as leave accrues and gets used.
  • Leave requests are how workers ask for time off. Requests go through an approval flow and, once approved, deduct from the worker’s balance.
  • Leaves represent the actual time away from work, including dates and hours.

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Leave policies

Leave policies are the foundation of time-off management. A policy defines everything about how a specific type of leave works: how much time workers earn, how often it accrues, whether unused time carries over, and what happens to the balance at termination. You can create policies that apply automatically based on worker attributes (like country or employment type) or assign them manually. Most teams have multiple policies—for example, a vacation policy, a sick leave policy, and a parental leave policy. Plane supports a wide range of leave types, including paid time off, vacation, sick leave, parental leave, bereavement, jury duty, military leave, and unpaid time off. For a complete guide to creating and configuring policies, see Leave policies.

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Leave balances

Each worker has a balance for every leave type they are entitled to. Balances update automatically based on the accrual rules in the worker’s leave policy, and they adjust when leave is taken or additional time is granted. You can view any worker’s current balances from their profile in the dashboard.
If you need to make a one-time adjustment—like granting bonus PTO or correcting a balance—you can create a leave entitlement. Entitlements let you add leave to a specific worker without changing the underlying policy. Create them from the dashboard or through the Leave Entitlements API.

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Requesting and approving time off

Workers request time off directly from their Plane account. The process is straightforward:
1

Worker submits a request

The worker selects the leave type, picks the dates they need off, and adds an optional note explaining the request.
2

Manager reviews the request

The request appears in the manager’s (or admin’s) dashboard for review. They can see the worker’s current balance and any other upcoming time off.
3

Request is approved or declined

Once approved, the leave days are deducted from the worker’s balance. The worker is notified of the decision. If declined, the balance stays unchanged.
4

Leave is reflected in payroll

Approved leave is automatically factored into payroll calculations for the relevant pay period. Paid leave continues the worker’s compensation; unpaid leave adjusts it accordingly.
Workers can withdraw a pending request before it is approved. Managers can also create leave requests on behalf of workers when needed.

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Holidays

Company holidays interact with your leave policies and time-off calculations. Plane maintains holiday calendars by country so that public holidays are automatically recognized when calculating working days and leave balances. For details on setting up holidays, see Holidays.

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Time tracking

For workers who are paid by the hour, Plane provides time entries. A time entry records hours worked on a specific date, with the duration and whether it was work time or break time. Time tracking is useful for:
  • Hourly employees whose pay is calculated based on hours worked
  • Contractors who bill by the hour and need a record of time spent
  • Project-based work where you want to track how hours are allocated
Workers can log their own time entries from their Plane account. You can also create and manage time entries on their behalf. Each time entry includes:
  • The date the work was performed
  • The duration in hours (up to 24 hours per entry)
  • The type of time (work or break)
  • An optional note describing the work
Time entries feed directly into payroll calculations for hourly workers, so the hours logged during a pay period automatically determine the worker’s pay.

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How time off integrates with payroll

One of the biggest advantages of managing time in Plane is the direct connection to payroll. You do not need to export reports, reconcile spreadsheets, or manually adjust pay runs.
  • Approved leave is automatically reflected in payroll. Paid leave maintains the worker’s regular compensation, while unpaid leave reduces it proportionally.
  • Time entries for hourly workers determine their gross pay for each pay period.
  • Holiday pay is handled based on the worker’s country and employment terms.
  • Termination payouts for unused leave are calculated based on the payout rules defined in the leave policy.
This integration means fewer manual steps and less room for error between time-off approvals and the paycheck.

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API access

The time management APIs give you full programmatic access to leave and time tracking. Use them to build custom integrations, sync with external systems, or automate time-off workflows.

Leave Policies

Create and manage leave policy definitions with accrual, carryover, and payout rules.

Leave Balances

View current leave balances for each worker and leave type.

Leave Requests

Create, list, and manage time-off requests and their approval status.

Leave Entitlements

Grant additional leave to specific workers or override policy defaults.

Leaves

Record approved leave directly or view leave records with dates, hours, and schedule details.

Time Entries

Log, update, and retrieve hours worked for hourly workers.
Yes. A worker can have separate leave entitlements for different leave types—for example, one policy for vacation and another for sick leave. Each entitlement tracks its own balance independently.
This depends on the payout rule defined in the leave policy. Policies can require payout of unused leave at termination, or they can specify that unused leave is forfeited. Plane calculates the payout amount automatically based on these rules.
Yes. Create a leave entitlement to grant additional leave or make a one-time adjustment to a specific worker’s balance. You can do this from the dashboard or through the Leave Entitlements API.
Yes. Each time entry can include optional start and end times in addition to the total duration. This is useful for tracking specific work windows or shifts.