sop · People Operations
Leave Request & Handover
Leave Request & Handover
Purpose
Define how employees submit leave through the HRMS, how CL/AL requests receive mandatory HR review, how team overlap is handled, how stakeholders are notified, and how work is aligned before an absence.
Leave entitlements, notice periods, duration limits, and special-leave rules are owned by Leave & Time-Off Policy. This SOP must not redefine those rules.
Primary System
Leave requests should be submitted through Blinto's current HRMS/approved leave-management system.
Email, chat, or verbal conversation should not replace the official HRMS record for planned leave. Emergency communication may happen outside the HRMS initially, but the leave record should be completed as soon as reasonably possible.
Planned Leave Workflow
Step 1 — Employee submits leave
Employees select the leave type, date(s), full-day or half-day where applicable, and relevant coverage/handover details through HRMS. Advance notice should follow the Leave & Time-Off Policy. A conversation or chat message does not replace the official HRMS record.
Step 2 — HRMS validates and checks team conflicts
For CL/AL, HRMS verifies:
- eligibility and annual available/projected balance;
- calendar-month CL usage/approved bookings, including 0.5-day units, against the normal two-working-day monthly limit;
- requested duration and advance notice;
- approved and pending requests from the same team/department for every requested workday and relevant half-day period;
- any documented HR exception or higher statutory/contractual entitlement.
If another team member already has approved overlapping leave, show this exact warning:
One of your team members is already on leave on your selected date. Please coordinate with your team before submitting your request.
Also show pending overlap information without disclosing unnecessary private leave details. The employee discusses coverage and dates with teammates and the Team Lead before HR's decision. The warning does not prevent request submission for review.
Step 3 — HR review and decision for CL/AL
Every CL and AL request → PENDING HR APPROVAL. No auto-approval applies. HR reviews balance, monthly CL allowance, required notice, team coverage/coordination, legal and contractual entitlements, and exceptions. Team Leads provide operational input. HR then approves, rejects (with reason), or requests clarification.
Normally, no more than one employee per team may be approved for overlapping planned leave periods on the same date. HR may record a reasoned exception where coverage is sufficient or a stronger right requires accommodation. HR must check the current calendar again immediately before approval so concurrent requests cannot both receive standard approval accidentally.
Step 4 — HRMS updates and notifies
After approval, HRMS deducts the correct working-day or 0.5-day balance, updates the team leave calendar and attendance record, and notifies the employee and Team Lead. Rejection must not deduct balances; cancellation or rescheduling restores/recalculates them as appropriate and triggers renewed HR review if material.
Step 5 — Team Lead and employee align handover
For approved leave, the Team Lead ensures delivery coverage and the employee prepares a proportionate handover. A Team Lead cannot independently cancel an approved CL/AL request; unresolved material conflicts are escalated to People Operations.
Other leave categories
Sick Leave and emergencies retain notification-based handling; other special leave types retain their category-specific legal/contractual procedures under the Leave & Time-Off Policy. The mandatory CL/AL approval and planned team cap are not automatically extended to those categories.
Employee Handover
For leave that affects active responsibilities, the employee should complete an appropriate handover before the leave begins.
A useful handover identifies:
- work that will remain active during the absence;
- current status and next action;
- temporary owner/backup where needed;
- important deadlines/meetings;
- relevant task/document links;
- known blockers/risks;
- escalation contact where appropriate.
Do not copy passwords or secrets into a handover. Access should be managed through the approved access/credential process.
The amount of handover should be proportionate: a half-day absence should not require the same documentation as a two-week absence.
Sick Leave & Emergency Workflow
A genuine illness/emergency is not treated as failed advance planning.
Employee
Notify the Team Lead as soon as reasonably possible. Where the employee can safely access the HRMS, record the leave there; otherwise the record may be completed afterward.
Team Lead
Acknowledge the absence, arrange immediate coverage for critical work, and notify/escalate operational impact where necessary.
People Operations
Ensure the HRMS/attendance record is accurate, validate available entitlement, and request reasonable evidence only where required by policy (for example, extended sick leave).
CEO may receive visibility but is not required to approve an ordinary genuine sick-day absence.
Changes or Cancellation by Employee
If an employee's leave dates change, the employee should update/cancel the HRMS request as early as possible so balance, attendance, and team planning remain accurate.
A materially changed CL/AL request should return for HR approval for the new dates/duration; other leave types follow their applicable category-specific rules.
Return From Leave
On return, the employee should:
- confirm any required attendance/HRMS record is complete;
- reconnect with the temporary owner/Team Lead where a handover occurred;
- review material decisions/changes during the absence;
- resume ownership of responsibilities as agreed.
System Design Requirements
The HRMS implementation should support:
- CL 10-day annual allocation; AL 14-day planning baseline with stronger statutory/contractual balances preserved;
- separate annual leave balances by type, EL accrual and carry-forward buckets, oldest eligible EL consumed first;
- CL monthly cap of 2 working days with 0.5-day precision, calendar-month reset, and cross-month validation;
- monthly and annual balances reflecting approved/booked, pending, rejected, and cancelled states without incorrect double deductions;
- current team/department membership mapped from the authorized HRMS roles source;
- approved and pending same-team overlap detection by day and AM/PM period, including the exact approved-overlap warning;
- standard one-person-per-team planned-leave approval rule and documented HR exception capability;
- PENDING HR APPROVAL for every CL/AL submission and HR-only final approval/rejection;
- just-in-time conflict recheck immediately before final HR approval;
- notice period, duration, consecutive-day and eligibility validation;
- notifications to employee and Team Lead with a human-readable decision/review reason;
- synchronized team calendar, leave ledger, and attendance records;
- audit trail of requests, reviews, exceptions, changes, cancellations, and approvals;
- protected and statutory/contractual entitlement overrides, including appropriate alternative request routing.
Exceptions & Escalation
Escalate to People Operations/HR when:
- eligibility or balance is disputed;
- the HRMS result appears inconsistent with policy;
- an auto-approved leave creates a genuine material conflict;
- documentation/leave classification is unclear;
- an employee needs an exception or unpaid leave;
- legal/contractual entitlement may differ from the standard company configuration.