In this article, we will go through how to get started with Leaves and Attendance on Asanify

Step-1 : Setting up Holidays

Step-2 : Create a Leave Policy

Step-3 : Create an Attendance Policy

Step-4 : Add Employees to Asanify

Step-5 : Update Managers for Your Employees

Step-1 : Setting up Holidays

For your added work location while signing up Asanify automatically adds the default holidays for that work location.

If you want to view Holidays , Go to Leave dropdown in left navigation bar and click on Holidays
If you want to add more Holidays you can do it in 2 ways:

1. Upload all the Company holidays at once:

From the Dashboard.
Click on I want to... dropdown

Use the import data option.

Select the data type, in this case, company holidays

Import the data from your PC in the right format.
Download the template file for the right format.
Hit Upload and Continue when done with uploading the file
And the Company Holidays gets updated.

Directory of the Format of the Company Holidays file

STATE_ID	State ID from the dropdown
NAME	Name of holiday
DESCRIPTION	Optional - enter any specific description
HOLIDAY_DATE	A specific date in dd-mm-yyyy format
Note:	if a holiday stretches multiple days - please enter all days in separate lines

2. Create a holiday state-wise:

From the Dashboard, click on the Leave dropdown

Go to the Holidays tab from the Leave dropdown

Click on the Add Holiday Option
Enter the Name, Description of the holiday(optional), Date of the holiday, and the State where the Holiday is held.
Hit Create to create a state-wise holiday successfully

Step-2 : Creating Leave Policy

Asanify provides some default leave policies which you can use

First of all we will understand the types of leave which are available in Asanify

1. Sick Leave/Medical Leave

Sick leave is also given by the company to allow employees to recover from an illness and take care of their health. These leaves are also crucial to allow employees to get the rest they need without worrying about losing pay. It’s important you also ask your employees to take the day off if they are sick.

Companies must also provide 15 days of sick leave in a year to their employees. However, employers must also be flexible with their sick leaves and allow employees to take longer ones if they have severe health issues.

2. Casual Leaves

Casual leave is taken by an employee for:

Travel
Vacation
Rest
Family Events

Such leaves allow the employee to take time off for any life events they have, like traveling to another country or weddings they have to attend. Giving the employee paid casual leave will allow them to prioritize their private life when required. This also makes them feel appreciated in the company.

3. Public Holidays

Public holidays are days that are given as leave by the government. Such holidays must also be observed by every institution— schools, banks, government offices, and even private companies.

Public holidays include:

Independence Day
Memorial Day
Labor Day
Bank Holidays
Any nationally recognized day like the death of a prominent leader of the country

Include these leaves within your leave policy by also looking into the holidays that the government has mandated for the country.

4. Religious Holidays

The employee places importance on religious holidays that they celebrate and want a day off to spend time with their loved ones and celebrate the festival. You must accommodate these holidays they have by providing them with the option to take leave on the day of the festival.

5. Maternity Leave

From taking care of the newborn to recovering from the delivery, maternity leave is an important time for mothers. Ensure you have accommodated this type of leave in your leave policy to help employees not worry about their work while they are busy with their newborn. Ideally, 14 weeks is a good amount of time to be given to the mother, allowing them to take care of their newborn for the first 3 months.

6. Paternity Leave

Paternity leave is granted to:

Fathers
Husbands or partners of a pregnant woman
Surrogate parent
Someone who adopted a child

to take care of their newborns without any worry. Unlike maternity leaves, new fathers usually get 2 weeks of leave to take care of their child post-delivery.

7. Bereavement Leave

Losing a loved one is an unavoidable circumstance, and in such events, employees take abrupt leave. As HR, you need to have a bereavement leave policy that provides the employee with the time to grieve their loss, deal with any responsibilities they may have due to the death, and permit them to ask for a bereavement leave without any issue.

8. Compensatory Leave

Employees who have clocked in more hours than they were required to can be eligible for compensatory days off. Ensure that any employee who has put more time in or come to work on days off (like Saturday) is given a compensatory day off.

Compensatory time-off must be automatically recorded within your backend, and employees should be informed that they have an additional day of leave for the time they put in. More details about the comp-off policy are given here: How to create a comp-off policy?

9. Sabbatical Leave

To say it, sabbatical leaves are “a break from work” where employees can pursue interests they have or take time off for physical and mental health reasons. Unlike other leaves, sabbaticals are long leave periods, from six months to a year. Sabbaticals are commonly taken by employees at educational institutions where professors might need to break from their teaching role to research their projects.

10. Unpaid Leave (or Leave without Pay)

If your employee has surpassed the number of leaves they were eligible for and is taking a leave that doesn’t fall under special leaves like maternity or bereavement leave, they can still leave with a compensation cut. Any leaves taken in the year outside of the paid leaves will result in a pay cut for the employee. Ensure that you’ve clarified the number of leaves the employee has and told them how much pay is cut per leave day they take outside their eligible leaves.

11. Unlimited Leave Policy

As we move towards a time where there is an increase in employers these days, there are chances that your workplace is likely to a flexible or ‘unlimited’ leave policy. The idea here is that the employees are free to take as much time off as they want, as long as you get the work done. It’s a focus on producing great results rather than just putting in the hours.

International companies like Netflix are differentiating themselves with an unlimited leave policy. Organizations like these are focusing on their employee’s self-motivation rather than supervision.

Asanify allows you to create detailed leave policies customized to your company’s needs.

Step 1: Navigate to Leave Policies

From the Dashboard, click on the Leave dropdown
Go to the Policies tab
Click on the + Create Policy button

Step 2: Basic Policy Details

Fill in the basic details to get started:

Policy Name: Name of the leave policy
Description: Describe who this policy applies to and any relevant notes
Leave Type: Select a leave type (e.g., Sick Leave, Casual Leave). This defines the customization options available
Effective Date: Date from which leave starts accruing (if no waiting period)
Encashable: Specify if leaves can be converted to monetary value

Step 3: Accrual Settings

Configure how leaves accrue over time:

Accrual Method: Define when during the period leaves are credited (Throughout Every Period/Unlimited)
Total per Year: Number of leaves allotted per year
Accrual Frequency: The interval at which leaves are credited (e.g., monthly, quarterly, annually)
Does accrual happen at the beginning or at the end of the period?: Determines whether accrual happens at the beginning or end of each period
Is Accrual Reset?: Whether leave balances reset at year-end
Waiting Period: Period after which new employees start getting leaves
Max. Balance Days: Maximum balance allowed in leave account at any point
Do you want the leaves to be accrued on pro rata basis?: If Yes, pro-rata leaves are granted based on the employee’s Date of Joining
You can click on "Preview Accrual Dates" to see the exact dates when leaves will be accrued.
You can also use AI to set Accrual Rules. Just describe the rules in plain English and the system will auto-fill the data.

Step 4: Leave Reset Rules

Configure how and when leave balances should reset:

How often should reset happen?: Leave balances reset on the chosen frequency to a defined value(e.g. - monthly, quarterly, annually etc)
What is the start month of the reset cycle?: This determines the reset cycle duration (e.g., Jan–Dec)
Does reset happen at the beginning or end of the period?: Choose whether reset occurs at the start or end of the reset cycle
How many days of leaves can be carried forward after every reset?: Set the Max Carry Days allowed post-reset
Should leave application be allowed for a future reset cycle?: If yes, employees can apply for leaves in the next cycle even before it starts
You can click on "Preview Reset Dates" to view the exact dates on which the reset happens.
You can also use AI to set Reset Rules. Just describe the rules in plain English and the system will auto-fill the data.

Step 5: Leave Application Constraints

These settings control how employees can request and apply for leaves:

Advance Notice Requirement: If yes, specify the minimum number of days before the leave start date
Half-Day Leaves: If allowed, half days wouldn't be counted as leave.
Quarter-Day Leaves: If allowed, quarter days wouldn't be counted as leave.
Maximum Consecutive Leaves: Define the max number of days that can be applied in one go for this leave type
Exclude Holidays from Leave Count: If enabled, any company holidays falling within leave dates will not count as leave days
Exclude Weekends from Leave Count: If enabled, weekends (based on your attendance policy) are excluded from the leave count
Allow Negative Leave Balance: If yes, employees can apply for leave even without sufficient balance. These requests go for manager approval
Leave Type Conflicts - This leave cannot be applied together with: Choose incompatible leave types that cannot be applied in succession with this one

You can also use AI to set Application Constraints. Just describe the rules in plain English and the system will auto-fill the data.

Step 6: Review and Create

Thoroughly review the policy summary
Click Create to save the policy

Step-3 : Create an Attendance Policy in Asanify

Creating an attendance policy in Asanify allows you to define how employee attendance is tracked and monitored. Follow the steps below to set up a policy that fits your company's work culture.

Step 1: Go to the Attendance Policy Section

From the Dashboard, click on the Attendance dropdown.
Select the Policies tab.
Click on the + Create Policy button

Step 2: Fill in Policy Details

Policy Name (Required): Enter a name for the policy. Example: Night Shift Policy, Hybrid Shift etc

Policy Description (Optional): Add a brief description of what this policy entails. This will be visible to all employees who are actively enrolled under this policy.

Step 3: Do Shift Times Vary by Workday?

This is a key setting to define how the system handles shift timings and weekly offs. You’ll need to choose one of the following four configurations:

Option 1: Fixed shift timing and fixed weekly off

Shift time is the same for all workdays.
Weekly offs fall on specific fixed days, like Saturday and Sunday.

Use this when:
Your company operates a standard 5 or 6-day workweek with predictable weekly offs.

Example:

Work hours are 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM from Monday to Friday, with weekly offs on Saturday and Sunday.

Option 2: Fixed shift timings but weekly off vary

Shift timings are fixed across all workdays.
Weekly offs follow a monthly pattern (e.g., only some Saturdays are off).

Use this when:
Your organization works on certain Saturdays, like the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturdays, but all Sundays are off.

Example:

Employees work from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day. Weekly offs are on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturdays, plus all Sundays.

Option 3: Single shift but timings vary depending on day of the week

Only one shift type is used.
The shift timing changes depending on the day of the week.

Use this when:
Your company has shorter hours on certain days (e.g., Saturdays), but a single shift is followed.

Example:

Monday–Friday: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Sunday: Weekly off

Option 4: Flexible shift depending on clock timings

There are multiple shifts (e.g., day and night).
The system automatically detects the correct shift based on clock-in time.

Use this when:
Your organization operates on a rotational or flexible shift model, and employees may clock in during different shifts.

Example:

Morning shift: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Night shift: 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM
System assigns the shift automatically based on when the employee clocks in.

Step 4: Define Shift Details

Shift Start and End Time – Enter standard timings (e.g., 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM).
Start Day of the Week – Define whether the week starts on Monday, Sunday, etc.
Weekly Offs – Select fixed weekly offs and specific weeks for Saturdays/Sundays (e.g., 2nd and 4th Saturdays).
Break Hours – Number of hours for the break period through the day.

You can also set advance settings to further customize your attendance policy.

Step 5: Clock-ins and Valid Clocks

Single Clock-In Rule – Allow marking full-day presence with only clock-in (useful if clock-out is often missed).
Calculation Method:
- First Clock In – Last Clock Out – Simple difference between first and last timestamps.
- Every Valid Pair – Adds time across all valid clock-in/out pairs.
Minimum Work Hours – Enforce a daily minimum (e.g., 8 hours) if needed.
Work Day Extension Minutes – Grace period after shift end before marking late or overtime.

Step 6: Late Marking and Selfie Validation

Clock-In After Shift Start – Decide if late clock-ins are acceptable or should be flagged.
Selfie on Clock-In/Out – Enable if you want photo proof during time logging (good for remote or field teams).

Click on Preview Shifts to get a weekly preview of the attendance policy that you just created.

If satisfied, click on View Summary and Create.

Now the policy is created and you just have to assign employee's to that policy

Step-4 : Add Employees to Asanify

When adding a new employee in Asanify, you can assign them a leave and attendance policy; either use the default policies or select from the ones you've created.

Where to View Employees

To view your current employees, go to the People tab from the Dashboard and click on Summary.

How to Add Employees

You can add employees in two ways:

1. Add a Single Employee

Go to the Dashboard.
Click the "Add Employee" button on the right side of your screen.
Select "Add a Single Employee".
Enter the required employee details.
Click Submit.

You can now view the newly added employee in the People tab.

2. Add Multiple Employees (Bulk Upload via Core Data Import)

Navigate to the People tab.
Click Import Data.
Select "People Core" as the import data type.
If needed, download the Excel template file to fill in employee data in the required format.
Upload the completed file by either dragging and dropping it or selecting it manually.
Click "Start Upload".
- If there are errors, they will be displayed for correction.
- If no errors, employee details will be successfully added.

Below is the Directory for the employee core data format

Column	Details
EMPLOYEE_ID	Employee ID as per joining records
FIRST_NAME	First Name
MIDDLE_NAME	Middle Name
LAST_NAME	Last Name
GENDER	Male / Female / Other
DATE_OF_BIRTH	Date of Birth (age) required for tax calculations in YYYY-MM-DD format
DATE_OF_JOINING	Date of joining required for calculating current financial year total gross salary in YYYY-MM-DD format
WORK_EMAIL	Work email required for sending payslip
PERSONAL_EMAIL	Personal email required for sending Full and Final (FnF) and other communication in future and alumni connect.
PERSONAL_ADDRESS_STATE_ID	Please enter only from the drop-down as per the State IDs sheet
PERSONAL_ADDRESS_CITY	Please enter only from the drop-down as per the City sheet
PERSONAL_ADDRESS_XXX	Personal address required for various communication
WORK_ADDRESS_NAME	Work Address State required for professional tax calculations (please enter the name as per company work locations
EMERGENCY_CONTACT_NAME	For emergency purposes
EMERGENCY_CONTACT_NUMBER	For emergency purposes
FATHER_NAME	Various statutory compliances
MOTHER_NAME	Various statutory compliances
SPOUSE_NAME	Various statutory compliances
PAN	Various statutory compliances
HAS_PF	TRUE or FALSE for employees opting for statutory compliance. Should be TRUE for Basic <= Rs. 15,000
PF_NUMBER	Required to pay PF. Can skip for now.
UAN	Required to pay PF. Can skip for now.
HAS_ESI	TRUE or FALSE for employees opting for statutory compliance. Should be TRUE for Basic <= Rs. 15,000
ESI_NUMBER	Required to pay ESI. Can skip for now.
HAS_LWF	TRUE or FALSE for employees opting for statutory compliance. TBD
LWF_NUMBER	Required to pay LWF. Can skip for now.
AADHAR_NUMBER	Various statutory compliances. Can skip for now
HAS_PT	Expected to be TRUE as it's mandatory
PT_NUMBER	Required to pay PT. Can skip for now.
MOBILE_NUMBER	For communication/log in through OTP. Can skip for now
PAYMENT_MODE	Cash/ Cheque/ Bank transfer
BANK_NAME	Details required for salary payment
BRANCH_NAME	Name of branch: required for salary payment
ACCOUNT_NUMBER	Details required for salary payment
IFSC_CODE	Details required for salary payment
ACCOUNT_TYPE	Details required for salary payment
DEPARTMENT	Department (if not already present in Company->Departments, will get created)
DESIGNATION	Designation (if not already present in Company->Designations, will get created)

Step-5 : Update Managers for Your Employees

To ensure leave requests are properly routed for approval, you need to assign or update managers for your employees. Once assigned, any leave request by an employee will be sent to their respective manager for approval depending on the workflow.

Steps to Update Managers

There are two ways to update Managers:

1. For a Single Employee

Go to the Employee Profile: Navigate to the People tab from your dashboard and select an employee's profile.
Scroll down and click on Team → Edit
Update the Manager field and click on Update.

2. For a Multiple Employees

Go to the People tab: Navigate to the People tab from your dashboard.
Select Employees foe whom you want to Update: Pick the employees you want to assign to the selected manager and click Bulk Edit Employees.
Choose Manager as the Field to Update: Select Manager as one of the fields to update and click Edit Fields.
Download the template file and fill in the required details.
Upload the updated file by clicking on Start Upload, check the details and follow through the instructions.