Overview
The Leave page shows an employee's leave history and current balances. From here you can view, create, and manage annual leave and sick leave records for the current and past financial years.
The page displays:
- Leave balance widgets — showing remaining annual leave and sick leave entitlement for the current period.
- Leave bar chart — a visual summary of leave taken versus entitlement.
- Leave records table — all leave entries with dates, type, status, and duration.
Leave Types
Annual Leave
Full-time employees accrue annual leave at 20 days per year (4 weeks), pro-rated from their employment start date. This is the National Employment Standards minimum. You can override the entitlement per employee on their Employment Details page.
<!-- /region -->
All workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave per year. For full-time employees working 5 days a week, this equals 28 days — the statutory maximum.
The default in Beeswax for UK employees is 28 days. Employers may include bank holidays within this entitlement or offer them on top. You can customise each employee's entitlement on their Employment Details page.
Part-time workers receive a pro-rated entitlement. For example, an employee working 3 days per week is entitled to 3 × 5.6 = 16.8 days.
Reference: GOV.UK — Holiday entitlement
<!-- /region -->
Sick Leave
Full-time employees accrue 10 days of paid personal/carer's leave per year under the National Employment Standards. The sick leave entitlement can be overridden per employee on their Employment Details page.
Sick leave is tracked against a rolling balance. Unused sick leave accumulates year on year.
<!-- /region -->
In the UK, sick leave tracking in Beeswax is for your internal records. The statutory obligation is Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), which is handled separately in payroll.
The default sick leave allowance for UK employees is 8 days. This can be overridden per employee on their Employment Details page to match your company's policy.
SSP key points (from 6 April 2026):
- Paid from the first day of sickness (no waiting period).
- £123.25 per week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
- Payable for up to 28 weeks.
Reference: GOV.UK — Statutory Sick Pay
<!-- /region -->
Creating a Leave Record
Click Add Leave (or Request Leave for non-admin users) to open the leave form.
Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Leave Type | Yes | Annual Leave or Sick Leave. |
| Start Date | Yes | First day of the leave period. |
| End Date | Yes | Last day of the leave period (inclusive). |
| Notes | No | Optional notes explaining the reason for leave. |
The system automatically calculates the number of working days in the selected range, excluding weekends and any company holidays configured in your account.
Approval Workflow
- Super Admins and Owners can create approved leave directly.
- Other users submit leave requests that require approval from a Super Admin or Owner.
- Approved leave is immediately deducted from the employee's balance.
Leave Balances
Leave balances are displayed in the widgets at the top of the page:
- Annual Leave — shows days taken, total entitlement, and remaining balance for the current financial year.
- Sick Leave — shows days taken against the employee's sick leave allowance.
Balances are pro-rated from the employee's start date. An employee who joined mid-year will have a proportionally reduced entitlement for that year.
Filtering by Date Range
Use the date range picker to filter leave records by period. By default, the current financial year is shown. You can select a custom range or choose a past financial year to review historical leave.
Leave Year
By default, Beeswax uses your financial year as the leave year. If your leave year differs from your financial year, you can set a custom leave year start month in your account settings.
Permissions
| Action | Owner | Super Admin | Manager | Accountant | Basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View leave records | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Own only |
| Create/approve leave | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Request leave | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Delete leave | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Tips
- Check balances before approving. The leave widget shows the current balance — review it before approving a request to ensure the employee has sufficient entitlement.
- Use the date range filter. Switch between financial years to compare leave patterns year over year.
- Set entitlements early. Make sure each employee's annual leave and sick leave days are correctly configured on their Employment Details page before they start requesting leave.