Create a Time Off Category

The article provides a comprehensive guide on managing time off categories in BambooHR. It outlines the purpose of creating, editing, and categorizing time off to enhance tracking and management efficiency. The content includes a table of contents and sections detailing how to add and manage time off categories, including settings for visibility, tracking, and payroll integration. Users can create various categories, such as vacation and sick leave, and manage them through the Overview tab. The article also addresses payroll implications for time off categories and offers tips for ensuring proper access levels for employees. Additionally, it discusses the process for deleting or disabling categories while preserving historical data. Finally, it promotes HR consulting services for optimized time and attendance strategies.

  • Apr 27, 2026
  • Knowledge

Title
Create a Time Off Category
Article Text
Banner at the top of the article with four package labels: Core, Pro, Elite, and Add-on. All four are highlighted, indicating the feature applies to every package.

How do I create a time off category?

Purpose: This guide empowers you to effectively manage employee leave by showing you how to create, edit, and categorize time off in BambooHR, ensuring accurate tracking and streamlined time management.

Expand AllCollapse All

Table of Contents

Did you know we have BambooHR Learning courses about Time Off? Click here to view a beginner's course on Time Off, and then click here to learn how to create a time off category.

Time off categories in BambooHR display under the Overview tab within time off settings. In alphabetical order, the active categories appear first, followed by the inactive categories. Time off categories are also in this order within the My Info widget, Time Off tab, Time Off Balances report, and the mobile app.

Time Off Categories

Screenshot of the Settings → Time Off Overview tab. Several category cards appear in a grid. At the bottom is a card labeled + New Category, outlined in orange. The left sidebar shows the Time Off menu item highlighted in green.

Time off categories are like bank accounts. Think of your checking, savings, money-market accounts, etc. To help organize your money, you gradually deposit money into each of those accounts each time you get paid. Time off categories are our versions of your bank accounts. However, instead of depositing money, employees can deposit accrued time off hours or days into each account. 

The most commonly created time off categories are for vacation, sick leave, paternity leave, etc. For this reason, these three categories will appear in your account by default, and you can edit them to fit your company's needs. You can also create as many time off categories as needed in BambooHR. 

Add a Time Off Category

To create a time off category, go to Time Off in Settings, click Overview, and select + New Category.

Pop-up window titled "Add Time Off Category" with editable fields: 1. Category Name field. 2. Checkbox: Make this Category name publicly visible on the calendar, with sub-options for Everyone or Only certain access levels. 3. Section to choose an icon and calendar color, showing color swatches. 3. Radio buttons to mark category as Paid or Unpaid. 4. Dropdown to track time in Hours or Days. Buttons at bottom: Cancel and green Save.

 Add a name for the time off category and set the following options:

  1. Check if you would like to show the name of this category in the calendar or not. If you check the box, you can then choose to share the category with everyone or only users in specific access levels.
  2. Select the icon and calendar color for this category.
  3. Determine if this is a paid or unpaid time off category.
    • Marking a category as Paid identifies it as paid leave in BambooHR (and only paid categories pull into timesheets for customers using BambooHR Time & Attendance).
    • If you use BambooHR Payroll* and want this time off to sync into payroll, the category must also be set to Use this Category for Payroll calculations (the payroll option requires the category to track in hours).
    • If a category is Paid but not used for payroll calculations, the time off is still tracked as paid leave in BambooHR, but the hours won’t automatically flow into payroll. See below.
  4. Select if you would like the category to accrue in hours or days.
    • If you need to edit this option in the future, BambooHR will automatically update time off balances for all employees based on your default hours per day settings.

For your convenience, you can also create a time off category when creating a time off policy.

*For customers using BambooHR Payroll, paid time off categories will pull into your payroll run. Unpaid time off is only pulled into payroll for salaried employees who have unpaid time off recorded on their Time Off tab to help with salary wage prorations.

A few things to note about unpaid time off:

  • Unpaid time off cannot be added directly in payroll.
  • Unpaid time off will not show in the Time Off Balance sections on the paystub, even if enabled in Payroll.
  • Unpaid time off does not pull into payroll for hourly employees.

Time Off Settings

Screenshot of the Time Off Settings → Overview screen. Multiple category cards display their icons, policies, and employee counts. The Paid Time Off card is selected, showing a pop-up edit window titled Edit Paid Time Off. Options include category name, calendar visibility, icon/color, and tracking unit. The card has an orange outline indicating selection.

Manage your time off categories under the Overview tab in Time Off settings once you create them. A category card will display the chosen icon, the number of policies you created for the category, and the total number of employees you assigned to all policies under that category. Hover over the card, select the three dots, and click Edit Category to change the calendar color, or change the category to track in hours instead of days. You can also click + Add Policy to add time off policies within the category.

If you want your time off category to be available for employees, it needs a time off policy added to it. However, not all time off categories have attached time off accrual policies. For example, jury duty is usually a time off category without automatic accruals because not all employees need to go on jury duty each year. Therefore, it would be better to add a manual adjustment instead of a time off policy. This adjustment refers to a manually updated balance policy. A time off category that is unlimited is another example. In BambooHR, we call this flexible, and we track the time off used instead of the current balance. You can set up each type of policy in Time Off Settings. You can learn more about these different time off policies here.

Screenshot of the Time Off Overview with the left navigation menu expanded. Each category is listed with nested policies underneath. The main Overview grid of category cards is visible in the center panel.

Categories will also appear in the middle menu by name with the accompanied policies nestled underneath. 

Tip: If you need your employees to access your new time off category, be sure to grant them access through Access Levels settings.

What if I use BambooHR Payroll?

If you are a BambooHR Payroll customer, you will automatically have the following hour categories included in payroll:

  • Regular
  • Overtime
  • Double Time
  • Holiday

In addition to these categories, you can select any time off categories in BambooHR to include in Payroll at once.

Pop-up window titled Add Time Off Category. Options for icon, calendar visibility, and paid/unpaid selection appear. A highlighted checkbox labeled Use this Category for Payroll calculations is checked. The tracking option is set to Hours. This setup is specific to customers using BambooHR Payroll.

When you create or edit a time off category, you will see an option to check a box to include this time off category in Payroll. Once you have checked the box, you will notice that it requires the time off category to track in hours.

Tip: Including a category in payroll is separate from marking it “Paid.”
When you create or edit a time off category, you can choose to include it in Payroll by enabling Use this Category for Payroll calculations. Once enabled, the category must track time in hours.

How do I delete or disable a time off category?
Screenshot of the Time Off Overview with multiple category cards. The Paid Time Off card is selected, showing a dropdown menu. Options listed: Edit Category, Disable Category, and Delete Category. The Delete Category option is outlined in orange to indicate selection.

If you are not currently using a time off category but want to keep its associated history, you can disable it. Locate the category card under the Overview tab in Time Off settings, click on the three dots, and select Disable Category. This will gray out the category and add Disabled on [Date] to the card. Hover over the disabled card and click Enable Category to reactivate it. 

Pop-up window titled Delete Time Off Category with a red trash icon. The message reads: “Are you sure you want to delete the ‘Paid Time Off’ time off category?” Below, a text field prompts the user to type DELETE to confirm. Buttons at bottom: Cancel and red Delete Time Off Category.

If you need to delete the time off category permanently, click Delete Category.

If this time off category contains any policies, a warning will appear in the pop-up box stating that the policies will also be deleted with the category. Type DELETE to confirm the deletion.

It is important to note that once you delete a time off category, the system will remove all history for that time off category for each employee from the account and archive it. This includes balances, manual adjustments, time off requests, and any accruals.

To unarchive a deleted time off category, you need to add a new time off category with the same name. This immediately adds back all archived balances, manual adjustments, time off requests, and accruals from when you deleted the category.

Screenshot of the Time Off → Overview screen with no categories listed. A centered message reads: “Time off is good for the soul. Let’s get your first policy going.” The button + New Policy is displayed at the top.

If you delete all categories under the Overview tab, you will have to add a new policy to create a new category. Click + New Policy and determine if the policy accrues time traditionally or if it's either a flexible or a manually updated policy, then set up the category in policy settings. 

Are you finding it challenging to maintain consistent and compliant tracking of employee time off? Many organizations struggle with ensuring all time off is accurately reported, leading to confusion, potential pay discrepancies, and a lack of accountability.

Our Solution: Our HR Consulting Services can help you delegate the task to a trusted expert to develop a comprehensive time and attendance strategy tailored to your needs.

This will optimize your BambooHR platform for clear policy communication, compliant tracking, and proactive leave management, empowering both managers and employees with visibility, accountability, and the tools to spot trends before they become problems. This paid service ensures you fully leverage BambooHR and promote a culture of accountability for time-off tracking.

URL Name
587601