RELEASE NOTE ON LEAVE POLICY DEPENDENCY BY DEDUCTION

This release introduces a new leave dependency type called "Dependency by Deduction" that gives organizations greater flexibility in configuring how leave policies interact with each other. This new option allows both leave types to remain accessible while creating a two-way relationship, where using days from either policy automatically reduces the available balance of the other. This enhancement eliminates manual balance adjustments for admins and ensures leave configurations accurately reflect organizational policies.

Dependency by Deduction

What's New:

When creating or editing a leave policy, admins can now choose "Dependency by Deduction" as a new dependency option alongside the existing "Dependency by Usage." With Dependency by Deduction, admins configure a relationship between two leave policies (for example, Casual Leave depends on Sick Leave), and the system creates a two-way link. This means that using days from either policy will reduce the other's available balance when the employee applies for leave. Both policies remain independently accessible; there's no hard block, but employees see adjusted balances that reflect usage from both policies.

Why It Matters:

Before now, the system only supported "Dependency by Usage," which requires employees to completely exhaust one leave type before accessing another. While this works for some organizations, many have different leave policy needs. For instance, some companies want a setup where taking annual leave reduces maternity leave balance, or vice versa, without forcing employees to use one completely before the other. Because the platform lacked this "Dependency by Deduction" option, admins who needed that behavior had to either make manual adjustments to employee balances after leave was taken or accept policy configurations that didn't match how their business actually works.

Understanding Dependency by Deduction:

The Two-Way Relationship

The key feature of Dependency by Deduction is that it works in both directions automatically. When you set up Casual Leave to depend on Sick Leave using deduction, the system doesn't just track one direction — it tracks both. Here's what that means:

If the employee uses Sick Leave first, their Casual Leave balance gets reduced
If the employee uses Casual Leave first, their Sick Leave balance gets reduced
The system handles this automatically — you don't need to create two separate dependency configurations

Think of it like two connected buckets: taking water from either bucket affects how much is available in the other.

How the Calculation Works

When an employee applies for leave, the system calculates their available balance using this simple formula:

Available Balance = Total Annual Allocation - Days Used from the Other Policy

The system performs this calculation in real-time at the moment the employee applies, so balances are always accurate and up-to-date.

Example 1: Employee Uses Sick Leave First

Setup:

Casual Leave: 10 days annually
Sick Leave: 8 days annually
Casual Leave depends on Sick Leave (Dependency by Deduction)

What Happens:

March: Employee uses 3 days of Sick Leave
June: Employee applies for Casual Leave
System calculates: 10 - 3 = 7 days available for Casual Leave
System shows message: "Casual Leave is dependent on Sick Leave. Your available Casual Leave balance has been adjusted to 7 days because you've used 3 days of Sick Leave."
Employee can apply for 7 days of Casual Leave
Employee still has 5 days of Sick Leave remaining and can use them independently

Example 2: Employee Uses Casual Leave First (The Two-Way Nature)

Same setup as Example 1, but now:

March: Employee uses 5 days of Casual Leave first
June: Employee applies for Sick Leave
System calculates: 8 - 5 = 3 days available for Sick Leave
System shows message: "Sick Leave is dependent on Casual Leave. Your available Sick Leave balance has been adjusted to 3 days because you've used 5 days of Casual Leave."
Employee can apply for 3 days of Sick Leave

Notice how the system automatically adjusted Sick Leave based on Casual Leave usage, even though the dependency was originally configured as "Casual depends on Sick." This two-way relationship happens automatically — it's the core difference between this dependency type and the previous usage-based dependency.

Example 3: Using Both Policies

Same setup:

January: Employee uses 4 days of Sick Leave
March: Employee uses 6 days of Casual Leave
June: Employee tries to apply for more Sick Leave
- System calculates: 8 - 6 = 2 days available
- Employee can apply for 2 days
August: Employee tries to apply for more Casual Leave
- System calculates: 10 - 4 = 6 days available
- But employee already used 6 days in March
- Employee has 0 days remaining

When the System Blocks Applications (Zero or Negative Balance)

If the deduction results in zero or negative available balance, the system prevents the employee from applying:

Example:

Sick Leave: 15 days annually
Casual Leave: 10 days annually (non-splittable)
Casual depends on Sick (Deduction)
Employee has already used 12 days of Sick Leave
Employee tries to apply for Casual Leave
System calculates: 10 - 12 = -2 days (negative)
System blocks the application with this message: "Casual Leave is dependent on Sick Leave. Your available Casual Leave balance has been adjusted to 0 days because you've used 12 days of Casual Leave"

The same blocking works in reverse — if the employee uses too much Casual Leave, it can result in zero days available for Sick Leave.

Important Requirements:

Compliance Warnings for Admins: Because this dependency type can involve statutory leave types (like Maternity Leave or Annual Leave) that are protected under labor laws, admins receive two compliance warnings when configuring Dependency by Deduction:

First Warning: Reminds admins that they must ensure the configuration complies with local labor regulations
Second Warning (Admin Override): Requires explicit confirmation that the admin takes full responsibility for compliance and understands the legal implications

This ensures admins make informed decisions, especially when dealing with legally protected leave types.

Clear Communication for Employees The first time an employee applies for leave after a Dependency by Deduction is configured, they see a prominent banner message: "[Policy A] and [Policy B] are linked. Using days from either leave type will reduce your available balance for the other."

This ensures employees understand the two-way relationship before they proceed with their application. After that first time, they continue to see balance adjustment messages each time they apply, showing exactly how many days have been deducted and why.

Please Note:

The deduction logic resets at the beginning of each new Leave year (Calendar or Fiscal)
Dependency by Deduction only supports one-level dependencies (you can't create multi-level chains like Policy A → Policy B → Policy C)