PlanIt Police Blog

If you are an administrator, especially dealing with payroll or scheduling, you have probably heard the term "accrual" before.

But what are time off accruals? How do they work? How can you manage them?

Well, we are very familiar with accruals here at PlanIt Schedule. 

Accruals can get very complex so let's just talk about the basics and get that nailed down first...

What are time off accruals?

Time off accruals are the rules set by organizations to determine how employees accumulate time off hours.

For example, an employee receives an additional 40 hours each year to their vacation time. 

Many organizations (especially police departments and administrative offices that use PlanIt) have time off accrual policies in place.

These accrual policies standardize time off hours and reduce questions about hours received.

Why are policies important?

Accrual policies are important because they let employees know how many hours they receive and when they will be available for use.

This is great for your employees since it allows them to plan their time off.

It also lets them know that they have flexible paid time off that they may use for things like:

• Vacation
• Illness
• Family emergencies

Some accrual policies are a lot more complex than others.

It is important to completely understand the rules for your department when evaluating how to best manage them.

How are hours accrued?

Depending on your contract or agreement with your union, employees may receive time off hours on a biweekly, monthly, or yearly basis.

For example, a department might say "if a person has been working here 5 years, they get 40 hours added to their vacation bank. If they have been working here 10 years, they get 80 hours added."

So, to know how to calculate time off accruals in your department you have to know the specific policy within.

It is not a general rule set for every department.

Now for another time off bank, such as sick time, it could get added at a different rate. 

The number of hours accrued are often determined by longevity, or the years an employee has worked for your organization.

This is the simplest type of accrual and the easiest to manage.

How can you manage them?

Some departments have such complex rules they still have to manage them by hand on paper or in excel. 

However, there are a variety of software solutions to help keep track of hours automatically.

Complicated rules might still require you to make manual adjustments to time off banks.

But, software can help you calculate simple rules.

Hours will be inserted into your employees' time off banks based on the rules you set.

You can sit back and let the software do the work.

While time off accruals are used (in some way) in almost every organization, they are not always easy to understand.

If the rules for your department are not easy to understand it may not be easy to manage them accurately. 

Know your accruals and make your life easier by implementing software to help you manage them!

Wondering what else PlanIt Police scheduling software can do? 

Check our some feature videos here

Scheduling software will make the schedule much more visible and allow you to streamline day-to-day processes such as time off, shift trades, and overtime. Learn more today by requesting a FREE live online demonstration!

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