Answer
By default, Lightning Payroll grants the full annual holidays entitlement in one lump on the employee's work anniversary. You can instead have annual leave build up progressively across the year, so the balance grows with each completed pay and the anniversary grant simply tops it up to the full entitlement.
Turn it on
- Open Employees >> Leave >> Leave Settings.
- Tick Accrue annual leave progressively (as you go) and confirm the prompt.
- Choose how it accrues with Accrue leave based on actual hours paid (pro rata)?: leave it unticked to spread the yearly entitlement evenly across the pays in the year, or tick it to accrue in proportion to the hours actually paid.
- Save the employee.
What happens at the anniversary
The right to take the full entitlement at the 12-month anniversary is preserved. Each completed pay adds a small amount toward the yearly entitlement (capped so a year never accrues more than the full entitlement), and on the anniversary Lightning Payroll grants only the shortfall needed to reach it. Every leave year therefore still vests to exactly the full entitlement.
Things to know
- This option is off by default and is mutually exclusive with Pay 8% holiday pay each pay (PAYG) - turning one on greys out the other.
- Switching it on partway through a year is prospective: the current leave year keeps the grant it already has, and progressive accrual begins from the next anniversary. Switching it on for a new starter accrues from their start date.
- Turning it off later returns the employee to the lump-grant model. Weeks already accrued are kept - the next anniversary tops up to the full entitlement rather than granting a second full year.
For the default lump model, see How Do Annual Holiday Grants Work?
