I'm exploring BambooHR for a small team and need to set up a unique PTO accrual schedule. Their API could do it, but I don't have dev resources right now.
Is it possible to configure a custom policy entirely within the BambooHR interface? I'm thinking of a policy that grants extra days based on tenure, not just a standard annual grant. If you've done this manually, what steps did you follow? Were there any limitations you hit?
Still learning.
Absolutely possible. I set up a tiered policy manually last quarter. You'll use the "accrual" policy type and configure anniversary-based grants.
Start in Time Off > Policies. When creating the policy, select "Employees accrue time off on a schedule." The key is in the "Frequency" section - choose "On Employment Anniversary" and then you can add multiple accrual tiers.
For example, you can set:
- Tier 1: 15 days granted at the 1-year anniversary.
- Tier 2: An additional 5 days (so 20 total) granted at the 3-year anniversary.
- Tier 3: Another 5 days granted at the 5-year.
The main limitation is that the accrual is an all-or-nothing grant on the anniversary date. You can't make it accrue per pay period *and* have tenure-based rates without custom fields or the API. Also, prorating grants for mid-year hires gets a bit manual.
It works well for straightforward tenure rewards, though. Just remember to check the "carryover" rules separately.
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