Introduction to Supplementary Balance
A supplementary balance is an extra leave scheme defined by the company itself.
Supplementary balance is used for days off or leave balances that are in addition to regular vacation. What the balance is called, how it is earned, and which rules apply depend on the company's setup.
Supplementary balance can be used for example for:
Other vacation
6th vacation week
Care days
OK days
Flexible choice
Extra days off
Other company- or country-specific schemes
In BitaBIZ, these schemes are managed together as a supplementary balance. The name of the balance can be freely changed to match the company's or country's terminology.
Supplementary balance is managed separately from vacation and has its own earning, balance, usage period, and set of rules.
Therefore, supplementary balance is not the same as regular vacation and is handled as a separate absence type in the system.
Note: This article describes the general features and setup options for supplementary balance in BitaBIZ. Rules for earning, usage, transfer, and payout may vary between countries, agreements, and companies. See the relevant article under Countries for country-specific rules.
Setting up a Supplementary Balance
Go to:
Setup Admin → Modules → Edit policy
Here you can create or edit the company's supplementary balance for a policy.
Name of the Balance
The default name "Other vacation" can be changed to the term your company uses.
Examples:
6th vacation week
Care days
Flexible choice account
Extra days off
The name is changed directly on the policy.
Earning Method
Annual earning
The employee is granted a fixed number of days or hours once a year.
The balance is granted on the first day of the selected usage period.
Periodic earning
The balance can be earned continuously:
semi-annually
quarterly
monthly
The balance is granted on the 1st of each selected period.
How supplementary balance is calculated based on earning method
The supplementary balance is always specified in days on the policy – regardless of whether it is earned annually or periodically, and regardless of whether the employee uses it in days or hours.
The system automatically converts the balance based on the selected earning method.
Example – monthly earning in days
5 days per year → 0.42 days earned per month (5 ÷ 12).
Example – annual earning in hours
5 days per year and 7.4 hours per workday → 37 hours granted once a year (5*7.4).
ℹ️ Once the earning method is selected and saved on the policy, it cannot be changed afterwards.
Earning period & usage period
The earning period defines the period the earning belongs to, a registration belongs to, a manual balance adjustment belongs to.
Note: Earning period and usage period can vary between countries, companies, and agreements. See the relevant article under Countries for local rules and setup.
Earning for New Employees
When a new employee is assigned to a policy with supplementary balance, the earning depends on the selected earning method.
Annual earning
If the balance is earned once a year, the policy can be set up to handle new employees in three different ways:
Full earning from start of employment
Earning after X months of employment
No earning in the first year of employment – date of employment determines earning for the following usage year
Periodic earning
If the balance is earned continuously, it is earned in the selected period, which can be monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual.
New employees start earning balance from the 1st of the next period after they have been assigned to the policy.
Connection between Earning and Usage Period
The usage period determines when the supplementary balance can be used, but not necessarily when it is credited.
When the balance is credited depends on the selected earning method:
Annual earning
The entire balance is granted at once on the first day of the usage period.
If the employee is newly hired, the rules set up on the policy for when the supplementary balance becomes available apply.Periodic earning
The balance is earned and credited continuously in the selected period.
With monthly earning, employees earn other vacation days continuously and can only use the days that have been earned as of the current date in the current vacation year.
This means that two supplementary balances with the same usage period can have different crediting – depending on the setup.
Handling Remaining Balance
When a usage period ends, there may be unused supplementary balance left on the employee's account.
How the remaining balance is handled depends on the company's setup and the rules that apply to the selected supplementary balance.
Standard handling
At the end of a usage period, the remaining balance can by default:
Be transferred to a new period
Be reset at the end of the period
The method is selected under the Transfer tab on the policy.
History is always transferred to the log, whether the remaining balance is transferred or reset.
⚠️ Important – Country-specific rules for handling remaining balance
In some countries or agreements, there may be special rules for handling remaining balance, including:
Transfer of days or hours
Expiration of balance
Manual handling of remaining balance
Restrictions on transfer
See the relevant article under Countries for rules that apply to your country or agreement.
Choose Registration Method
BitaBIZ supports two registration methods for supplementary balance:
Register in days
Absence is registered in days.
The balance is calculated and settled in days.Register in days and hours
Absence can be registered in both days and hours.
The balance is calculated in hours.
The method is selected on the employees' policy under the Rules section.
When should you choose which method?
Register in days is typically used when:
days off are always registered as whole days
the balance is managed in days
the company does not need hour-based registration
Example: Other vacation or care days that are always taken as full days off.
Register in days and hours is typically used when:
days off can also be taken as single hours
employees can take part of a day off
the balance is managed in hours
Example: Other vacation hours or OK hours.
Note that with both registration methods, employees can choose Half day.
See the employee view for the two methods below:
Read more about the 2 registration methods for supplementary balance here
User guide for registration in days
User guide for registration in days & hours
When the unit Days & hours is selected, it is also necessary to set up Official work hours. Read more about official work hours in the user guides below:Official work hours with start and end time
Official work hours with net hours only
FAQ
Basic concepts
Is other vacation the same as vacation?
Is other vacation the same as vacation?
No. Vacation is mandatory according to the Holiday Act. Other vacation is an extra arrangement, which can also be called, for example, the 6th vacation week or care days.
Is supplementary balance the same as other vacation or care days?
Is supplementary balance the same as other vacation or care days?
Yes. In BitaBIZ, supplementary balance is used as a collective function for extra days off, which the company defines itself.
This can include, for example:
other vacation
6th vacation week
care days
O-days
OK-days
other company-defined days off
The name may vary between companies, but the function is managed via the supplementary balance.
The default name is set to supplementary balance, but this can be changed as needed.
Does supplementary balance have its own balance or are the days added to the vacation balance?
Does supplementary balance have its own balance or are the days added to the vacation balance?
Supplementary balance has its own separate balance. It is not linked to the vacation balance, which often follows a different set of rules. That said, planning rules can be attached under the vacation settings that affect the planning of supplementary balance. For example: vacation must be planned before supplementary balance can be planned.
We don't use the term supplementary balance, but care days. Can the term be changed?
We don't use the term supplementary balance, but care days. Can the term be changed?
By default, we call the balance supplementary balance. But the term can be changed at the policy level to your own term. For example, to other vacation, care days, or 6th vacation week. Because the term is changed at the policy level, different staff groups, companies, or countries can have different names for the balance.
Earning and rules
How can new employees earn supplementary balance in their first year of employment?
How can new employees earn supplementary balance in their first year of employment?
It depends on whether your supplementary balance policy has monthly or annual earning:
With annual earning, you can choose between 3 standard settings for new employees:
Full earning from the start of employment
Earning after X months of employment
No earning in the first year of employment – the date of employment determines the earning in the following year
With monthly earning, a fixed number of days is earned per month on the 1st of a new month. Earning for the first month of employment depends on whether the employee is created on the 1st of a month. If so, other vacation is earned.
For both earning methods, the supplementary starting balance can be manually adjusted via Payroll Admin -> Calendar access
If you choose annual earning, where allocation of supplementary balance days only happens after X months of employment, the manual adjustment will only take effect after this number of months.
Why has a new employee received all other vacation days after X months?
Why has a new employee received all other vacation days after X months?
If your supplementary balance, e.g. other vacation/OV-days, is set up with annual earning and the rule earning after X months of employment, the employee will receive the annual balance released after the chosen number of months.
This means the employee does not earn the days gradually after X months. The employee receives the full number of days set in the policy once the seniority requirement is met.
Example:
The policy gives 6 other vacation days per year.
The rule states that new employees only get other vacation days after 6 months of employment.
When the employee has been employed for 6 months, all 6 other vacation days are released.
If, according to your internal rules, the employee should only receive part of the days, e.g. 3 other vacation days, the balance must be manually reduced.
This is done by a user with the Payroll Admin role via the employee's calendar access.
In short:
Annual earning after X months → the entire annual supplementary balance is released after X months
It is not monthly earning from X months
If the employee should only have part of the balance, Payroll Admin must manually reduce the balance
If the employee should earn gradually, the policy should instead be set up with ongoing earning, e.g. monthly earning
What should I do if a new employee has received too many other vacation days?
What should I do if a new employee has received too many other vacation days?
If a new employee has received more other vacation days than they should according to your internal rules, you should first check how the supplementary balance is set up in the policy.
Pay special attention to:
whether the supplementary balance is set up with annual earning
whether new employees receive the balance after X months of employment
how many days are set in the policy per year
whether the employee should only have part of the annual balance according to your internal rules
If the policy is set up with annual earning after X months, and the employee should only have part of the balance, a Payroll Admin must manually reduce the balance to the correct number of days.
If you want employees to earn other vacation days continuously, e.g. 0.5 day per month for 6 days per year, the supplementary balance must be set up with monthly earning.
Why can't a new employee see their other vacation days yet?
Why can't a new employee see their other vacation days yet?
An employee is only allocated other vacation days (supplementary balance) when their employment start date has passed.
If the employee is created in the system with a future start date, the other vacation days will only be added on the actual date of employment.
This means that if an employee starts on January 1st, the other vacation days will only appear in the balance from that date.
If your other vacation/supplementary balance is set up with:
earning after X months of employment, or
another earning rule where the balance is only allocated later,
the other vacation statistics will only be shown to the employee once they have reached the required seniority or have been allocated the balance.
This means that two employees can have the same policy but still experience something different:
an employee with sufficient seniority can see the other vacation box
an employee who has not yet earned or been allocated the balance cannot see it yet
How and when other vacation days are allocated depends on the company's earning rule setup in the policy, e.g.:
annual allocation at the start of the period
earning after a certain number of months of employment
ongoing earning (e.g. monthly)
If the employee has a future start date, it is therefore normal that the other vacation days do not yet appear in the balance.
If some employees can see the box and others cannot, you should first check:
which earning method the supplementary balance is set up with
whether the policy is set to earning after X months of employment
whether the affected employees have reached the required seniority
How can we give some employees supplementary balance immediately if the policy normally has an earning period?
How can we give some employees supplementary balance immediately if the policy normally has an earning period?
If a policy is set up to only earn supplementary balance after a number of months (e.g. a waiting period before earning or after probation), this rule applies to all employees on the policy.
It is therefore not possible to bypass the earning rule with a manual adjustment, as the balance only becomes active after the specified earning period.
If certain employees need to have supplementary balance immediately, they must instead be assigned to a separate policy with full earning from the start of employment.
A solution is therefore to create a new policy where the supplementary balance is allocated at the start of employment and assign the relevant employees to this policy.
This way, these employees can access the balance immediately, while the other employees continue to follow the original earning rule.
How do we change the earning period on an existing supplementary balance?
How do we change the earning period on an existing supplementary balance?
It is not possible to change the earning method (e.g. from annual to monthly) on an existing supplementary balance policy.
Once the earning method is selected and the policy is saved, this setting is locked.
This means you cannot edit an existing policy to change the earning, as a change would otherwise affect already calculated balances and history.
If the company wants a different earning method, a policy change must be made. See this article for the conditions for this.
Can supplementary balance be registered in advance?
Can supplementary balance be registered in advance?
Whether supplementary balance can be registered in advance depends on the setup of the supplementary balance.
Supplementary balance can only be registered in advance if the days have been earned – or if the setup allows planning of future earning.
Other vacation cannot be registered in advance if:
the balance is earned continuously (e.g. monthly), and not enough days have been earned yet
the minimum vacation rule is activated, and not enough vacation days have been planned yet
Other vacation can be registered in advance if:
the balance is earned annually and allocated at the start of the period
or if planning of future earning is allowed in the setup
If supplementary balance cannot be registered, it is typically due to the earning method or an active planning rule.
Why don't the work hours match when an employee has registered supplementary balance (e.g. a half day off)?
Why don't the work hours match when an employee has registered supplementary balance (e.g. a half day off)?
If the employee uses the time registration method Adjust time without hour bank, the system does not automatically create work hours on a day where absence is registered.
This also applies to partial absence, e.g. a half day with supplementary balance, when the absence registration overlaps with the employee's work hours, and the system therefore does not create work hours automatically.
Therefore, the official work hours will not be created automatically that day, and it may appear as if work hours are missing.
In this case, you should manually register the work hours for the part of the day that is not taken off in the employee's calendar.
Can employees register half days when we use “Days”?
Can employees register half days when we use “Days”?
Yes, it applies to both Days and Hours that the employee can select half and whole days.
This is a standard function in the system and cannot be disabled.
Can we set up a supplementary balance to be earned continuously and taken within a specific period – like vacation?
Can we set up a supplementary balance to be earned continuously and taken within a specific period – like vacation?
That depends on your current setup.
A supplementary balance (e.g., other vacation) can be set up with:
Continuous earning (e.g., monthly or quarterly)
A defined period for taking leave
However:
If your current policy is set up with a specific earning method (e.g., annual), this cannot be changed afterwards.
If you want a different earning method, you need to change the policy. See this article for the conditions for doing so.
Is the supplementary balance reduced during leave without vacation earning?
Is the supplementary balance reduced during leave without vacation earning?
Supplementary balances are not automatically affected by absence types such as leave – even if the absence is set to no vacation earning.
The no vacation earning setting under other leave only applies to regular vacation with monthly earning.
This means that:
Regular vacation (monthly earning) → is affected
Vacation with annual earning → is not affected
Supplementary balances (e.g., other vacation) → are not affected
If a supplementary balance also needs to be reduced in connection with leave, this must be done via a manual adjustment.
When are employees credited with their supplementary balance?
When are employees credited with their supplementary balance?
When the supplementary balance is credited depends on how the earning is set up in the policy.
With annual earning, the entire balance is granted on the first day of the period for taking leave
With continuous earning, the balance is earned continuously and credited on the 1st of each period
This means that employees can only use what has been earned so far if the balance is earned continuously.
A new employee starts in the middle of the earning period – is the supplementary balance adjusted for this?
A new employee starts in the middle of the earning period – is the supplementary balance adjusted for this?
No, the supplementary balance is not proportionally adjusted based on the date of employment, as is the case with regular vacation.
How the balance is granted depends on the earning method:
With continuous earning
New employees earn from the next 1st of the period in which they are added to the policy
No proportional earning for part of a month
With annual earning
The balance can either:
be granted in full at the start of employment
or only after a certain number of months of employment
It is not required that the employee is added on the first day of the period
This means that an employee who starts in the middle of a period does not automatically get a reduced balance. If a different distribution is needed, the balance must be adjusted manually via calendar access.
Usage and administration
Can supplementary balances be paid out?
Can supplementary balances be paid out?
Yes, supplementary balances can be paid out via Payroll Admin -> Calendar access. It is also possible at the policy level to give employees access to request payout of their supplementary balance.
Can a supplementary balance be used as a flexible benefits account?
Can a supplementary balance be used as a flexible benefits account?
Yes. A supplementary balance can also be used as a flexible benefits account, where the employee can choose to:
take days off from the balance
request payout of the balance
When this feature is enabled, the employee can request a payout instead of using the days for leave.
This is managed via the policy, where the company can give employees access to request payout of the balance.
However, it is not possible to:
take more days or hours than have been earned
receive a payout of more than the current balance
Why can't I plan supplementary balance (e.g., other vacation)?
Why can't I plan supplementary balance (e.g., other vacation)?
There can be several reasons why a supplementary balance cannot be planned. The reason depends on the company's setup, the chosen planning rule, and any country-specific rules.
First, check:
if the employee has earned or been granted a balance
if there is a minimum rule for vacation
if the employee is trying to plan more than the current balance
if there are special rules for the employee's country
See the relevant country article for rules that only apply in certain countries.