Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) is a type of compensatory leave granted when an employee works beyond their contracted hours — for example, covering a busy weekend shift or working through a bank holiday. Rather than receiving overtime pay, the employee takes equivalent time off at a later date.
Because TOIL accrual varies based on individual circumstances, Rotaready doesn't manage it automatically — managers are responsible for setting up allowances and keeping balances up to date.
Set up a TOIL absence type
If a TOIL absence type doesn't already exist in your organisation, a user with full access permissions will need to create one.
Go to Settings and click Absence types.
Click Add absence type and give it a name — for example, Time Off in Lieu.
Enable Allowance required so that only employees with a TOIL allowance can book it.
Configure any other settings as needed, such as whether it requires approval.
Click Save.
📌 Note: See Absence types for full guidance on configuring absence types.
Add a TOIL allowance to an employee
Once the absence type is set up, add an allowance for each employee who is owed TOIL.
Find the employee's profile and click the Absence tab, then click Allowances.
Click New allowance and select the TOIL absence type.
Set the Total accrued to reflect the hours or days currently owed.
Click Save.
Immediately add next year's allowance with a Total accrued of 0.
⚠️ Important: When you save an allowance, Rotaready will automatically create a matching allowance for next year overnight, copying across the current balance. To avoid an incorrect opening balance for next year, add next year's allowance yourself straight away with a Total accrued of 0. This prevents the overnight copy from carrying over a balance that hasn't yet been earned.
Work out how much TOIL an employee has earned
Since TOIL isn't tracked automatically, you'll need to calculate it manually. The Contractual Obligation Summary report (found under Reports) shows the total hours worked by each employee against their contractual obligation for a given period — this is a useful starting point for identifying how many additional hours an employee has worked and therefore how much TOIL they may be owed.
Update the balance when TOIL is earned
When an employee earns additional TOIL, update their allowance manually.
Find the employee's profile and click the Absence tab, then click Allowances.
Click Options alongside the TOIL allowance and select Edit.
Increase the Total accrued figure to reflect the additional hours or days earned.
Click Save.
Book TOIL absence
Once an allowance is in place, employees can request TOIL absence in the same way as any other absence type — via the Rotaready app or web. Days or hours taken will be deducted automatically from their TOIL balance. See Manage absence requests for full guidance on booking absence.