Every absence logged on your schedule is tagged with a time off type. Your workspace comes with four standard types built in — Annual leave, Sick leave, Training, and Other absence reasons. You can add as many custom types as your team needs on top of those. Standard types are locked and cannot be deleted; custom types can be renamed or removed at any time.
The four standard types
These come built into every workspace and cannot be removed. They cover the most common absence categories across field service teams.
Annual leave
StandardCovers planned vacation, personal days, and any other pre-approved time away from work. This is the most commonly used type and should be the default for holiday requests.
Sick leave
StandardUsed when a team member is absent due to illness, injury, or a medical appointment. Keeping sick leave separate from annual leave helps you track health-related absence patterns accurately.
Training
StandardCaptures time spent on professional development, certification courses, team training days, or onboarding. This keeps your scheduling data clean — training days don't count as general absence.
Other absence reasons
StandardA catch-all for absences that don't clearly fit the other categories. Use this sparingly — if you find yourself using it frequently for a specific reason, create a custom type instead.
Standard types cannot be deleted
The four standard types are locked because historical absence records reference them. Deleting them would break reporting and audit trails. If you need a different name or category, create a custom type instead.
Creating custom types
Custom types let you tailor absence categories to your business. Common examples include Parental leave, Public holiday, On-call, or Unpaid leave. There is no limit to how many custom types you can create.
How to add a custom type
- 1Open Team Settings from your dashboard sidebar.
- 2Navigate to the Time off types tab.
- 3Click + Add type at the bottom of the list.
- 4Enter the name of the leave category and click Add type. It appears immediately in the list and is available on the schedule board.
How to edit or delete a custom type
- 1In Team Settings → Time off types, find the custom type you want to change.
- 2Click the Edit button on the right side of that row.
- 3Update the name and click Save changes — or open Options and choose Delete to remove it entirely.
How time off types connect to scheduling
Time off types are not just labels — they directly shape what managers see on the schedule board and in absence reports. When a team member is marked as unavailable or submits a leave request, they select a type. That type is stored against the absence record and used to:
Display the reason on the schedule board
The schedule board shows the type name alongside the blocked-out time slot, so dispatchers know at a glance why someone is unavailable — not just that they are.
Feed absence data into reports
Reports break down absences by type, making it easy to see how much sick leave, annual leave, or training time your team has used over any period.
Separate planned absence from unplanned absence
Annual leave and Training are typically planned in advance. Sick leave and Other are often last-minute. Keeping them separate lets managers spot trends and plan cover more effectively.
Who can manage time off types?
Only Owners and Managers can access Team Settings and make changes to time off types. Dispatchers and Technicians can select from the available types when logging absence, but cannot create, rename, or delete them.
Best practices
Don't duplicate the standard types
Creating a custom "Vacation" type alongside the standard "Annual leave" type splits your data and makes reports harder to read. Use standard types as intended and only add custom ones for genuinely distinct categories.
Name types clearly
Team members pick from this list when logging absence, often in a hurry. Use names that are immediately obvious — "Parental leave" is clearer than "PL" or "Family."
Use "Other" as a last resort
If you notice "Other absence reasons" being used repeatedly for the same kind of absence, create a dedicated custom type for it. Clean categories make your absence data actually useful.
Think ahead before deleting
Deleting a custom type removes it from the dropdown going forward, but historical records that reference it remain intact. If you're renaming a type rather than replacing it, use Edit instead of Delete + recreate.