Time off in lieu

System-based TOIL

System-based TOIL is a feature within your platform that converts employee overtime hours into a TOIL balance instead of paying the overtime directly on the payslip. This feature is enabled on a per-employee basis and, once enabled, all overtime worked by the employee will automatically accrue as TOIL. These hours can then be redeemed and paid at a later date during payroll.

In simple terms, this method stores overtime hours to be paid or redeemed later, rather than paying the overtime in the pay period in which it was worked.

This TOIL method is generally used where TOIL arrangements are specified within an employee’s award, agreement, or workplace arrangement.

Before enabling System-based TOIL, there are several important considerations to be aware of:

• All overtime worked will accrue as TOIL across all positions worked by the employee once the setting is enabled.
• TOIL can only be redeemed through a payslip edit or adjustment.
• TOIL is redeemed at the rate it was originally banked (e.g, 4 hours banked at 1.5x will be redeemed at the 1.5x rate).
• TOIL cannot be requested through a leave application.
• Employees cannot view TOIL through the Employee App.
• TOIL balances are visible to admins on the Employee Profile, provided they have the necessary permissions to access the Employee Profile or payroll. 

Leave entitlement-based TOIL

Leave entitlement-based TOIL is managed using a custom leave entitlement. The entitlement can be created within the platform and added to employee profiles as needed.

Unlike standard leave entitlements, this leave type should be set up with a 0 accrual rate. This is because the balance is intended to be managed manually rather than automatically calculated by the platform. When employees earn TOIL, the balance can be updated either through a payslip edit or directly on the employee profile.

This method is commonly used for more ad hoc TOIL or DIL arrangements, such as providing a TOIL/DIL day instead of paying public holiday penalties, or where TOIL is managed outside of overtime award interpretation rules.

As this method uses a leave entitlement set-up, there are several important differences to consider:

• TOIL does not automatically accrue and must be manually managed by an admin. 
• TOIL hours count towards OTE calculations because the leave is processed as a paid leave entitlement.
• Employees can view their TOIL balance in their Employee App.
• Employees can submit leave requests to redeem TOIL. 
• TOIL is paid at the employee’s base rate, unless a different rate has been configured on the entitlement within the employee profile.
• Balances can be updated directly on the employee profile or through payroll processing, depending on your business workflow.

  If you would like to set TOIL as a Leave Entitlement in your platform, then please refer to the 'Leave Entitlements' help guide article here. 

System-based vs Leave entitlement-based

To better understand the difference between these 2 methods, we have outlined key differences in their functionality in the table below.  

1. From the main menu, navigate to  Platform Settings > Time & Attendance Settings > then select Time Off from the left-hand menu. 
2. Locate the 'Allow admin users to enable TOIL within employee profiles' setting and select 'Yes'
3. To save your changes, select Save from the taskbar.

1. Navigate to People > Approved People or use the global search function to locate the employee.
2. In the Overview page, enable the 'Enable TOIL' toggle to enable TOIL for the employee.

Disabling TOIL

Just like enabling TOIL, disabling it is done on an individual basis through the Employee Profile. You'd typically do this when an employee is no longer eligible to accrue TOIL.

For example, if they've changed awards, moved into a role where overtime applies instead, or your business has decided to stop offering TOIL for their position.

This ensures TOIL is active only for employees for whom it's still appropriate given their current conditions.

  Please note: Before disabling TOIL, make sure the employee has redeemed any TOIL they've already banked. See the Redeeming TOIL on a Payslip section below for how to do this.
 

To disable TOIL for an employee:

1. Navigate to People > Approved People or use the global search function to locate the employee.
2. In the Overview page, disable the 'Enable TOIL' toggle to disable TOIL for the employee.
   
     Please note: If the employee has a TOIL balance, the system will warn you. If this occurs, cancel out and process the remaining TOIL balance before disabling.

Regularly checking balances helps managers and payroll officers stay informed of an employee’s accrued TOIL balance. This can be done directly from the employee’s profile; however, the process differs depending on whether you have set up TOIL as a leave entitlement or are using System-based TOIL.

• TOIL using a leave entitlement - This is managed the same way as any other leave entitlement. This means you can add to, check, and update the balance directly from the employee’s profile.
  
    For more information, please refer to the Leave Entitlements article.
   

• System-based TOIL- This cannot be manually added or edited on the Employee Profile. 

  • TOIL will only appear on an employee’s profile once they have received their first payslip containing TOIL, after which the system begins tracking their balance.

  • Balances are updated through payroll processing or manually via the TOIL Ledger Export/Import (see section below).

  Please note: For system-based TOIL, employees cannot see their TOIL balances in the Employee App. However, employees can see their remaining TOIL balances on their payslips when TOIL is redeemed. 
 

To check if an employee has banked TOIL:

1. Navigate to People > Approved People or use the global search function to locate the employee.
2. Navigate to the Employee Card tab > Employment Type, and the TOIL balance will be displayed in the Entitlements area. 

As shown in the image above, the Employee Profile displays the employee’s total banked TOIL balance only and does not separate the balance by overtime rate.

A detailed breakdown of TOIL banked against each overtime rate can instead be viewed through the TOIL Report. Refer to the section below for more information.

To access and update the TOIL Ledger CSV Export:

1. Navigate to the main menu > Import/ Export > CSV Import > then select TOIL Ledger from the drop-down menu.

2. From this page, you have 3 buttons available:

   • Get Field Definitions – Downloads a list of the available fields along with their formatting and import requirements.

   • Export Current Ledger – Downloads the current TOIL balances for employees. You can then update the required fields within the export with the new balance values before re-importing the file. A separate line is required for each overtime rate the employee has banked TOIL against. Refer to the Data Validation section below for details on which fields can be edited.

     
      

   • Download Blank File – Downloads a blank template if you prefer to create the import file from scratch.

       Please note: This import does not enable TOIL for employees or add TOIL to employee profiles where it is not already active. It is used only to update existing TOIL balances.

3. Save your CSV file.
4. Back in foundU, select Choose file and select your updated CSV.
5. Select Import CSV. The import tool will have updated the employee TOIL balances as per your edits. You can navigate to an Employee Profile to see the changes.

Data Validation

When importing data into foundU, the data must be provided in the correct format. Below, you will find all the information required about the columns included in this import and the formats accepted for editable data. 

  Please note: The bold rows in the table below denote mandatory columns in your export. 

For employees using system-based TOIL, TOIL does not appear in the Employee App and cannot be redeemed through a leave application. Instead, employees will need to contact their manager or payroll team directly when requesting to use banked TOIL.

Because TOIL requests are managed outside of the leave application process, it’s important to have a clear internal process for communicating redemption requests. 

Depending on your business, this may include:

• Leaving a comment during Approve Shifts when TOIL should be redeemed against a shift
• Adding a payslip comment for payroll to review before processing pay
• Using your business’s existing internal communication or approval processes

  Warning: Any TOIL redemption or balance updates must be completed through a payslip edit or adjustment.

TOIL Accrual

When viewing the breakdown on the Edit or Adjustment screen, TOIL is displayed across two separate sections — one for banking and one for redemption. This allows you to clearly distinguish between TOIL being earned and TOIL being used.

Within the Pay Rates section, you’ll see all overtime and ordinary time earnings line items that have triggered on the payslip based on the employee’s hours worked and award interpretation.

  Hot tip: Any overtime line items will display a purple leave icon beside them. This indicates that overtime is banked as TOIL rather than being paid out as overtime on the payslip.

You can update the amount of TOIL being banked by editing existing overtime line items or adding new overtime entries as needed. Any overtime added for employees with TOIL enabled will contribute towards TOIL accruals rather than being paid as overtime.

While multiple overtime line items may contribute towards TOIL within the Edit or Adjustment screen, these do not appear separately on the employee’s payslip. Instead, the payslip displays a single TOIL Accrual line showing the total amount banked for the pay period.

To redeem TOIL:

1. From the quick menu, navigate to Payroll > Pay > Draft Payslips.
2. Locate the payslip you want to update, then select Edit from the dropdown menu.
3. Navigate to the TOIL section. 
4. Within this section, you’ll see a list of overtime rates that TOIL has been banked against, along with the employee’s current balances. To redeem TOIL, update the following fields:
   • Redeem – Enter the quantity of TOIL hours to redeem against each pay rate.
   • Method – Select the redemption method:
     • Redeem – Redeems the selected TOIL hours as paid time off. This will be paid as Ordinary Time Earnings, meaning it is included in the employee's Qualified Earnings (QE) for superannuation. 
     • Cash-out – Pays out the full banked balance for that pay rate. This is paid as Overtime and is not included in Qualified Earnings. 
       
         Please note: Unlike other leave entitlements, TOIL does not provide a termination payout option within the payslip edit screen. TOIL must be paid through the ETP process and cannot be processed through a standard payslip edit.
5. Preview the payslip and save your changes.

Once the payslip has been updated, redeemed TOIL hours will appear on the payslip at their relevant rates. After the pay has been processed, the employee’s TOIL balance will update on their Employee Profile.

The termination and payout process for TOIL differs from that for unused leave, as TOIL is not treated the same as unpaid leave entitlements on termination and must be paid out via a separate process. This process differs slightly depending on whether you are using System-based TOIL or have set it up as a leave entitlement. 

Choose the appropriate tab below to view the steps for setting up your TOIL.

If you need broader visibility of employee TOIL accruals, the TOIL report allows you to view current balances for all employees in one place. 

This report can be useful for:

• Monitoring outstanding TOIL balances across the business
• Identifying employees with high banked TOIL balances
• Reviewing TOIL liabilities for terminations
• Assisting with balance reviews or internal reconciliations

  This report is exclusively used for System-based TOIL. If you have set up TOIL as an entitlement, please use the Leave Activity & Balance reports. 
 

To run the TOIL report:

1. Navigate to Reports > Financial and under the Accruals & Liabilities section, select the TOIL report.
2. This report requires a date to be entered before any data can be returned. In the TOIL as of field, select the date you want to review TOIL liabilities for. The report will display employee TOIL balances as of the selected date.

3. You can also apply optional filters to refine the results further:

   • Filter by Employees – View balances for specific employee(s) only.
   • Filter by Office Code – Limit results to specific office code(s).
4. Once you have entered your relevant filters, select Submit.

You will see the TOIL report output, which includes the TOIL label (the name of your toil), accrual amount, rate, value in dollar terms, and standard rate and terms.

  Please note: This report presently cannot be exported; however, the TOIL Ledger may be helpful if you need to export TOIL balances.

My employee has banked TOIL, however, it's not showing on their Employee Profile. When will the TOIL balance show?

When TOIL is banked by an employee, it will not be immediately visible in their profile. This is because TOIL will only appear in an employee's profile after the payslip on which it was earned has been generated.

What is the difference between TOIL and an RDO?

Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) is a type of leave where an employee can accumulate extra hours worked and take that time off at a later date, usually with pay, instead of being paid for the overtime worked.

On the other hand, a Rostered Day Off (RDO) is a scheduled day off that is granted to employees who have worked a certain number of hours or shifts. RDOs are usually given as an additional day off during a week or month rather than a day off taken at a later date. Unlike TOIL, RDOs are not usually paid unless they are part of an employment contract or agreement.

Can I choose the rate at which TOIL is paid to an employee?

The pay rate for TOIL is determined by the overtime rate at which it was banked (e.g., 1.5x, 2x, etc.). When processing TOIL redemption on a payslip, do so per overtime rate. 

How can I do reasonable Overtime and TOIL?

Unfortunately, it is not possible to use system-based TOIL in this case. However, if this is how your business operates, we would recommend using leave entitlement-based TOIL instead. This will allow you to edit the payslips to fit your requirements. If you would like to discuss your business needs further, do not hesitate to contact our support team.

Is there a way I can update an employee's TOIL balance?

An employee's TOIL balance can be updated by exporting the TOIL Ledger, updating the balance within the spreadsheet then re-importing it back into the platform.

What cost code/ purchase order is used when redeeming TOIL?

When redeeming TOIL, there is no option to apply a custom cost code or purchase order. Instead, the cost code or purchase order assigned to the employee’s position will be applied.

We recommend setting up employees who redeem TOIL with a fallback cost code or purchase order, as no code will be applied if one is not configured and cannot be updated by creating a payslip adjustment.