People Settings
Configure time-off policies, departments, custom fields, and HR preferences.
Access People Settings at People > Settings or via Settings > Modules > People > Configure. These settings control the foundational rules for your HR data — change them carefully, as they affect balances, approvals, and org chart structure across all employees.
People Settings are accessible to workspace admins and users with the People Admin role.
General
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Fiscal year start | Month and day the accrual year resets (affects carryover calculations) |
| Default working hours per week | Fallback for employees without a custom working pattern |
| Default working pattern | Days per week and hours per day used by Planning for capacity |
Departments
Create, rename, or archive departments. Departments are used to:
- Group employees in the directory and org chart
- Route time-off notifications to the right department head
- Filter the Planning board by team
Each department can have a department head (an employee record). The department head automatically receives in-app and email notifications for their team's time-off requests.
Archiving a department does not delete employees — it removes the department from creation dropdowns while retaining historical data.
Time-Off Policies
Add, edit, or archive leave types and their rules. Each policy defines:
- Leave type name — Visible to employees on the request form
- Accrual method — Manual balance (admin-set), annual allowance (fixed days per year), or accrual per month
- Allowance — Days or hours per year (annual) or per month (accrual)
- Carryover limit — Maximum unused days that roll to the next fiscal year (set to 0 for no carryover)
- Approval chain — None (auto-approved), manager only, or manager then HR
- Calendar visibility — Whether approved leave of this type appears on the shared team calendar
Archiving a policy hides it from future requests but preserves historical balance data.
Custom Fields
Add custom fields to employee records. The same 12 field types available in CRM are supported here:
| Type | Example use |
|---|---|
| Text | LinkedIn profile URL |
| Number | Years of experience |
| Date | Probation end date |
| Select | T-shirt size for swag |
| Multi-select | Certifications held |
| Checkbox | Background check completed |
| URL | Portfolio link |
| Emergency contact email | |
| Phone | Emergency contact number |
| Currency | Salary (if tracked in Workestra) |
| Long text | Notes from interview |
| Rating | Performance self-rating |
Custom fields appear on the employee detail page under a Custom Fields section and are available as filters in the directory.
Onboarding Templates
Manage all onboarding templates from this section. Templates created here are the same ones available from People > Onboarding. Edits to a template do not retroactively update tasks already created from it.
Notifications
Configure who receives notifications for key People events:
| Event | Default recipient |
|---|---|
| New hire created | HR Admin role |
| Time-off request submitted | Employee's manager |
| Time-off approved | Requesting employee |
| Time-off declined | Requesting employee |
| Off-boarding initiated | HR Admin role |
Recipients can be changed to specific users, roles, or department heads.