How it works
- HR sets half-day applications to allowed or not allowed for each leave type in Settings, Policies, Leave rules.
- The employee picks a single date, switches on half day and chooses First half or Second half.
- The check confirms the date is a working day for that person. A half day on a weekly off or holiday is refused with a plain message.
- The preview reads half a day will be deducted, names the session and shows the balance after this leave.
- After manager and HR approval the ledger debits 0.5 day, and the leave calendar shows the date half-filled.
What you can set
- Half-day applications allowed or not allowed, set per leave type.
- Session: first half or second half of the working day.
- Recommended setup: half days allowed for CL, SL, LWP and comp-off, not allowed for EL and PL.
- Balances run in half days, so figures such as 7.5 days are normal after accrual and half-day leave.
Why half-day leave is worth allowing
Without a half-day option, employees either take a full day for a two-hour task or slip out and create a late mark or an early exit that HR later has to explain. Both are worse than a planned half day. Allowing half days on casual and sick leave keeps attendance honest and balances fair. Earned leave is usually kept for longer breaks, which is why the recommended rules close half days on EL.
Worked example: a school visit in Coimbatore
Lakshmi, an accounts executive in Coimbatore, has 3.5 days of casual leave. Her son's school has called parents on Wednesday 14 October 2026 at 2 pm, so she applies for casual leave, second half, on that date. The preview reads half a day will be deducted, second half, with a balance after this leave of 3 days. Her manager approves in the app and HR approves the same evening.
Had she chosen earned leave, the check would have stopped her, because the recommended rules do not allow earned leave as a half day. Had she picked Sunday 18 October by mistake, it would have told her that date is a weekly off, so there is no half day to take.
Setting clear session times
ZeniaHR records which half was taken; your policy should say what each half means. For a 9 am to 6 pm office, many companies define the first half as 9 am to 1:30 pm and the second half as 1:30 pm to 6 pm. For a factory on 8-hour shifts, tie the halves to the shift break. Write this into the leave policy so managers and the attendance team read a half-day request the same way.
See half-day leave in a demo
We show it on a video call with your own shifts, leave types and rules. Free for your first 50 employees.
Book a free demoSee pricingFrequently asked questions
Can half-day leave cover more than one date?
No. A half-day request is always a single working date. For one and a half days, apply for a full day on one date and a half day on the next as two requests. This keeps the charged days exact and lets the calendar show each date correctly.
Which leave types allow half-day leave?
Any type where HR has set half-day applications to allowed. With the recommended rules, casual leave, sick leave, leave without pay and comp-off allow half days, while earned leave and privilege leave do not, because they are meant for longer breaks. Each company can change this per type.
What is the difference between half-day leave and a half day in attendance?
Half-day leave is planned and approved, and it takes 0.5 day from a leave balance. An attendance half day comes from punches or attendance rules, such as arriving very late, and is paid according to the half-day pay percentage in the payroll deduction policy. One is a leave decision, the other a salary consequence.
Is half-day leave charged under the sandwich rule?
No. A half day is one working date charged 0.5, and ZeniaHR never sandwiches it with the weekly off or holiday next to it, even when the leave type counts sandwiched weekends for full-day requests.