TOIL tracker for UK teams
Time off in lieu tracker. Every hour clear.
Keep time off in lieu connected to the work that earned it. Managers record and approve extra hours; staff see their balance and request the time back in one shared leave workspace.
Free trial. No credit card. Standard £8 per active person/month.
TOIL remaining
4.5hours
- Approved extra hours
- 7.5 hours
- Time taken back
- 3 hours
- Next step
- Request time off
The balance connects to the hours earned and the time taken.
From extra hours to time back
A manager records the hours
Choose the employee and enter the date, hours and reason. The entry waits for a decision before it becomes available TOIL.
An approver reviews the credit
An authorised manager approves or declines the entry. Staff cannot approve their own accrual, and decisions have an audit record.
Staff request the time back
Employees view their own balance and request TOIL. Pending requests reserve hours while the manager checks the dates and team availability.
| Task | Manual spreadsheet | Leavely |
|---|---|---|
| Crediting extra hours | Someone types the hours into a shared sheet. | A manager records the date, hours and reason; the credit waits for an approver. |
| Approval evidence | Often an email or chat message kept elsewhere. | The approver and decision date are stored with the accrual. |
| Checking a balance | Staff ask a manager, who checks the sheet. | Employees see their own accrued and remaining hours. |
| Booking time back | A separate holiday request, reconciled by hand. | Requests use the TOIL leave type; pending requests reserve hours until decided. |
TOIL sits alongside annual leave and other absence types. Standard is £8; Ultra is £10 per active person/month. Compare plans and eligibility discounts.
Free TOIL balance calculator
A usable TOIL balance accounts for time already requested as well as time taken. Try the numbers below to see what is available before a new booking. Use the same person and record period for all three totals.
Hours already credited, excluding unapproved overtime.
Include approved future bookings once, as well as time already taken.
Time requested but still awaiting a decision.
TOIL available to request
3hours
7.5 earned − 3 taken or approved − 1.5 pending = 3 available.
This calculator uses hours already credited under your agreement. It does not apply overtime multipliers, expiry rules or payroll adjustments. Enter decimal hours: 30 minutes is 0.5 hours. Your entries stay in this calculator and are not saved to a workspace.
Example: 7.5 hours earned, 3 hours available
A team member has 7.5 approved hours. They have taken 3 hours and requested another 1.5 hours, which is still pending. That leaves 3 hours available. If the pending request is declined, those 1.5 hours become available again.
Separate hours worked from hours credited
Use the approved credit from your agreement. If 2 hours of extra work earns 3 hours of TOIL, record the 3-hour credit and explain the conversion in the reason. Leavely records the hours entered; it does not infer an overtime multiplier.
Keep a record you can check
Free TOIL record template
Start a manual record with space for the work date, hours, agreed credit, approval, leave bookings and balance review. Keep one record per person so totals stay easy to reconcile.
Download the TOIL record templateEditable text file. No signup required.
| Work and reason | When the extra work happened and what it covered. |
|---|---|
| Hours and credit | Actual hours worked, agreed conversion and hours credited. |
| Approval | Who decided the accrual, when, and whether it was approved. |
| Time off | Dates and hours requested, with pending and approved bookings kept distinct. |
| Review | Remaining hours and any agreed booking deadline to check with the employee. |
A manual template works while one person can keep the records current. With several managers, shared approvals and reserved hours become harder to reconcile. Leavely connects those steps so staff can check their own balance and managers can review pending entries together.
Agree the policy behind the balance.
TOIL terms come from the applicable agreement. Set them out before extra hours build up.
01
What earns TOIL
Explain which extra work qualifies, whether it needs advance approval and how the credited hours are calculated.
02
When it can be taken
Set a booking process and any agreed deadline. Review old balances against your terms and make taking the time practical.
03
Pay and working time
Check minimum wage, actual hours worked and rest requirements separately. A TOIL balance does not make those checks for you.
04
Leaving or changing role
Record what happens to unused time, including any agreed payment, and pass the decision to payroll.
For the underlying agreement, read the UK TOIL policy guide. GOV.UK explains that TOIL terms are agreed with the employer. Check overtime pay and minimum wage requirements alongside the arrangement, and the Working Time Regulations guide for weekly hours and rest.
TOIL questions, answered
What is time off in lieu?
Time off in lieu (TOIL) is time off agreed in exchange for overtime. The employer and worker agree the terms, including how much time is credited and when it can be taken. Put the arrangement in writing so both sides can refer to it.
Does UK law require employers to offer TOIL?
There is no general requirement to offer TOIL. Check the employment contract and any agreement or policy. Overtime arrangements must still comply with minimum wage and working-time requirements.
Does TOIL expire after three months?
There is no universal three-month TOIL expiry rule. Any booking deadline or expiry arrangement needs to come from the applicable terms. Explain it in advance, make time available to take the leave, and review unused balances fairly. Leavely keeps dated accrual records to support that review.
How does TOIL tracking work in Leavely?
A manager records the employee, date, hours and reason for extra work. An authorised approver reviews the entry before it credits the employee’s balance. Employees can view their own balance and request time off in lieu. Approved bookings and pending time-off requests reduce the hours available; unapproved overtime does not increase them.
Can employees log their own overtime?
TOIL accruals are recorded by managers in Leavely. Employees can see their own accrued hours and remaining balance, then request TOIL through the leave workflow. Someone with approval authority must review the credit, and nobody can approve their own accrual.
Is there a free TOIL tracker template or calculator?
Yes. Use the balance calculator on this page to subtract taken, approved and pending time off from credited hours. You can also download an editable TOIL record template without signing up. The template is a manual record; Leavely connects the approvals and bookings in a shared workspace.
Should TOIL and annual leave have separate balances?
Keep them separate so staff can see which time comes from their holiday allowance and which comes from approved extra work. In Leavely, request time off against the TOIL leave type to keep the booking connected to the right balance.
Can unused TOIL be paid instead?
Check the contract, agreed TOIL terms and the circumstances, including what happens when employment ends. Agree any payment and calculation with payroll. Do not assume that unused time automatically disappears or that a cash payment is always required.
Does taking TOIL later replace rest breaks?
Do not treat a TOIL balance as a substitute for required daily and weekly rest. The overtime actually worked still counts towards working-time calculations. Plan rest and check the relevant rules alongside the TOIL arrangement.
Can I use a spreadsheet as a TOIL tracker?
A spreadsheet works for one person keeping one record. It gets harder when several managers credit hours, requests are pending and staff ask for their balance. Keep one row per accrual and per booking, record who approved each credit, and subtract pending requests as well as time already taken.
What is the difference between a TOIL tracker and a timesheet?
A timesheet records the hours someone worked. A TOIL tracker records the extra hours your agreement credits as time off, who approved them and the time taken back. Keep the timesheet as evidence of hours worked and the TOIL record as the balance staff can book against.
Official sources
Guidance checked 16 September 2026. England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland rules can differ.
Make time back easier to manage.
Bring TOIL, holiday requests and team availability into one workspace.
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