Previously, NZ payroll admins had no system-supported way to reverse a specific paid leave day. They had to enter a general pay adjustment manually, with no link to the original leave date or amount paid — causing calculation errors, breaking the audit trail, and creating compliance risk.
Leave Reversals introduces a guided "Reverse leave by date" flow directly within the pay run. Admins select the leave date to reverse, preview the exact amount to be adjusted, and confirm. The system applies a negative adjustment to the current pay run, restores the employee's leave balance, and creates a full audit record automatically.
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Open an active pay run
Navigate to the pay run and ensure it is in an open (not finalised) state. The reversal action is not available on finalised pay runs. -
Open the employee actions menu and select "Reverse leave by date"
Click the actions menu for the relevant employee. Select "Reverse leave by date". This option only appears when the employee has paid leave available to reverse. -
Select the leave date
The date picker shows only dates with paid, not-yet-reversed leave. Select the date range you want to reverse. If the range is greater than one day it will open To and From date fields that you can enter, either the whole range or just a portion of the range to be reversed. If the employee had multiple leave categories on that date, choose the specific category from the selector that appears. -
Review the preview
A preview panel shows the leave category, original date, units, and the gross amount that will be reversed. Confirm the details are correct before proceeding. -
Confirm the reversal
Click "Apply reversal", then "Confirm reversal" on the confirmation step. The system applies a negative adjustment to the pay run, restores the employee's leave balance, and updates the pay run totals immediately. -
Verify in leave history and the pay run
The original leave request is annotated with a "Reversed" status in the employee's leave history. A negative leave line item appears in the pay run referencing the reversal date and leave category.
| Message | Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| "No paid leave available to reverse." | Employee has no reversible paid leave in the pay run | Verify the employee has paid leave that has not already been reversed |
| "Unable to load leave details. Please try again." | Preview failed to load after date selection | Click the retry link; if it persists, refresh the page |
| "This leave date has already been reversed." | A reversal for that date has already been applied | Select a different date; each date can only be reversed once |
| "The pay run is finalised. Unlock it before applying reversals." | Pay run was finalised while the admin was mid-flow | Unlock the pay run and start the reversal flow again |
| "Something went wrong. The reversal was not applied. Please try again." | Network error or timeout during submission | Retry — the selection is preserved and no changes were applied |
- Each leave date can only be reversed once. The system prevents a date from being reversed more than once. Attempting to reverse an already-reversed date returns an error.
- The pay run must be open. The action is visible but disabled on finalised pay runs. Unlock the pay run before initiating a reversal.
- Cancelling at any step makes no changes. Clicking Cancel or closing the modal at any point — including the confirmation step — leaves the pay run and leave balance unchanged.
- The reversal applies a negative adjustment. The pay run totals update immediately to reflect the negative adjustment. Check the pay run totals after confirming.
- Leave balance is restored automatically. The employee's leave balance for the reversed category is restored as part of the reversal — no separate adjustment is needed.
- Audit trail is created automatically. The original leave request is annotated "Reversed" in leave history and a negative line item appears in the pay run.
- NZ businesses only. This feature is not available in AU or other regions.
Can an admin reverse leave in a finalised pay run?
No. The "Reverse leave by date" action is disabled on finalised pay runs and shows the tooltip "Pay run must be open to reverse leave." The admin must unlock the pay run before a reversal can be applied.
Can the same leave date be reversed more than once?
No. Each paid leave date can only be reversed once. If an admin attempts to reverse a date that has already been reversed, they will see the error "This leave date has already been reversed." Only dates with paid, not-yet-reversed leave are selectable in the date picker.
An employee had two leave categories on the same day — can both be reversed?
When a date has more than one leave category, the preview panel shows a leave category selector. The admin must choose a specific category before confirming. Each category on that date is treated as a separate reversible entry and can be reversed independently.
Does cancelling the flow mid-way affect the pay run?
No. Clicking Cancel, the X button, or clicking outside the modal at any step — including the confirmation step — closes the modal without applying any changes to the pay run or the employee's leave balance.
Where can I see proof that a reversal was applied?
Two places: (1) The employee's leave history shows the original leave request annotated with a "Reversed" status. (2) The current pay run shows a negative leave line item with a note referencing the reversal date and leave category. Both are created automatically when the reversal is confirmed.
Is this feature available in AU?
No. Leave Reversals is a NZ-only feature and will not appear in AU or other regional payroll accounts.