Setting up your organization
The onboarding wizard runs the first time an admin signs in. Every field has a sensible default, and everything configured here can be changed later under Settings. Each step saves as you progress — you won’t lose work if you close the tab.
Step 1 — Team basics
Section titled “Step 1 — Team basics”Captures the locale of your organization. Your organization name is already set from the sign-up screen — you can rename it later under Settings → Organization.
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Country | Drives automatic public-holiday sync. For multi-region countries (e.g., UK, US), you can set a county/state later under Settings → Organization. |
| Timezone | Used for date boundaries on requests and the wallchart. Set this to the timezone most of your admins work in — individual members don’t currently have per-user timezones. |
You can change any of these later under Settings → Organization.
Step 2 — Work pattern
Section titled “Step 2 — Work pattern”Sets the default working days for the organization. A working day counts toward leave; a non-working day doesn’t.
Toggle each day of the week on or off. Most teams use Monday–Friday, but Deckchair supports any pattern — including 4-day weeks, split weekends (e.g., Friday/Saturday off), or rotating shifts.
This is the organization default. Individual members can have their own schedule — for example, a part-time employee who only works Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Set that up per-member under Settings → Team once accounts exist. Full details in work schedules.
Step 3 — Leave year
Section titled “Step 3 — Leave year”Defines the annual cycle for leave entitlements.
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Leave year start | The month and day your leave year begins. Common choices: 1 January (calendar year), 1 April (UK tax year), 1 July (fiscal year), or your anniversary date. |
| Maximum carryover | The most days a member can carry from one leave year into the next. A value of 0 means no carryover; a value of 5 means anything unused above five days is forfeited. |
Each member’s entitlement runs from this start date. When the year rolls over, Deckchair automatically calculates carryover — capped by the value you set here — and resets used/pending counts. See leave year & carryover for the full lifecycle.
Individual members can override the leave year start (useful if your company prorates based on anniversary), but the carryover cap is org-wide.
Step 4 — Leave types
Section titled “Step 4 — Leave types”Creates your initial leave types. You can add, edit, or deactivate types at any time from Settings → Leave types.
For each type you define:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | e.g., Annual leave, Sick leave, Parental leave. |
| Colour | Used on the wallchart so the whole team can see the leave type at a glance. Pick distinct colours for types that are likely to appear together. |
| Deducts from allowance | If on, approved requests reduce the member’s available balance. Turn off for types that shouldn’t count (sick leave, jury duty, bereavement). |
| Requires approval | If on, requests enter a pending state until a manager reviews them. If off, they’re auto-approved at submission. |
| Minimum notice (days) | Blocks requests submitted fewer than N days before the start date. Leave at 0 for no minimum. |
| Description | Shown on the request form — use this to clarify policy (e.g., “Submit doctor’s note after 3+ days”). |
Recommended starting set
Section titled “Recommended starting set”Most teams start with something like:
- Annual leave — deducts from allowance, requires approval, minimum notice of 7–14 days.
- Sick leave — does not deduct, does not require approval. Members log retroactively.
- Parental leave — does not deduct (tracked separately by HR), requires approval.
- Unpaid leave — does not deduct, requires approval.
You can always add more later — personal days, study leave, WFH, compassionate leave, etc.
After the wizard
Section titled “After the wizard”Once you click Finish, you’re dropped at Settings → Team, ready to invite your first members. From here:
- Invite your team or bulk-import from CSV.
- If you have multiple departments, set them up first — see departments — so you can assign members as you invite them.
- Review the auto-synced public holidays for your country. Set a county/state code under Settings → Organization if you need regional holidays.
Changing wizard answers later
Section titled “Changing wizard answers later”Nothing in the wizard is permanent. Every setting lives in the settings pages afterward:
- Team basics → Settings → Organization
- Default work pattern → Settings → Organization
- Leave year & carryover → Settings → Organization
- Leave types → Settings → Leave types