This article explains how to set up leave of absence (LOA) automations so your team automatically gets a reward around the start or end of their leave. You need admin access for this.
What do leave of absence automations do?
Leave of absence automations send a reward automatically when someone's leave starts or ends, without an admin having to remember to send it manually. You'll find this automation at Organization → Rewards → Leave of absence. Each rule watches for a person's leave start date or leave end date and, when it matches your timing settings, sends the reward you've configured.
Why do I need to enter leave dates manually?
Leave of absence dates must be entered directly in PerkUp on the person's record — they do not sync from your HRIS system. If a person's leave start or end date isn't set in PerkUp, a leave of absence rule can't match them and no reward will send. Double-check that leave dates are entered for anyone you expect an LOA automation to reach.
What can I filter LOA rules by?
A leave of absence rule can optionally filter by leave type (for example, parental leave or medical leave), so you can send different rewards for different kinds of leave. If you turn on a leave type filter, the rule only matches people whose leave type is set on their record — a rule with a leave type filter enabled will not match anyone whose leave type is blank. Leave this filter off if you want the rule to apply to every type of leave.
How do I control when the reward sends?
Leave of absence rules let you choose send timing relative to the leave start date: before, after, or on the date, plus a number of days (minimum 1). For example, you could send a reward 3 days before someone's leave starts, or on the day their leave begins.
There's also a "send if added late" catch-up setting for people whose leave dates are entered after the rule would normally have fired:
For "Before" timing, the catch-up window is your chosen number of days plus 2 additional days.
For "After" or "On the date" timing, the catch-up window is a fixed 5 days.
These catch-up windows are fixed presets — you can't enter a custom number of grace days. See "Choosing when automations send (timing & offsets)" for more on how send timing works across automations.
How do I configure the reward, budget, and recipients?
Leave of absence rules use the same configuration options as other automations:
Budget — the dollar amount of the reward.
Reward — the specific gift (PerkUp dollars, swag, catalog item, gift card, or Amazon) sent when the rule fires.
Send mode — email (the recipient gets a redemption email and chooses/redeems their own reward) or direct mail, if the selected reward supports direct-send fulfillment.
Recipients — label filters to target specific groups (for example, department or employment type); leave filters empty to include everyone.
Recipient expiry — how many days the reward stays claimable (up to 365 days) for email-mode sends; not applicable to direct mail.
Balance — the funding account the reward draws from.
You can enable or disable a leave of absence rule at any time without deleting it. See "Work anniversary automations" and "Birthday automations" for more on how these shared automation controls behave, and "Editing a running automation or program" if you need to change a rule that's already active.