# Leave Dates — Absence Management

Leave Dates by Leave Dates Ltd holds a panel rating of 1.5/5 from 6 AI judges (category median 1.5/5), as of 2026-10-15. Provenance: UK / wider Europe; sovereignty: not determined.

- Vendor: Leave Dates Ltd (https://www.leavedates.com)
- Category: [Absence Management](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management.md)
- Provenance (editorial classification): UK / wider Europe
- Canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/leave-dates
- Alternatives: https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/leave-dates/alternatives ([markdown](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/leave-dates/alternatives.md))
- Data as of: 2026-10-21 · evaluated 2026-10-15 · oldest source captured 2026-10-01

**AI-generated.** Every score, rationale and verdict here is written by a panel of AI judges from public evidence — an analysis, not a hands-on test. Every fact quotes the vendor page it was read from. No score can be bought. How scores are made: https://whats-best.ai/methodology

## At a glance

- Vendor: Leave Dates Ltd
- Headquarters: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Data hosting: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Free plan: Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026
- Starting price: “After the trial, pricing plans start from £0.75 per person, per month, with no minimum contract.” (vendor’s words) [S3]

## The panel's verdict

Leave Dates, an absence-management product from Leave Dates Ltd, registered in England and Wales, is strongest at everyday requests and approvals — scores cluster at 6-7, crediting mobile requests, a shared colour-coded wall chart and pre-booking checks for overlaps, balances and understaffing — and weakest at regulated German sick-leave handling, at 1-2, where we found no public information on the electronic certificate of incapacity, the six-week continued-pay limit or BEM. Leave policies score 4-6: automatic proration, configurable carry-over and day-or-hour tracking are documented, but every stated rule is the UK's Working Time Regulations and its 5.6 weeks, and we found no public information on German federal-state holidays. Sovereignty sits at 0-1, with hosting location, ownership and subprocessors unstated, and pricing transparency at 1-2: tier names Essential and Plus are public but no price figures, minimum users or minimum term appear, so an annual invoice is not computable. Payroll handover scored 4 with no spread, and absence data protection 3-4, with role-based access claimed alongside terms permitting aggregated, anonymised data use. The judges did not meaningfully split.

**Speaks for it:**
- Mobile and web requests and approvals with pre-booking checks for overlaps, insufficient balances and team understaffing
- Automatic proration for starters, leavers and part-timers, with allowances tracked in days or hours
- Configurable carry-over with a maximum and expiry deadline, tracked automatically, with manual override and locking of system values
- Excel export in every plan, with API, webhooks and Zapier documented as integration routes
- Calendar sync with Google and Outlook, Slack summaries and email notifications, and a shared colour-coded wall chart

**Held against it:**
- Every documented statutory rule is UK law — Working Time Regulations 1998, the 5.6-week minimum, the 12.07% accrual — and we found no public information on German federal-state holidays or on keeping statutory and contractual entitlement apart
- We found no public information on eAU retrieval, sick certificates, the six-week continued-pay limit, BEM or child-sick days
- We found no public information on a named payroll system such as DATEV, on mapping absence types to payroll codes, or on monthly period closing
- Hosting location, ownership and subprocessors are unstated, and the contracting entity is Leave Dates Ltd, registered in England and Wales — outside the EU
- No price figures, pricing basis, minimum user count or minimum term appear on the captured pages, so an annual invoice is not computable

**Best for:**
- You need an everyday planner for requesting, approving and reporting on annual leave, where the bench's scores cluster highest at 6-7
- Your team mixes full-timers, part-timers, starters and leavers and needs automatic proration, day-or-hour allowances and configurable carry-over
- You operate under UK leave law, whose 5.6-week formulas and part-time entitlement examples the documented guidance follows
- Your payroll handover can work from Excel export or API, webhook and Zapier routes rather than a named payroll connector

**Avoid if:**
- You must run German sick leave end to end — the eAU, the six-week continued-pay limit, BEM and child-sick days stay outside what the captured pages document, and scores sit at 1-2
- Your payroll chain needs a named German payroll system such as DATEV, absence-to-payroll-code mapping and a monthly period lock — the documented route ends at Excel export, API, webhooks and Zapier
- You require documented data residency, a subprocessor list and a data-processing agreement covering sickness data before signing — sovereignty scored 0-1 and the contracting entity is registered in England and Wales
- You need to compute your annual invoice from published prices — only tier names and a feature comparison are public, with no price figures, minimum users or minimum term

## Scores by judge and criterion

Scores out of 5, each judge scoring independently against the published rubric (v1). "n/r" = not rated: the vendor publishes no price.

| Criterion | The Team Lead | The Managing Director | The Payroll Accountant | The Data Protection Officer | The HR IT Integrator | The Skeptic |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Entitlements & German leave rules | 2.5/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 |
| Requests, approvals & team calendar | 3.5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Sick leave, eAU & continued pay | 1/5 | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 1/5 |
| Payroll handover, time tracking & API | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| Health data, access & works council | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 1.5/5 | 2/5 | 1.5/5 |
| European sovereignty | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0.5/5 | 0.5/5 | 0/5 |
| Pricing transparency | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 0.5/5 |
| **Weighted verdict** | **2.5/5** | **1.5/5** | **1.5/5** | **1.5/5** | **1.5/5** | **1.5/5** |

### The judges

- **The Team Lead** (v1.0): Approves leave for twelve people across two shifts and finds out about clashes too late. Wants requests and approvals on the phone, a named substitute on every request, minimum-staffing warnings before approval, and a team calendar that shows who is away without showing why.
- **The Managing Director** (v1.0): Runs a forty-person company in two federal states without an HR department and is liable when leave is calculated wrong. Wants part-time entitlements prorated correctly, the right public holidays per site, carry-over that lapses only after employees were told, and the eAU handled without a phone call to every health insurer.
- **The Payroll Accountant** (v1.0): Closes payroll in DATEV every month and corrects whatever arrived late. Wants absences exported with the right payroll codes, the eAU result attached to the sick day, the six-week continued-pay limit counted per illness, and past months locked once they are paid.
- **The Data Protection Officer** (v1.0): Treats every sick day as special-category data, because the law does. Asks who can see a reason or a certificate, how long absence records are kept and deleted, whether access is logged, where the data is hosted, and which subprocessors send the push notification that says someone is ill.
- **The HR IT Integrator** (v1.0): Wires the absence tool to payroll, time tracking, the identity provider and the calendar. Wants a documented API and webhooks, maintained connectors for the named German payroll systems rather than a CSV, SSO, and balances that agree with the time-tracking system on both sides.
- **The Skeptic** (v1.0): Knows "eAU supported" can mean a photo upload, "DATEV integration" can mean a CSV, and "GDPR-compliant" can mean every manager sees every diagnosis-adjacent note. Reads for who actually retrieves the certificate, which leave rules are computed rather than typed in, and whether the carry-over expiry notice exists at all.

## European sovereignty — proven facts

Built only from facts on the vendor's own pages; a dimension we could not prove is left open, never scored as zero. Headline: not determined.

| Dimension | Finding | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | — |
| Ownership | Not determined | — | — |
| Data residency | Not determined | — | — |
| Subprocessors | Not determined | — | — |

## Key facts

Each fact is the vendor's own statement, cited to the source page it was read from ([S*n*] → Sources).

**Compliance**
- Breach notification: notify Customer without undue delay [S5]
- Cyber essentials: Cyber Essentials [S2]
- Data deletion on termination: delete or return personal data on termination or account deletion [S5]
- DPA role: controller · processor [S5]
- Encrypted storage: yes [S8]
- Encryption: yes · yes [S2]
- GDPR: yes [S1]
- GDPR page: yes [S1]
- Privacy policy available: yes · Privacy · GDPR · Cookie Policy · Terms & Conditions · Terms of Use [S4]
- Stripe pci: PCI Service Provider Level 1 · no [S2]

**Data**
- Aggregated anonymised use: yes · analytics · benchmarking · statistical analysis · research · insights · industry reporting · product improvement · security · support [S5]
- Backup recovery: Supplier maintains back-up; restore from latest back-up is sole remedy [S5]
- Customer ownership: yes [S5]
- Receipts: VAT receipts by email and saved in billing area [S2]

**Integrations**
- Bank holidays: 200+ [S3]
- Bulk import: Bulk data import tools for employees, leave and allowances from spreadsheets or legacy systems [S8]
- Calendar sync: google_calendar · outlook [S8]
- Calendars and tools: yes · yes · yes [S3]
- Free tools: Leave Tracker for Google Sheets · Holiday Entitlement Calculator · Bradford Factor Calculator · Time-Off Checklist - Infographic [S7]
- Page available: yes [S1]
- Page exists: yes [S1]
- Plus API: yes · yes · yes [S2]
- Reports email slack: email · slack [S8]
- Sheet tool: Free tools: Leave Tracker for Google Sheets, Holiday Entitlement Calculator, Bradford Factor Calculator [S1]
- Third party access: yes [S5]
- Zapier API: yes · yes [S8]

**Legal**
- Copyright: 2026 · Leave Dates [S9]
- Entity: Leave Dates Ltd · England and Wales · United Kingdom · 16774634 [S5]
- Entity name: Leave Dates · 2026 [S4]
- Pages: Legal pages: Privacy, GDPR, Cookie Policy, Terms & Conditions, Terms of Use [S1]
- Part time protection principle: part-time workers cannot be treated less favourably than full-time workers [S6]
- Terms last updated: 2026-07-30 [S5]

**Pricing**
- Additional subscriptions prorated: yes [S5]
- Carry over availability: any subscription [S7]
- Currencies: GBP, USD, EUR selectable [S2]
- Downgrade timing: yes [S2]
- Essential price: GBP · 18 · 1.5 · yearly [S2]
- Fee increase notice: 7 [S5]
- Free trial: 30 · yes · no [S1]
- Free trial: 30 · no [S7]
- Free trial: yes · 30 · no [S9]
- Free trial days: 30 · yes · no [S1]
- Late payment interest: 4 [S5]
- Liability cap: total Subscription Fees paid in preceding 12 months [S5]
- No contract: no [S2]
- Payment method: payment card billed by Supplier and/or Stripe [S5]
- Payment methods: major credit and debit cards [S2]
- Payment processor: Stripe [S2]
- Payment upfront: no [S2]
- Plus price: GBP · 22.5 · 1.88 · yearly [S2]
- Starter price: GBP · 9 · 0.75 · yearly [S2]
- Starting price: no · 0.75 [S3]
- Subscription terms: 1 · 12 [S5]
- Trial: 30 [S2]
- Trial: yes · 30 [S8]
- Upgrade timing: yes [S2]
- User definition: all employees count as users; archived employees do not [S2]
- VAT exclusive: yes [S2]
- VAT treatment: yes [S5]

**Product**
- Absence tracking: Unlimited configurable absence types tracked, shown in different coloured bars [S8]
- Accrual example: 3.6 [S6]
- Allowance calculations: yes · yes · yes [S3]
- Allowance tracking: Employees track entitled and booked/taken leave against allowance [S8]
- Allowance units: days · hours · yes [S2]
- Archive employees: Essential · Plus [S2]
- Audit and access: yes · yes · yes [S3]
- Auto approval: Leave booked by an approver is approved automatically; no individual approval needed [S9]
- Auto approve pending: Admins/approvers can automatically approve or decline pending leave requests [S9]
- Availability: 24/7 [S1]
- Bank holiday substitute rule: substitute day off or extra allowance for part-timers not working bank holiday days [S6]
- Benchmark report: Benchmark Report based on almost 750,000 leave requests [S1]
- Benchmark report: yes [S1]
- Best practice track in hours: track leave in hours [S6]
- Booking email notifications: Email notifications with leave dates sent once booked and approved [S9]
- Bulk department selection: Bulk requests can select multiple employees or an entire department at once [S9]
- Bulk error checks: Errors flagged before booking [S9]
- Bulk request permissions: Only admin users/approvers can make multi-person leave requests, for anyone or their direct reports [S9]
- Bulk uploads: yes [S2]
- Carry over automation: yes · calculate unused leave at year-end · apply carry-over limit · add amount to new leave year · track expiry automatically [S7]
- Carry over manual override: yes · yes [S7]
- Carry over policy config: carry over · max days to carry over · expiry deadline [S7]
- Carry over setup location: Settings → Allowances · settings_location [S7]
- Change hours entitlement method: accrue on old schedule plus new schedule, update balance [S6]
- Charts: Wall chart and Year chart [S2]
- Client access for consultants: Customer is a consultant providing HR, accounting or similar services · yes [S5]
- Compliance UK: yes [S3]
- Core features: unlimited employees and leave in all plans [S2]
- Core purpose: annual leave planner for requesting, approving and reporting on leave [S1]
- Custom leave policies: Pre-loaded statutory leave types plus custom leave policies [S8]
- Custom leave types: yes · yes · yes [S8]
- Custom policies: yes [S3]
- Demo: yes · 30 [S8]
- Demo booking: yes [S4]
- Document storage: yes [S3]
- Emergency leave: emergency leave / time off for dependants covered [S3]
- Employee access: Employees have 24/7 access to their leave entitlement [S1]
- Employee self service: Employees self-serve: view requests, who's off, and remaining balance [S8]
- Employee self service: yes [S1]
- Essential calendar sync: Outlook and Google Calendar sync incl. shared company calendar (Essential) [S2]
- Essential requests: multi-person requests, overlaps, handovers, limits (Essential) [S2]
- Essential slack: daily Slack summary report (Essential) [S2]
- Essential toil: TOIL management (Essential) [S2]
- Example part time 3 days: 16.8 [S6]
- Export excel: yes [S2]
- Fixed days formula: pro_rated_days · days_worked * 5.6 [S6]
- Fixed hours formula: pro_rated_hours · hours_per_week * 5.6 [S6]
- Free tools: Leave Tracker for Google Sheets, Holiday Entitlement Calculator, Bradford Factor Calculator, Time-Off Checklist Infographic [S4]
- Free tools: yes · yes · yes · yes [S1]
- Full time example 28 days: 28 [S6]
- Full time hours example: 210 [S6]
- Guides access: 24/7 access to step-by-step guides [S9]
- Industries: Industries: Creative Agencies, Property & Surveyors, Local Councils, Recruitment, Retail, Accounting & Legal Services [S1]
- Industries: Creative Agencies · Property & Surveyors · Local Councils · Recruitment · Retail · Accounting & Legal Services [S1]
- Industries served: Creative Agencies · Property & Surveyors · Local Councils · Recruitment · Retail · Accounting & Legal Services [S4]
- Irregular hours accrual rate: 5.6 weeks of 46.8 working weeks · accrual · 12.07 [S6]
- Leave accrues during maternity: yes [S6]
- Leave accrues during sickness: yes [S6]
- Leave software capabilities: automatic pro-rata calculations · consistent policy application · bank holiday handling · employee-visible balances [S6]
- Leave types: annual leave · sick leave · public holidays · parental leave · unpaid leave · TOIL · custom leave types [S3]
- Long term sick carryover: 4 [S6]
- Mobile app: yes [S1]
- Mobile app: yes · yes [S3]
- Mobile app: yes · yes [S8]
- Mobile app: yes [S1]
- Mobile app available: yes [S4]
- Multi person requests: Multi-person (bulk) leave request feature [S9]
- Overlap alerts: Overlapping bookings are highlighted to the approver [S8]
- Parental leave: maternity · paternity · adoption · shared parental · unpaid parental [S3]
- Part time hours example: 112 [S6]
- Part time same rights: yes [S6]
- Pending visualization: Leave types awaiting approval shown with striped bars in the wall chart [S8]
- Platforms: yes · yes [S2]
- Platforms: yes [S7]
- Plus custom leave year: personalised leave-year start dates (Plus) [S2]
- Plus SSO: SSO (Plus) [S2]
- Plus unlimited allowances: unlimited allowances (Plus) [S2]
- Privacy options: Privacy options control visibility of leave and absence [S8]
- Ratings: 4.8 · Capterra · 300+ [S3]
- Recommend live dynamic balances: leave balances update live when hours change [S6]
- Reporting: reporting and insights [S3]
- Reporting: Reporting solution giving access to all data [S8]
- Request channels: yes · yes · yes [S3]
- Rolled up holiday pay rules: eligible irregular-hours workers · part-year workers [S6]
- Rounding up: up [S6]
- Scalability: 1000+ · 2 [S3]
- Services description: subscription services via website and Leave Dates mobile application [S5]
- Settings permissions: Comprehensive settings and permissions for admin control [S9]
- Shared calendar: Requested holidays update on a shared virtual wall chart visible to everyone [S8]
- Software purpose: web and mobile software application to help plan and track staff leave [S5]
- Status page: yes [S1]
- Statutory leave reference: UK statutory annual leave 5.6 weeks per year (guide content) [S3]
- Toil: Time off in lieu (TOIL) tracked and automatically increases leave allowance [S8]

**Support**
- Channel: Customer service described as prompt and helpful (testimonial) [S1]
- Channels: yes · yes · yes · 30 [S3]
- Demo: yes [S1]
- Setup time: under 30 [S3]
- Status page: yes [S1]
- Status page: yes [S4]
- Trial support: dedicated support in final trial week [S2]
- Uptime commitment: commercially reasonable endeavours, 24/7 · planned maintenance 2.00 am to 6.00 am UK time · unscheduled maintenance outside Normal Business Hours with at least 6 Normal Business Hours’ notice [S5]

6 more facts on the canonical page: https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/leave-dates

## Questions

### Is Leave Dates European?

Yes, though not from the EU. whats-best.ai classifies Leave Dates as UK / wider Europe.

### Where does Leave Dates store data?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026.

### Does Leave Dates have a free plan?

Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 13 Oct 2026.

### What are the best alternatives to Leave Dates?

As of 15 Oct 2026, the panel rates [Kenjo (3/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/kenjo), [flair (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/flair-hr) and [HRlab (2.5/5)](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/hrlab) highest among the other 16 Absence Management products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is [Kenjo](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/kenjo) (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: [how scores are made](https://whats-best.ai/methodology#ordering). The full list, with European products first: [Leave Dates alternatives](https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/leave-dates/alternatives).

## What this page leaves out

- 8 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 4 pricing facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 subprocessors facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 compliance fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 integrations fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 1 support fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material.
- 2 sovereignty dimensions could not be confirmed on the vendor’s own pages and are shown as unknown.
- 6 of the readings below were written against an earlier fact sheet — a fact has been corrected, added or pulled since. Until the panel next runs on this product you are reading the older judgement.

## Sources

- [S1] Vendor homepage: https://www.leavedates.com/ (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S2] Pricing page: https://www.leavedates.com/pricing-plans (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S3] Absence management: https://www.leavedates.com/absence-management-software (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S4] Privacy policy: https://www.leavedates.com/privacy-policy (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S5] Terms of service: https://www.leavedates.com/terms-conditions (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S6] Entitlements & German leave rules — found from sitemap: https://www.leavedates.com/articles/part-time-holiday-entitlement (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S7] Entitlements & German leave rules — found from sitemap: https://www.leavedates.com/features/carry-over (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S8] Requests, approvals & team calendar — found from sitemap: https://www.leavedates.com/employee-leave-calendar (checked 2026-10-13)
- [S9] Requests, approvals & team calendar — found from sitemap: https://www.leavedates.com/features/multi-person-leave-requests (checked 2026-10-13)

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Cite as: whats-best.ai, "Leave Dates — Absence Management", AI panel analysis, as of 2026-10-21. https://whats-best.ai/software/absence-management/leave-dates

Corrections: https://whats-best.ai/correct/544?target=page