Write the leave policy in one sitting, then use the same numbers in the bot
A startup does not need 40 leave types. It needs annual, sick, unpaid, and the statutory extras for the country where you employ people. Here is a skeleton you can paste.
The failure mode is two documents. The offer letter says 25 days. The spreadsheet says 21. Slack says "just take it." Then an audit asks for the policy, and you send a Notion page last edited by someone who left.
Write one policy and put the same numbers in Leave Keeper. If you employ in the UAE, start from the UAE and GCC version. The skeleton below fits a 15 to 80 person company in the US, the UK, or the UAE.
Section 1: who it covers
Employees on payroll. Contractors only if you choose to track their time off as a courtesy, with its own policy. State that choice in writing. Contractors who message the boss and skip the bot never reach the daily post, and nobody knows they are out.
Section 2: annual leave, one country's numbers
Do not mix. One legal employer, one annual rule.
UAE private sector. 30 days after one year of service. 2 days per month if service is over six months and under one year. Unused days are paid on exit at basic wage. Carry-over needs employer consent. The employer cannot stop an employee using accrued leave for more than two consecutive years, unless the employee chooses carry-over or cash. Source: u.ae "Types of leaves", dated 14 Oct 2026.
UK. The statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks of paid holiday, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week, and employers can count bank holidays toward it. Many startups write 25 days plus bank holidays instead. Pick one and write it down. Leave Keeper's UK calendar is the bank holiday list. You still type the entitlement yourself.
US. There is no federal paid annual leave for private-sector staff. Write the number you sold in the offer (10, 15, or 20 days) and whether it accrues each pay period or lands on the anniversary. Leave Keeper stores a number and an accrual flag. It does not know your state's sick leave law, so add a separate sick policy with your state's number.
Section 3: sick leave
UAE. Up to 90 days a year of service after probation: 15 at full pay, 30 at half pay, 45 unpaid. The employee tells you within 3 days and brings a medical report. See the UAE sick leave rules.
UK. Statutory Sick Pay is paid from the first full day of sickness since 6 April 2026, at 80% of average weekly earnings or £123.25 a week, whichever is lower (GOV.UK, 2026 to 2027). Either follow SSP alone or write a company top-up, for example 10 full-pay days and then SSP. Put the top-up in as stage one and SSP as the next type. Leave Keeper counts days. It does not calculate SSP pounds.
US. Follow your state law if it has one. Otherwise write a company number, often 5 or 10 days in a small team, so people do not drain annual leave.
Section 4: extras to name even when rare
UAE. Maternity is 60 days (45 at full pay, 15 at half pay). Parental leave is 5 working days. Hajj leave is unpaid, up to 30 days, once per employer. Study leave is 10 working days a year for an employee in accredited study with at least two years of service. Bereavement is 5 days for a spouse and 3 days for a parent, child, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent.
US and UK. Parental and bereavement rules depend on statute and on what you offered. Write "we follow statute, plus X company days" and skip numbers copied from a blog.
That list already fills most of Team's 8 policies. Keep Business's 20 for a second country.
Section 5: how to request
Use one sentence: "Request in Slack with /leave, or in Teams on Business. Do not send a side email. Approval is the card. The daily who-is-off post is how the company knows. A yes in the corridor is not a yes."
If you cannot enforce that sentence, the bot becomes a second spreadsheet.
Section 6: skip until you have counsel
Unlimited PTO with no recorded cap. Non-compete language. DIFC rules versus onshore rules. Saudi social insurance interactions. Equity vesting during leave. None of these belong in a 15-person Notion page copied from social media. Leave Keeper will not draft them.
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