A TOIL tracker keeps a balance of time off in lieu: the hours an employee worked beyond their contract that they will take back as time off rather than pay. It is the same shape as the annual leave record, earned, taken and left, with one difference that matters: TOIL is earned in hours as they happen, so the balance moves every week, and a spreadsheet that is updated monthly is always wrong. This page is about what the tracker has to hold, the rules a TOIL policy needs, and how to keep it beside annual leave on one wall chart without the two being confused.
Earned in hours, taken in hours
TOIL is earned when extra hours are worked and agreed as lieu time rather than overtime pay, so the record is per event: date, hours, who agreed it. It is taken in hours or part days, and the balance is the difference. Recording TOIL in days from the start hides the half hours it is actually made of; keep hours and show days alongside at the person's own day length, the same rule as for annual leave in hours.
The rules a TOIL policy needs
Whether lieu time is one for one or at a higher rate, who can agree it in advance, how long it can be held before it is taken or lapses, and what happens to the balance when someone leaves. Without an expiry, TOIL accumulates into a liability nobody planned; without a rule on agreement, it is claimed after the fact. Those four lines belong in the same policy as annual leave, and the policy template on this site has room for them.
Keep TOIL and annual leave apart, on one chart
The two balances are separate: annual leave is a statutory entitlement that accrues with the year, TOIL is discretionary and earned by the hour, and a day taken should be recorded against one or the other, never both. On the paid wall chart on this site a request names which balance it draws on, so the chart shows who is off either way and each balance stays right.
Leavers and the TOIL balance
Whether untaken TOIL is paid on leaving is a matter for the contract, and the policy should say. Either way the balance at the leaving date has to be right, which is the reason to keep it per event rather than as a running number someone adjusts from memory. The annual leave figure for the final pay is a separate calculation on the accrual page of this site, and the two are paid on different rules.
Questions people ask about toil tracker
What is a TOIL tracker?
A record of time off in lieu: hours of extra work agreed as lieu time, hours of it taken, and the balance, kept per employee alongside but separate from annual leave.
Should TOIL be recorded in hours or days?
Hours, because it is earned in hours and half hours. Show days alongside at the person's own working day length.
Does TOIL expire?
Only if the policy says so, and it should: a holding period after which lieu time must be taken or lapses stops the balance becoming a liability.
Is untaken TOIL paid when someone leaves?
Only if the contract or policy provides for it. State the rule in advance and keep the balance per event so the leaving figure is right.