The sandwich rule says that when an employee is on leave or absent on the working days immediately before and after a week-off or holiday, the days in between are treated as leave too. It exists to stop one day of leave on Friday and one on Monday turning into a four-day break for the price of two.
A simple example
An employee takes leave on Friday and Monday. Saturday and Sunday are week-offs. Under the sandwich rule all four days are counted, so the balance drops by four instead of two.
When it makes sense
- Shift-based or plant operations where weekend cover is planned around attendance.
- Companies with generous leave balances that want to discourage bridging.
When to switch it off
- Office teams with flexible work, where the rule feels punitive.
- When you only mean it for unpaid absence — say clearly in the policy which one you mean.
How PeopleOS applies it
The attendance policy has a sandwich setting. When it is on, the register shows the extra days in a separate Weekend LOP column, so HR can see exactly why paid days dropped instead of discovering it on the payslip.
Whatever you choose, write it in the leave policy and apply it the same way to everyone.