Activity rate including leave
Ratio of days worked to potential working days with paid leave kept in the denominator, measuring total capacity use across the full theoretical calendar.
Definition
The including-leave rate divides the number of days a consultant actually worked by the total potential working days in a given period, then multiplies by 100 to express a percentage. The key rule is that paid leave and reduced-working-time days stay inside the denominator rather than being subtracted, so the figure always reflects the full theoretical calendar available to the firm.
Because leave stays in the denominator, the including-leave rate is always less than or equal to the excluding-leave activity rate for the same person over the same window, and it naturally dips during holiday-heavy months even when day-to-day productivity is perfectly normal. This is a management practice. The Syntec labour convention (IDCC 1486) does not define it.
Formula
Activity rate including leave = (days worked / potential working days) x 100, where potential working days include paid leave and reduced-working-time days in the denominator.
Example: A consultant works 18 days in a month with 22 potential working days, of which 4 are reduced-working-time days. Activity rate including leave = 18 / 22 x 100 = 81.8%.
Why it matters
The including-leave rate answers total-capacity questions: what share of the firm's entire theoretical calendar, holidays included, did we actually convert into billed work. Because leave stays in the denominator, a low number in August does not signal a productivity problem; it signals that people are on holiday. Use the including-leave rate for year-level or capacity-level views, and pair it with the excluding-leave activity rate for month-to-month steering, because comparing raw including-leave rates across teams with different holiday schedules can be misleading.
How to improve your including-leave rate
- 1
Record leave as early as possible so both the including-leave rate and the excluding-leave activity rate stay honest and no one guesses whether a missing day was unbilled or simply a holiday.
- 2
Validate timesheets weekly so billed days land in the correct month and the denominator does not drift when a timesheet is corrected after the fact.
- 3
Read the including-leave rate and the excluding-leave activity rate side by side and label each number clearly so nobody accidentally compares one team's including-leave rate to another team's excluding-leave rate.
How Okouro shows it
Okouro computes activity ratios continuously from validated timesheets and the working calendar. Leave recorded by consultants feeds the same calendar automatically, so the including-leave rate and the excluding-leave activity rate stay aligned without manual reconciliation. A free plan is available.