Approving absence requests

This article is for managers and HR staff who approve absence requests, and for administrators who set up approval circuits. It explains where to find requests, how to decide, and how the circuit works.

Before you start #

• Seeing requests to approve: “View requests pending approval”, Access level, and “Approvals — Absences” in the Workflows module.
• Deciding: “Approve / reject / delegate a request”, Execute level. In the Workflows screen, the buttons also require “Approve a request”, “Reject a request” and “Delegate an approval” at the Execute level. By default: Administrator, Payroll Manager, Manager and HR Manager.
• Answering a replacement request: “Respond to a substitution request”, Execute level.
• Setting up circuits: access to Settings › Manage Employees › Workflows (“Settings — Approval settings”).

Finding requests to approve #

Open Workflows › Absences. The Approvals — Absences tab shows:

• counters for Pending, Approved and Rejected (your own requests are not counted);
• the Approvals list, in three sections: Pending, Processed (decisions from the last 30 days) and My requests, read-only.

A row prefixed “Cancellation —” is a request to cancel an absence that is already approved; “Substitute request —” is a request addressed to the replacement; “Certificate —” is a supporting document to review. Request notifications open the right row directly.

Reviewing a request #

Click a row. The details show:

• the Approval workflow timeline with the circuit’s steps;
• the Trigger, Current step, Approver, Start date and Time left;
• the History of actions (submitted, approved, rejected, delegated, step skipped);
• the supporting document: View certificate, or Missing certificate.

Deciding #

1. Accept: the request moves to the next step of the circuit, or is approved if it was the last step.
2. Reject: enter the Rejection reason (mandatory), then Confirm rejection. The reason is sent to the employee and shown in their history.
3. Delegate: choose the person in Delegate to, then Confirm. They must themselves be able to approve this employee’s absences; you cannot delegate to yourself or to the requester.

You can also decide from the calendar: the card of a pending request offers Approve and Reject. With access to Workflows › Approvals, the bulk decision lets you approve or reject up to 100 selected requests, with a shared rejection reason. Approvers connected to Microsoft Teams or Slack can also accept or reject from the card they receive; the email contains a link to the request.

What blocks a decision #

• You never decide your own request.
• If the type requires a certificate before approval and it is missing, approval is refused; rejection remains possible.
• An absence in a payroll period that has already been approved can no longer be decided.
• In a multi-step circuit, only the approvers of the current step can decide.

What the decision changes #

• While it is waiting, the request reserves its days in the employee’s balance (“Pending” column).
• Once approved, it moves into “Planned”, then into “Used” once the date has passed. If the type is set up for Outlook, the absence is written to the employee’s connected calendar.
• Once rejected, it frees its days.
• The employee is notified of the final decision; in a multi-step circuit, the next approver is notified at each step.

Replacements and cancellations #

• Replacement: when an employee names a replacement, that person first receives a replacement request. The approval circuit only starts after they agree; if they refuse, the absence is rejected.
• Cancellation: for a type that requires deletion approval, cancelling an approved absence reaches you as a “Cancellation —” request. Accepting it deletes the absence and credits the balance back; rejecting it leaves the absence in place.

Setting up the approval circuit #

Circuits are set up in Settings › Manage Employees › Workflows.

• The Absence request circuit template defines who approves requests, by absence type and by population. It starts from the Leave request submitted trigger.
• Its branches allow different paths depending on the condition Absence type is one of… (checkboxes) or Employee population (rules on record or role): role held, gender, nationality, employment type, hire date, etc.
• Without an active circuit, the request follows the Fallback circuit — line manager: it goes to the employee’s line manager. This circuit is created inactive with the first request and remains visible and editable in Workflows.

The Global settings tab of the same page has three settings under Absence management:

Good to know #

• A request can be approved without a human decision: automatic approval of a compliant request set on the type, short leave, or direct entry by HR with “Skip approval”. The calendar shows this on the card (“Automatically”, “Directly, at entry”).
• The rejection reason is mandatory. On the calendar card, enter it before clicking Reject: without a reason, the rejection is not saved.
• The emails sent (request to approve, approved, rejected, cancellation, replacement, certificate pending) can be customised in Settings › Manage Illizeo › Email, “Absences & Time” category.