---
title: Handling HR requests (HR team)
description: "HR team: work the request queue, take a request in hand, reply to the employee or leave an internal note, move the status forward and keep to the announced deadlines."
url: "https://illizeo.com/en/centre-aide/hr-requests-handle-requests/"
updated: "2026-11-01"
category: HR requests
---

# Handling HR requests (HR team)

This article is for the HR team: it explains how to work the request queue, take a request in hand, talk with the employee or leave notes for colleagues, move the status forward and keep to the announced deadlines.

## Before you start

- Your role must hold the permission "Handle the HR request queue" at the **Execute** level. By default it is granted to the HR Manager and Administrator roles.
- Without it, the **Team queue** tab does not appear and only your own requests are visible.

## The team queue

Open **HR requests › Team queue**. The table shows:

![Team queue tab: requests with urgency, requester, date, status and Take button](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/hr-requests-overview-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The team queue, with the status filters and the Take button.

| Column | Content |
| --- | --- |
| Urgency | "Urgent" when the employee chose, in the form, the value that makes the request urgent. |
| Request | The request type; a click opens its details. |
| Requester | The employee who submitted the request. |
| Submitted | The submission date and, if the type announces deadlines, the "First response by…" and "Resolution by…" deadlines (in red once missed), plus the "Escalated" label where relevant. |
| Status | The handling status. |
| Action | The **Take** button, or the label "Taken" if someone has already taken the request. |

By default, urgent requests come first, then the queue is ordered by status and date. Clicking the **Urgency**, **Submitted** or **Status** header sorts the queue on that column alone (a second click reverses the order): urgent requests are then no longer necessarily at the top. The queue is split into pages of 25 requests.

The buttons above the table filter by status: **All**, **New**, **In progress**, **Waiting for your reply**, **Resolved**, **Closed**.

![Team queue filtered on the New status](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/hr-requests-handle-requests-01.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The queue filtered on "New".

### Taking a request

1. Find the request in **Team queue**.
2. Click **Take** in the **Action** column.

The request moves to "In progress", you become its handler and the employee is notified. If a colleague took it just before you, the message "Someone else took this request first." appears: a request is never taken twice.

## Handling a request

Click a request's name to open its details. You will find the employee's answers (**Your answers**), the **Attachments**, the **Conversation** and, at the top right, the status list.

### Changing the status

1. At the top right of the details, open the status list.
2. Choose the new status. The message "Status updated" confirms the change.

![Request details on the HR side: status list open at the top right](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/hr-requests-handle-requests-02.en_.png?resize=800%2C500&quality=80&ssl=1)
The status list, at the top right of the details.

The employee is notified of every actual status change. Choose "Waiting for your reply" when you need information from them: as soon as they reply in the conversation, the request goes back to "In progress" on its own.

### Writing to the employee or leaving an internal note

1. Under **Conversation**, type your text in the "Write a message…" field.
2. For a note meant for the team only, tick **Internal note (hidden from the requester)**: the button becomes **Add internal note**.
3. Click **Send** or **Add internal note**.

![Conversation with the Internal note box ticked and the Add internal note button](https://i0.wp.com/illizeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/hr-requests-handle-requests-03.en_.png?resize=800%2C176&quality=80&ssl=1)
"Internal note" ticked: the button becomes "Add internal note".

|  | Message | Internal note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seen by the employee | Yes | Never |
| Who is notified | The employee when HR writes; the request's handler (or, failing that, the team) when the employee writes | The HR team only |
| Use | Questions, answers, information | Coordination between HR staff, background, checks |

In the conversation, an internal note carries the "Internal note" label.

### Drafting with the AI assistant

If artificial intelligence is enabled for your workspace, the **Draft**, **Rephrase**, **Shorten** and **Fix the tone** buttons appear under the message field. The assistant works from the request type and content and from the words you have already written; its proposal is shown separately and **Replace the text** puts it in the field. Nothing is sent without you: review it, then click **Send**.

### Adding an attachment

Under **Attachments**, drop a file and click **Attach**. The limits are the same as for the employee: 5 files per request, 10 MB per file. The files are stored in the employee's documents, in the "HR requests" category.

### Closing a request

Set the request to "Resolved" when it has been dealt with, or to "Closed" if it no longer applies. The employee is notified. A resolved or closed request no longer accepts messages or attachments; to reopen it, set it back to an open status with the status list.

## Deadlines, reminders and escalations

When a type announces deadlines, each request receives its due dates at submission. They are shown in the same way to the employee and to the HR team.

| Situation | What happens | Who is notified |
| --- | --- | --- |
| First-response deadline missed, nobody has taken the request | One reminder, once only | The people in the receiving team who can handle the queue; failing that, everyone who can handle the queue |
| Resolution deadline missed, request still "New" or "In progress" | One escalation, once only; the request then carries the "Escalated" label | The target chosen in "Escalate to"; failing that, the people who configure request types; failing that, the receiving team |

- Deadlines are counted in clock hours, nights and weekends included.
- A request "Waiting for your reply" triggers neither reminder nor escalation, but its deadline keeps running: if it returns to "In progress" after the resolution deadline, the escalation follows shortly afterwards.
- A type that only announces a resolution deadline never sends a reminder; a type that only announces a first-response deadline never escalates.
- Nothing is sent to the employee about a delay.
- Within the "Escalate to" target, only people who can handle the queue are notified; if none can, the escalation moves to the next step.

## Good to know

- The **Team queue** tab shows requests of types whose "Handled by" setting is **General queue (all HR staff)**. Requests of a type addressed to a group, team, department or office do not appear there: their recipients open them from the notification or e-mail received at submission.
- The **Take** button only exists in the queue. Choosing "In progress" in the status list changes the status without making you the handler.
- During an approval, the request stays "New" and is already in the queue; if the approver rejects it, it becomes "Closed".
- Under **Your answers**, each answer is shown under the field key, that is its technical identifier.
- With the queue permission, you also see, under **New request**, the types reserved for HR teams: they are for requests between teams and stay invisible to employees.
- Your own requests stay in the **My requests** tab.

### *Similaire*