The Global settings tab of Settings › Manage Employees › Workflows gathers the rules that apply to every circuit, the automatic actions when an approver does not answer, and the switches of each module’s Illizeo workflows. This article is for administrators.
Before you start #
- Reading the tab requires “Settings — Approval settings” at the Access level (default: Administrator, Payroll Manager, HR Manager, Auditor).
- Changing a setting requires “Settings — Edit workflow” at the Execute level (default: Administrator). Payroll settings also require the matching payroll permissions; a setting you cannot change is shown without a checkbox.
- Every change is saved straight away. The Last modified line shows who changed a setting last, and when.
What the tab contains #
- A banner reminds you that each toggle controls an Illizeo preset workflow.
- The No-action behavior cards, one for Absences, the other for Expense reports.
- The Approval circuits group, shared by every circuit.
- One group per activated module: Payroll, Absence management, Attendance management, Performance, Documents, Electronic signatures, Offboarding. The settings of a module that is not activated are not shown.
Rules shared by every circuit #
| Setting | Choices | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Do not ask the same approver twice | Checkbox, off by default | When a later step designates someone who has already approved the request, the step is passed instead of being sent back to them. Without this setting, the same person approves every step they appear in. |
| Approver without the right to decide | Move on to the next step (default) or Block the step | An approver who lacks the right to decide (approval permission of the module, approval category, population covering the employee) never receives the request. With the first choice, their step moves on to the next one; if there is none, the request waits without an approver until an administrator unblocks it. With the second, the step stays on hold and nobody is notified. |
| Step with several approvers | The first one to decide is enough (default) or All must approve | When a step designates several approvers. With the first choice, the others are released as soon as one of them decides. The rule is set on each request when it is created: changing it only applies to new requests. |
When an approver does not answer #
The No-action behavior card #
- Turn the card on with its switch (Enabled / Disabled).
- Choose the Trigger delay: 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 21 or 30 days.
- Choose the Default action once this delay has passed without an answer: Auto approval, Auto rejection, Escalate to manager (the request goes to the approver’s manager) or No action (the request stays pending).
- Under Additional options, Escalate to N+1 before the final action first passes the request to the approver’s manager, after the number of days chosen in Escalate after.
- The Behavior summary recaps the sequence.
The Absences card applies to absence requests and to the requests of every other workflow. The Expense reports card applies to expense reports and per diems; it also offers Reassignment to N+1 (see Approving expense reports).
When a request is decided automatically, the requester always receives an email and a notification saying so, with the rule applied; this cannot be turned off. The request history keeps a trace of each automatic action.
The deadlines of a step #
On an approval step (see Creating and editing a workflow), three fields set the behaviour for that step only:
| Field | Effect |
|---|---|
| Response time | From 12 hours to 7 days. It replaces the card’s delay for this step and feeds the Time left shown on the request. |
| Action if no response | Use global setting (the card’s action), Auto-approval, Auto-rejection, Escalate N+1, Reassign (to another member of the role, for a “Role member” step) or No action. |
| Escalate N+1 (days) | The delay before escalation to the manager, when the card’s Escalate to N+1 before the final action option is ticked. |
These fields only take effect if the No-action behavior — Absences card is enabled: it is the card that starts the automatic actions of workflows. An escalation happens only once per request, and only to a manager who has the right to decide.
Reminders #
Reminders sent to the approver before this delay are set on the email template they receive, Reminder block: “Demande d’absence à valider” for absences, “Note de frais à approuver” for expense reports (template names are shown in French in every language), in Settings › Manage Illizeo › Email (see Emails). The link on the card takes you straight there.
Each module’s Illizeo workflows #
In the module groups, each toggle activates or deactivates an Illizeo preset workflow (Preset badge, Active or Inactive state). Customise opens this workflow in the editor, in place of the tab; Close takes you back. Without the right to edit, the button becomes View.
The details of these settings are in the module articles: absences, performance, attendance.
Good to know #
- A request stopped on a “Wait” step of an HR process is neither reminded nor decided automatically: nobody has a decision to make.
- An automatic decision is attributed to nobody: the history and the metrics count it as automatic.
- The Step with several approvers setting and the step deadlines are fixed on the request when it starts.
FAQ #
I set a 24-hour response time on a step, but nothing happens. #
Check that the No-action behavior — Absences card is enabled and that the action chosen is not “No action”.
Does an automatically approved request appear in the metrics? #
Yes, under Auto-approved, outside the approval rates (see Monitoring workflow activity: overview and metrics).
