In this article, you will learn how to find, review, approve, or reject vacation and other absence requests submitted by employees. You will also understand which automatic email notifications are sent.
Prerequisites
Before employees can submit vacation requests, two conditions must be met:
The employee portal (self-service) has been enabled by an HR admin and employees have activated their account.
The payroll admin has enabled the “Allow employees to request absences” option in the client settings.
Once both conditions are met, employees can request absences via the employee portal. These requests will then appear in the “Absences” section for HR admins.
Types of absences
Employees can only submit requests for certain absence types. Each type has its own required fields and optional information.
Vacation
For vacation requests, employees must provide the following information:
Start date
End date
Whether the absence consists of full or half days
Optionally, employees may add:
A comment for clarification, e.g., information about coverage
Sick leave
For sick leave, employees must provide the following information:
Start date
End date
Optionally, employees can provide the following information:
Follow-up certificate:
Indicates that this is a continuation of a previous illness because the initial absence period was not sufficient.
Accident:
Marks the illness as a work-related accident. This information is important for accident insurance providers and further processing.Date of medical certificate:
The date shown on the sick leave certificate.Comment:
For example, additional notes for HR.
Sick leave due to a sick child
For sick leave due to a child’s illness, employees must provide:
Start date
End date
Optionally, a comment can be added, e.g., brief information about the care situation.
Access vacation requests
Open the absence calendar
In the main navigation on the left, open the “Absences” section. The absence calendar opens, displaying all absences for the selected month.
Open pending requests via the notification panel
In the top-left corner, you will see a notification panel showing the number of pending requests, for example “3 pending requests.”
Click the highlighted link below the number, e.g., “Open ‘Pending’ tab and review requests →”.
The table will automatically switch to the “Pending” tab and display all open absence requests.
Find pending requests using the tabs
Above the table, you will see several tabs, e.g. “Overview,” “Pending,” “Approved,” “Rejected”.
When you open the page, the Overview tab is displayed by default.
In the Pending tab, you can see the number of open requests.
Click “Pending” to display a list of all open vacation requests.
Open pending requests directly from the calendar
Pending requests are highlighted in yellow in the calendar on the corresponding days.
Click a yellow-highlighted day in the calendar to open the related request.
A side panel opens on the right, displaying all details of the selected request.
Respond to vacation requests
Review a request
Open the relevant request either from the list in the “Pending” tab or by clicking the yellow entry in the calendar.
A side panel opens on the right showing all details, including:
Employee name
Requested absence period
Absence type
Any comments submitted by the employee
Approve a request
If the request is valid from a business perspective:
Click “Accept”;
If applicable, confirm any warning messages, e.g., if the vacation balance is low or if there are overlaps with existing absences.
Expected result:
The request status changes to “Approve.”
The approved absence appears in the absence calendar for the relevant month (e.g. shown in green for vacation).
The employee receives an email notification confirming the approval. Any comments you added are included directly in the email.
Decline a request
If a request should not be approved (e.g. due to overlaps, insufficient vacation balance, or internal policies):
Click “Reject request” in the side panel.
Optionally, enter a reason for rejection so the employee understands why the request was declined.
Confirm the rejection.
Expected result:
The request status changes to “Declined”
The absence is not displayed as an approved entry in the calendar.
The employee receives an email notification including your comment.
Notifications for vacation requests
Emails to HR admins
As soon as a new vacation or absence request is submitted, all active HR admins receive an email notification. The request also appears in the “Absences” section under the overview of pending requests.
Emails to employees
When you respond to a request, the employee receives an email confirming whether the absence was approved or rejected, including your comment (if provided).
Who can withdraw or cancel requests?
Withdraw pending requests
Pending requests can be withdrawn by employees at any time via the employee portal. Once withdrawn, the request is no longer shown as pending in the “Absences” section.
Cancel approved requests
Approved absences can only be cancelled by HR admins. After a cancellation, the calendar is updated accordingly and the vacation balance is adjusted.
