Requesting and approving vacation

Requesting and approving vacation

In Shiftdesk, vacation requests follow a clear workflow from the employee through manager approval to automatic booking on the working-time account.

Step 1: Submit a request (employee)

Go to Absences and click Record absence. Select Vacation as the Type, enter From and To, and optionally add a Note. With Record, the request is forwarded to your managers with the status Requested.

Step 2: Review by the manager

Managers and admins see a note at the top of the page such as "3 open requests". In the All absences table, the actions Approve and Reject are available for each open vacation request.

When approving, Shiftdesk automatically checks the vacation account:

• If the remaining balance is not sufficient, the system blocks approval with the message "Not enough vacation days. Available: X days."
• If the balance is sufficient, the status is set to Approved.

Step 3: Effect on the vacation account

Only approved vacation requests draw down the account. The requested days are added to Taken immediately, and the remaining balance decreases accordingly. A later cancellation by the employee or manager frees up the days again.

Status overview

• Requested (yellow): awaiting a decision
• Approved (green): booked, account updated
• Rejected (red): with an optional reason
• Cancelled (gray): withdrawn, days freed

Tip: Submit vacation requests as early as possible so that scheduling can account for your absence.