Submitting and managing time off requests

In this article, you'll learn how your team asks for time off, how those requests get answered, and how to put time off on someone's schedule yourself. It keeps the week honest about who's actually around.

Time off lives on the Team Schedule, the weekly shift grid. It doesn't show up on your jobs calendar. On the web, Team Schedule only appears in the menu once Employees is switched on in Features. The phone app's menu always lists it.

Note: Team Schedule isn't part of the free CRM. On the free plan, Employees isn't offered in Features, and opening the page on the web or the phone app shows the plan comparison instead.

To open the Team Schedule:

  1. In the menu, click Team Schedule.
  2. Use the arrows next to Today to move between weeks.

On the phone app, open the menu and tap Team Schedule. The arrows on either side of the week label move between weeks.

Asking for time off

Anyone without the Schedule Admin permission sees their own week, with a Request button at the top. You'll only see it if you have a spot on the team.

  1. On the Team Schedule, click Request.
  2. Choose Time off.
  3. Set From and To. One request can cover up to two months.
  4. Pick a Category: Vacation, Sick, Personal, Unpaid or Other.
  5. Leave All day ticked, or untick it and set Start and End for part of a day.
  6. Add anything the office should know in Note to the office.
  7. Click Send request.

You'll see "Sent to the office for approval". The request then shows under My requests at the bottom of your week, marked pending. Once someone answers, it changes to approved or denied, and the phone app sends you a push notification.

On the phone app

  1. On Team Schedule, tap Request.
  2. Leave the Request dropdown on Time off.
  3. Under Days, tap a day, then tap a later day to make it a range. You can only pick days from the week you're on, so use the week arrows first if you need a different week.
  4. Choose a Category, set All day or the times, and add a note.
  5. Tap Send request.

Approving or denying requests

People with the Schedule Admin permission get the full schedule builder and a push notification when someone asks for time off. When requests are waiting, a number shows on the Requests button.

  1. On the Team Schedule, click Requests.
  2. Each request shows the person, the dates, the category and their note. It lists every request that hasn't been answered yet, whatever week it's for.
  3. Click Approve or Deny.

If you deny on the web, you're asked if you want to add a note for them. That's optional, and any note you write goes in the push they get.

Approving puts the time off on the grid right away. There's nothing to publish.

Opening the Requests drawer to answer a time off request

On the phone app, tap Requests at the top of the Team Schedule. Waiting requests show as a count, for example Requests (2). Tap Approve or Deny. The app doesn't ask for a note when you deny.

Note: Someone with only the Time Off Approval/Decline permission gets the push too, but the Requests button needs Schedule Admin.

Adding time off for someone yourself

Schedule admins can put time off straight on the grid, no request needed.

  1. On the Team Schedule, hover over the day in that person's row and click ADD +.
  2. In the Add to schedule drawer, click Time Off.
  3. Check the Team member, then choose a Category. Reason is optional.
  4. Set From and To. Untick All day if it's only part of a day.
  5. Add a Note if you need one.
  6. Click Add.

Shifts wait for Publish, but time off doesn't. The drawer even says so: "Time off goes on the schedule right away — no publish needed." It shows on the grid as a striped block labelled Time off, with its category underneath.

Adding time off from the Team Schedule

On the phone app, tap the purple + button and switch to Time Off. You pick the Team member and Category, tap the days under From → to, and add a note. There's no Reason field on the app, and you can only pick days from the week you're looking at. For longer time off, the web is easier.

Tip: Time off over several days goes on the grid as one block per day. To change or remove a day, click its block. You can edit the details and click Save, or click Delete time off to take it off the schedule right away. On the phone app, tap the card, tap Delete, then confirm.

How time off affects the rest of the schedule

  • Clear entire schedule in the Tools menu takes every shift off the week, but time off stays.
  • Draft schedule, Copy week to… and an applied template in the Tools menu skip anyone with all-day time off that day.
  • Your jobs calendar doesn't read time off at all, so it won't block a booking or flag a clash. Check the Team Schedule before you hand out work.
Note: There's no company-wide holiday entry on the Team Schedule. Time off is always for one person. If your whole business closes for holidays, use the Open on holidays switch in Settings › Schedule.

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