Planning Requires Approval
The Planning requires approval plugin sends planned time off to the manager for approval, while time off that starts today or earlier is registered straight away.
When to use
Use this plugin when:
- Time off that is planned ahead should be agreed with the manager first
- Time off that has already started — calling in sick this morning, registering yesterday’s absence — should not wait in an approval queue
- One policy covers both planned and same-day use, for example a care day that is sometimes booked ahead and sometimes taken at short notice
To send every request for approval, see Requires approval. To send only long requests for approval, see Conditional approval.
Parameters
This plugin has no settings. Adding it to the policy is enough.
How it works
When an employee submits a request, the plugin looks only at the start date:
| Start date | Result |
|---|---|
| Later than today | The request needs manager approval |
| Today | Registered without approval |
| In the past | Registered without approval |
The length of the request does not matter: a planned single day needs approval, and so does a planned three-week holiday.
“Today” is the workspace’s own calendar day, so a request made just after midnight counts the new day as today.
A few cases are always registered without approval:
- A manager registering for the employee. Someone who can approve the employee’s time off — the manager, someone above them in the manager chain, or an admin — registers it as approved. Registering your own time off is always an employee request, whatever your role.
- An employee with nobody to approve. If the employee has no manager, the request is approved straight away so that it is never stuck.
The plugin decides approval only. It does not allow requests in the past by itself: by default a time off request cannot start before today. To let employees register past dates, add Allow past dates to the policy as well.
Changing approved time off
This plugin applies when time off is requested. Cancelling, interrupting or editing time off that has already been approved is not sent for approval by this plugin. Only Requires approval with Require Approval for Changes turned on does that.
Examples
Sick child: planned days need approval
A care-day policy where a parent can register a sick child on the day itself, but a day booked in advance (for example a planned hospital visit) needs the manager’s agreement:
- Add the Planning Requires Approval plugin to the policy
- Add Allow past dates if the day may also be registered afterwards
A request for today is registered immediately. A request for next Tuesday goes to the manager.
Comparison with other approval plugins
| Plugin | Requires approval when |
|---|---|
| Requires approval | Always, for every request. Can also require approval for changes to approved time off. |
| Conditional approval | The request is longer than a set number of days, whatever its date |
| Planning requires approval | The request starts after today, whatever its length |
You can combine approval plugins. A request needs approval if any of them asks for it. For example, Planning requires approval together with Conditional approval set to 3 sends every planned request for approval, and also any request of more than 3 days that starts today.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| A planned request was approved without the manager | It was registered by a manager or admin for the employee, or the employee has no manager. |
| A same-day request went to the manager | Another plugin on the policy asks for approval, such as Requires approval or Conditional approval. |
| An employee cannot register yesterday’s absence | Past dates are blocked by default. Add Allow past dates to the policy. |