Absence approval policies define who approves requests for a specific absence category and who is notified once they’re approved. Once a policy is set up, you can assign it to all or selected employees.
📌 Example: Vacation Request Policy → requires approval from the employee’s manager → HR is notified after approval. This policy can then be applied to the whole team or only certain users.
👉 If you're new to setting them up, check out our Absence Approval Policies guide first.
This article covers how to modify or manage absence approval policies as your organization's needs evolve.
Setting up absence approval policies is available on the Ultimate subscription plan.
Modifying Existing Policies
Approval policies can be updated at any time with the following rules.
Access the policy you wish to adjust in Settings > Absence > Approval Policies, then click on it to open the policy editor.
1) Changing Approvers
Navigate to the absence category and use the + Add Person option to add approvers or subscribers. To remove an existing approver or subscriber, click the X next to their name. Once you've made the adjustments, click Save to confirm the changes.
If an absence request is in Pending status and you update the approvers:
New Approvers will receive notifications (email and in-app) if approval notifications are enabled under Settings > Notifications.
Removed Approvers will lose visibility of the request, and their prior approvals will no longer be valid.
2) Changing Approval Requirements
Switching from "Any of the listed approvers" to "All listed approvers":
If approvals were already made, the request might be automatically approved if fewer approvals are required under the new rules.
3) Modifying Names or Descriptions
Changes to the policy name or description will not affect any pending requests and can be made anytime.
Archiving and Restoring Approval Policies
Archiving Policies
Archiving removes the policy from all employees.
Any pending absence requests tied to the policy will be automatically approved.
To view archived policies, use the Show Archived option.
Restoring Archived Policies
Restored policies will not automatically reassign to employees.
To restore: Navigate to Show Archived, locate the policy, and select it.
Approval Settings Restrictions
If the Absence Approval feature is disabled for your organization:
No new approval policies can be created.
Existing approval policies will no longer be visible.
All pending time-off requests will be auto-approved.
