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Managing Absence Approval Policies

Learn how to edit, archive, and restore absence approval policies to ensure smooth absence management.

Updated today

Absence approval policies ensure clarity in managing employee absence requests. If you're new to setting them up, check out our Absence Approval Policies guide first.

Once policies are in place, here's how to modify or manage them as your organization's needs evolve.

📌 Note: Absence is currently split into Time Off and Remote Work categories (in Beta). If you don’t see “Absence Approval Policies” in your settings, your account will be updated soon.
In the meantime, you’ll see Time Off Approval Policies—functionality remains the same.

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.

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