04 Apr Managing Time Off Requests (Employer/Supervisor Steps)
The Time Off Request feature allows employees to request time off through the Employee Self Service portal (ESS). Their designated supervisor can approve, reject, or conditionally approve the request through the timekeeping app. This article explains the process of handling employee requests as well as additional details related to time off, like setting up email notifications for the supervisor.
Managing Employee Time Off Requests (Approving and Rejecting)
When you login to the timekeeping system, you will be able to see if there are any pending requests for your employees by looking in the Main Menu.
Access to approve time off requests
is through the Main Menu
The number after Time Off Requests notes how many pending requests need your attention.
There is also an option to receive an email when an employee submits a time off request. Details on that can be found further down in this article.
Click the Time Off Requests link to be taken to the TOR Management page.
The Time Off Request management page
The top section, labeled Pending will contain any requests that need your approval.
- To view Pending requests, click on the arrow, “>.”
- If you are ready to make a decision on the request:
- To Approve the request, click on the green checkmark.
- To Reject the request, click on the orange “X.”
Otherwise, you can click on the arrow next to the employee’s name for more details about the request, including the employee’s currently accrued leave*, as seen in the screen sample below.
View more details on the request by clicking the arrow to the left of the employee’s name.- With the details of the request visible, you can make a decision on the request the same way as you did in step 2, or change the request, which will make it a Conditionally Approved request. More details on Conditionally Approved are found later in this article.
- Click “Modify” and a pop up screen will appear.
- You may now make changes to the “Category” or “Hours” field. “Comments” are required before changes can be saved.
- Click “Save.”
- The supervisor must have an email in Login Maintenance as well as a first and last name
- The supervisors First and Last name must be entered in the Supervisor field of Employee Setup
- Go to Maintenance Menu, click on Login Maintenance.
- Click the blue link associated with the supervisor login.
- Add the email in the User Information section.
- Click Update User Information to save any changes entered.
- From the Main Menu select Employee Setup.
- Click on the name of the employee.
- Click Edit next to the Employee Data section.
- Enter the supervisor’s first and last name as it is listed in the supervisor login settings.
- Click “Save and Exit” or “Save and Remain.”
*Tracking of time off balances requires use of the timekeeping system’s Accruals functionality.
Changing the Status of an Already Approved or Rejected Request
Even after you have made a decision on a request, you can still change it (i.e. Rejected to Approved or Approved to Rejected). Just expand the status category (the bars dividing the groups of requests) using the arrow next to the label. Then, in the case of an approved request, you can use the “X” to reject it (a comment will be required, or the blue circular arrow to return the request to Pending and make a decision at a later date.
The blue, circular arrow will return an approved or rejected request to pending
What Does the Yellow Triangle Mean?
If you see a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark (see the first image in this article for an example), it means a request coincides with another approved request in the same department. Hover over the triangle for the employee names and to see the dates requested.
This feature is optional and needs to be enabled by Payroll Partners.
When two or more employees have the same day off, you are not prevented from approving the request, it is merely a warning to get your attention.
Conditionally Approved Requests / Modifying a Request
As a manager or supervisor, you have the ability to modify certain aspects of an employee’s time off request as opposed to rejecting it outright. This includes changing the category and/or changing the amount of hours.
The time off category field can be changed from the dropdown menu, for example to change vacation to sick time. You can also change the amount of hours requested, including setting the hours on a specific day to “0”, as shown in the example below.
Modifying the hours or category of a request requires a comment by the supervisor/manager
Comments are required when a change is made to an employee’s request.
If the employee has their email notifications setup, they will receive a notice if you have Conditionally Approved their request.
Any time a change is made in this manner, the request is considered “Conditionally Approved” and the employee will have the final say as to whether they want to accept the change or reject it.
If they choose to accept the change, the request will change to “Approved” and the hours will be placed on the time card.
Changing an Approved “Time off Request”
Once a time off request has been approved, the hours will automatically appear on the employee’s time card. Changes, like altering the hours or category, can be made from the time card through the “Modify” button.
Time Off Calendar
There is an option to display a Time Off Calendar in the Time Off page. It will show, for your employees, who has approved requests on each day.
The calendar feature shows a manager’s assigned employees time off by day
This is an optional setting that must be enabled by Payroll Partners.
Click the “Calendar” arrow (to the right of “Calendar”) for a quick view of past, current, or future months with approved employee “Time Off Requests.”
Hover over any of the days with the a green check mark to view employees with approved time off.
To view requests that have been rejected, check the box found in bottom left corner of the calendar “Show Rejected Requests.”
Which Employees will the Supervisor See in Time Off Requests?
The Employee Visibility settings in Login Maintenance determines time off approval permissions for a supervisors.
In this example, the supervisor will be able to approve
time off for all employees at the Hailey location.
Instructions on how to adjust or check Employee Visibility are found in the article How-To: Add a Supervisor Login.
It is possible for multiple supervisors to be able to approve time off requests for the same employees. The approving supervisor will be noted in the request.
Client level users (sometimes referred to as “Managers”) have the ability to approve time off for all employees.
Receiving an Email Notification on Time Off Requests
To set up email alerts for supervisors to receive the “Time off Request”
Adding Email Address to a Supervisor
These instructions explain how a Client Level user (Manager) can do this for their supervisors. However, a supervisor can do this themselves in Settings Menu / Update Personal Info.
Identifying Supervisor in Employee Setup
Regardless of whether an employee is assigned to a supervisor through the Employee Visibility Settings, in order to receive an email notification, the supervisors name must be entered in the individual employee’s Supervisor field.
Adding the Supervisor for Multiple Employee at Once This can be done in a bulk manner using the Work With Selected option in Employee Setup.
If the name does not exactly match, the supervisor will not receive the email.
How Do I Prevent an Old Request from Showing?
To remove previously “Approved” and “Rejected” requests from displaying on this list, Client Level users need to finalize the pay periods up to the current period from the “Finalized Pay Period” link (found in the Maintenance Menu).
Even though the historical requests will not appear in the TOR page, the request history can be accessed through the “Time Off Requests Report”.
As always, we are here to walk you through this or any other process that you need help with. You can reach out to us toll free at (866) 757-8111 Monday-Thursday from 8:00AM-5:00PM and Fridays 8:00AM-4:30PM Central Standard Time.