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View absences and subscribe to the absence calendar

The Absences tab in Attendance shows employees' absences on a scrollable calendar or in a table. This guide covers switching views and time ranges, filtering employees, reviewing absences in the details panel, and subscribing to a filtered Employee Hub absence calendar.

Who can use this?

Salesforce users with the Absences Manager custom permission can use the Attendance calendar. Approving and rejecting from the details panel is available to the approver of a pending request. Employees and Managers who can view colleague absences in the Employee Hub and use Google Calendar or Outlook can subscribe to a filtered absence calendar.

Before you begin​

  • Your permission sets include the Absences Manager custom permission, for example through Flair Absence Manager, Flair Manager, or Flair Employee Management. Without it, the Absences tab doesn't appear in Attendance.

Open the absences calendar​

  1. In the flair HR app, open Attendance.
  2. Click the Absences tab. The calendar opens on the current month.

The Absences calendar with the period and filter toolbars above a timeline of employee absence bars

The calendar lists employees who are employed during the loaded period, sorted by name, with their pending and approved absences. Rejected absences don't appear. More employees load as you scroll down.

Employee names and job titles stay in place while you scroll sideways, and the date header stays in place while you scroll down. Long names and job titles are shortened; hover over them to see the full text. An absence that runs across the end of a month appears as one continuous bar.

  • To see an absence's category, Amount, Working amount, dates, and approval status, hover over its bar.

Switch between calendar and table view​

  • To switch views, click the Table view or Calendar view icon at the start of the toolbar.

The table lists each absence with its Employee, Start, End, Category, Amount, Working amount, and Status. Below the table, a count shows how many employees are loaded. To load the next employees, click Load more.

Change the time range​

The time range buttons work differently in each view:

OptionCalendar viewTable view
MonthWidest day columns, arrows move one monthLists one month
QuarterNarrower day columns, arrows move three monthsLists three months
Half-yearNarrowest day columns, arrows move six monthsLists six months
YearlyNot availableLists twelve months
  1. Click Month, Quarter, Half-year, or, in table view, Yearly.
  2. To move forward or back by the selected period, click the arrows next to the period label.
  3. To return to the current month, click Today.

In calendar view, you can also scroll sideways through time. Further months load as you reach them. If you switch from table view at Yearly to calendar view, the calendar uses Half-year.

tip

To see all of one employee's absences for a year, switch to table view, click Yearly, and search for the employee.

Filter the list of employees​

The second row of the toolbar filters which employees and absences appear in both views:

FilterWhat it does
Search employeeShows employees whose name contains the text you enter.
CategoryShows only absences of the selected absence category. Employees without a matching absence stay in the list.
EntityShows employees of the selected entity.
LocationShows employees at the selected location.
DepartmentShows employees in the selected department.
  • To remove all filters at once, click Clear all. The button appears while a filter is active.

The Absences toolbar with time range and period controls on top and the employee search and filters below

Review an absence in the details panel​

  1. Open the absence:

    • In calendar view, click the absence bar.
    • In table view, open the row's action menu, and select Details.

    The absence details panel opens, and the calendar or table stays where you left it. The panel header shows the absence category, employee, dates, and approval status.

  2. Optional: To read or post comments on the absence, click Comments.

The absence details panel with the absence amounts, its approval path, and the employee's current balances

The Details tab shows:

SectionWhat it shows
AmountThe absence amount. For an hourly absence over several days, click (variable times) to see the times for each day.
WorkingThe absence's working amount, as stored in the Working Amount field on the absence record.
RequestedThe date the absence was requested.
SubstituteThe substitute, if one is set.
NoteThe note on the absence, if there is one.
Approval pathThe requester and each approver's decision in step order, the step rule (for example, Any one approver or All approvers), and approvers' comments.
Current balancesThe employee's balance for each of their active absence categories. Categories without a limit show Unlimited.

Approve or reject an absence from the panel​

When you're the approver of a pending request for the absence, the Details tab shows the message "You have an open approval request for this record." with Approve and Reject. This requires your Salesforce user to be linked to your employee record.

  1. Open the absence in the details panel.
  2. Click Approve or Reject.
  3. Optional: Enter a comment. For a rejection, add a reason.
  4. Confirm the dialog. flair records your decision and updates the Approval path.

The absence details panel with the open approval request message and the Approve and Reject buttons

Edit or delete an absence from the panel​

Use the icons in the panel header:

  • To change the absence, click Edit, update the absence form, and save it.
  • To remove the absence, click Delete, and confirm in Delete absence. The panel closes.
  • To open the full absence record in a new browser tab, click Open record.

Add an absence from the calendar​

  • To create an absence for an employee, click Add Absence.
  • To add a mandatory absence to a calendar, click the arrow next to Add Absence, and select Add Mandatory Absence. For the form, see Create a mandatory absence from a calendar.

Subscribe to the absence calendar​

Subscribe to a filtered Employee Hub absence calendar so team or company absences appear in Google Calendar or Outlook. The subscribed calendar updates automatically.

Copy the calendar URL​

The URL always represents the filters active when you copy it. To publish a different set of absences, change the filters and copy a new URL.

  1. In the Employee Hub, open Absences → Colleagues.
  2. Adjust the filters to choose which absences the subscribed calendar shows.
  3. Click the calendar icon.
  4. Click Copy URL for your calendar. The filtered calendar URL is copied.

The calendar menu on the Colleagues page of the Employee Hub with Add to Google Calendar, Copy URL for your calendar, and Download .ics calendar file

Subscribe in Google Calendar​

  1. In Google Calendar, open Settings.
  2. Under Add other calendars, click From URL.
  3. Paste the Employee Hub calendar URL into the URL field.
  4. Click Add calendar.
  5. Click Go back. The absence calendar appears in the Google Calendar sidebar and updates automatically.

Subscribe in Outlook​

  1. In Outlook, open Calendar.
  2. Click Add calendar.
  3. Click Subscribe from web.
  4. Paste the Employee Hub calendar URL into the URL field.
  5. Enter a name for the calendar.
  6. Click Import. The Employee Hub absences appear in Outlook and update automatically.

Troubleshooting​

An employee is missing from the calendar​

  • Check whether a search or filter is active, and click Clear all.
  • Check the employee's start and end dates. The calendar only lists employees who are employed during the loaded period.
  • In a large organization, narrow the list with search or a filter. The calendar stops loading more employees after a limit for one combination of search and filters.