Request and approve absences

Request vacation, sick leave, business trips, working-from-home periods, and other configured absences. This guide also covers balances, files, comments, approvers, and manager decisions.

Who can use this?

Employees request absences in the Employee Hub or mobile app. Managers and HR Admins approve or manage requests in the Employee Hub or Salesforce.

Before you begin

• An HR Admin has configured absence categories and assigned applicable policies.
• Your Employee Hub profile has the correct workload and location.

Request an absence in the Employee Hub

Start the request from either location:

• On the Employee Hub Dashboard, in the upcoming absences widget, click +.
• In Absences, click Add an Absence, or select an absence category and click New Absence.

Then complete the request:

1. In Absence Group, select a group if your organization groups its absence types.
2. In Absence Type, select the type. For a limited type, flair displays your remaining allowance.
3. In From and To, select the dates.
4. For a half day, select Morning, Lunch, or Evening.
5. Optional: In Note, enter information for the absence manager.
6. Review Days Used. Click Show More for the calculation, source period, and remaining balance.
7. Optional: Click Start Recording to add a video message.
8. Optional: In Attachment, select a document to add, such as a sick note or medical certificate. The upload is mandatory instead of optional when the absence category requires a document. See Require a medical certificate.
9. Click Create. flair submits the request for approval when the policy requires it.

If another planned absence overlaps, flair displays the affected dates in red. Non-working days, including weekends and holidays, deduct zero hours.

After submission, the request appears on the Employee Hub Dashboard and Absences Overview with its approval status. flair notifies you in the Hub and by email after a decision.

To read or add comments, click the speech-bubble icon. If your policy permits deletion, click the three-dot menu, and delete the request.

Request different hours across several days

For an hourly absence category, you can set different start and end times for each day.

1. In Absence Type, select an hourly absence category.
2. Select From and To dates that span several days. Daily Time Schedule displays every day.
3. For each day, enter Start and End.
4. To reuse one day's hours, configure that day, and click Apply to All.
5. Review the calculated hours for each day and the total.
6. Submit the request. flair validates overlaps and available absence credit.

After creation, click Variable Times to see each date, its start and end times, and the deducted hours. Variable times appear in Employee Hub calendar and Colleagues views, Shift Planner daily and hourly views, absence details, and Salesforce absence records.

Edit variable times in Salesforce

1. In Salesforce, open the absence record.
2. Click Variable Times.
3. Change the start and end times for individual days.
4. Optional: Click Apply to All to update every day.
5. Click Save. flair validates the updated absence again.

Add a document to a submitted request

If you skip the attachment when you request the absence, you can add one afterward by editing the request.

1. In the left menu, select Absences to open Absences Overview.
2. Open the request you want to update.
3. Click Edit.
4. In Attachment, select the document to add.
5. Click Save. flair attaches the document to the request.

Replace a file on an absence

File replacement is available only when the absence type has both Do not require approval and Require document upload. The absence remains Approved or Auto-approved, and dates, type, and notes stay locked.

1. In Absences Overview, open the absence.
2. Click Edit. This action appears only for an eligible absence.
3. In the enabled file-upload field, upload the replacement.
4. Click Save. flair updates the file without changing the absence status.

Understand your absence balance

In Absences Overview, open the menu on the right to see the allowance for an absence type.

Field	What it shows
Absence Period	The applicable period, commonly a calendar year. Use Previous Period and Next Period to move between periods.
Days Available	Remaining days or, for an hourly category, hours.
Accrued	Days or hours added during the period.
Taken	Days or hours already used.
Scheduled	Requested time, including requests awaiting approval.
Available From Previous Period	Carryover from the previous period. flair uses this amount first.

tip

Hover over the question mark beside a value to see its calculation. For carryover, the details also show an expiration date when one applies.

Comment on an absence

1. In the Employee Hub, open the absence request.
2. Click the speech-bubble icon.
3. Enter a comment with an optional document, link, emoji, or image.
4. Press Enter. The comment appears on the request.

Request an absence in the mobile app

The mobile home screen shows absent colleagues and their return dates.

1. In the flair mobile app, tap Absences.
2. Select an absence category, such as Vacation or Sick Leave.
3. Review the taken, scheduled, and available allowance. Use the arrows to change the absence period.
4. Tap Request. For an unlimited category, tap Add Absence.
5. Select Category and Duration.
6. Optional: Enter a note.
7. Tap See Details to compare the available balance before and after the request.
8. Tap Submit. The request goes to the assigned approver.

The app is available for iOS and Android.

Assign absence approvers

The current Approval Framework supports centralized policies, multiple steps, and segment-based approver assignment. See Approval Framework overview.

For organizations that still use the legacy Additional Managers method, flair sends a request to the employee's manager by default. If the manager changes, flair transfers pending requests to the new manager.

1. In the flair HR app, open Staff & Docs → Additional Managers.

2. Expand a manager to review responsibilities for absences, shifts, time entries, expenses, compensation, and data access.

   

3. Click Assign.

4. Select the manager and employee.

5. Optional: In Start date and End date, set the period the assignment applies. Leave either date blank for an open-ended start or end.

6. Select Absences Approval.

7. Click Add. The additional manager can approve the employee's absences for the dates you set, or with no expiry if you left them blank.

Deactivate an additional manager assignment

Instead of deleting an assignment, set an end date to deactivate it while keeping its history for reporting.

1. In Salesforce, open the employee's record.
2. Open Related.
3. Under Additional Managers, open the assignment.
4. Find End Date.
5. Enter today's date or an earlier date.
6. Click Save. The assignment stops applying to new requests once that date passes, and its history stays on the record.

note

flair calculates an assignment's active status automatically from its Start Date and End Date: it is active whenever today falls inside that range, or when a date is blank. There is no separate checkbox to activate or deactivate an assignment. Additional Managers lists the assignment's status as Active, Upcoming, or Inactive; use All Statuses to filter by it.

Approve an absence in the Employee Hub

Approvers receive a direct link by enabled email, mobile, or Slack notifications.

1. In the Employee Hub, open Team → Absences.
2. In Pending, review requests that need your decision.
3. Optional: Filter by absence type, month, employee, or approval status.
4. In Review, click Accept or Reject.
5. If you reject the request, enter a comment. flair notifies the employee.

View auto-approved absences

1. In the Employee Hub, open Team → Absences.
2. Click All. The list includes requests that do not require approval, such as configured sick leave.
3. Click the dates in Absences to see the remaining allowance and overlaps.

The list shows each request's approval status. For the complete workflow, open the approval path.

Distinguish pending requests visually

For an absence category with the setting enabled, pending absences use a striped diagonal overlay in employee, team, and manager calendars. Approved absences keep the category's solid color.

1. In Salesforce, open the Absence Category record.
2. Enable Visually Separate Pending Requests.
3. Click Save. The pattern applies to pending requests in that category.

Manage an absence in Salesforce

1. In Salesforce, open Absences from the navigation bar or the App Launcher (⋮⋮ grid icon).

   

2. Sort by a column, or use search and filters to find the absence.

3. Click the value in Absence Name.

4. To decide the request, click the pencil beside Approval Status.

5. Select Approved or Rejected.

6. Click Save. The record reflects the decision.

With the required permissions, you can also edit details such as dates. To remove a request, click the down arrow, and select Delete.

Change visibility for an absence

HR Managers can override the visibility inherited from the absence category for one record.

1. In Salesforce, open the absence record.
2. Find Visibility.
3. Select the visibility.
4. Click Save. The override applies only to this absence.

Check an absence approver

1. In Salesforce, open Absences, and select the absence.
2. Open Related.
3. Under Absence Approval Requests, review the approver and approval status.
4. To see more details, click Absence Approval Name.

Last Modified By identifies the last person who changed the absence and can help identify who approved it.

Troubleshooting

Public holidays do not appear for an employee

1. In the flair HR app, open Locations.
2. Confirm that the applicable holidays are imported for the employee's location.
3. In the employee profile, confirm that Location is assigned.
4. If both are correct, reimport the holidays from the location's calendar settings.

Related articles

• View absences and manage public holidays
• Request and approve absences in Slack
• Approval Framework overview
• Configure absence policies