Can I prevent employees from booking leave during certain dates?

Yes. Use a blackout when employees should not be able to book leave during a particular date or period.

This is useful for busy seasons, stocktakes, launches, important events or other periods when your business needs employees to be available.

How do I create a blackout?

Go to:

Settings → Blackouts and company events

Create a blackout for the dates you want to restrict.

A blackout can apply to:

• the whole company;
• selected locations;
• selected departments;
• selected employees.

This means you do not need to stop leave bookings for everyone if the restriction only affects one part of the business.

For example, you could create a blackout for the Warehouse department during an annual stocktake while employees in other departments continue booking leave normally.

A blackout can also block only some leave types. With Allow leave off, choose them under Restrict to leave types: leave of any other type can still be booked on those dates. Leave the list empty to block every leave type.

What happens when an employee tries to book leave?

Employees covered by the blackout cannot book leave, or leave of the types it names, during the selected dates.

The blackout therefore prevents the request from being submitted rather than simply sending it to a manager for approval.

Can an administrator make an exception?

Yes.

An administrator can still add leave manually for an employee during a blackout period when an exception has been agreed.

You do not need to remove the blackout for everyone simply to accommodate one approved exception.

Is a company event the same as a blackout?

No.

A blackout prevents covered employees from booking leave during the selected period.

A company event places an important date on the calendar but does not prevent leave from being booked.

Both can be targeted to relevant locations, departments or employees, but they serve different purposes.

For full setup instructions, see Blackouts and company events