Leave request created on behalf of employee

5 min read By TimeOff Support

Admins and supervisors can create leave requests for employees they manage.

This is useful when:

an employee is ill
an employee cannot access TimeOff.Management
a manager needs to record an agreed absence
historical leave needs to be added
an existing leave record was missed

The normal New Absence form is used. It includes an extra field for selecting the employee.

Who can create employee leave?

Access depends on the user’s role and company permissions.

Admins can normally create leave for anyone in the company.
Supervisors can create leave for employees in the departments they manage.
Secondary Supervisors may also have access where enabled.

A manager will not be able to select an employee they do not have permission to manage.

Create the leave request

To add leave for an employee:

Select New Absence.
Choose the employee.
Select the leave type.
Enter the date or date range.
Choose the duration.
Add a comment if needed.
If you are an administrator, choose whether to send email notifications.
Submit the request.

New absence form for creating leave on behalf of an employee

Choose the correct duration

Depending on your company settings, you may be able to book:

one full day
several full days
a morning
an afternoon
a half day
a selected number of hours

Check the employee’s work schedule or rota before submitting the request.

TimeOff.Management uses the employee’s working pattern and standard day length when calculating the absence.

Email notifications

When you add leave for an employee, they are emailed about it. The email shows the dates and any comment, names you as the person who added it, and says whether the leave is approved or awaiting approval.

Administrators have an Email notifications switch on the Add leave form:

Setting	What happens
On	The people affected by this leave are emailed, the employee included
Off	Nobody is emailed about this leave

A manager who is not an administrator has no switch, and the employee is always emailed.

Keep notifications on for most bookings.

You may turn them off when:

entering historical leave
correcting old records
completing administrative data clean-up
the employee has already been informed another way

Use this option carefully. With it off, nobody is told that the leave was added, the employee included.

What happens to approval?

The request may be approved immediately or follow the normal approval process.

This depends on whether an auto-approval policy covers you.

A policy can auto-approve the leave a covered person books for the employees they manage, so the entry is approved the moment you create it.

Your set-up	Result
An auto-approval policy covers your on-behalf bookings	The leave is approved the moment you create it
No policy covers them	The request follows the normal approval process

Booking a disabled leave type

Some leave types may be closed or disabled for employee booking.

An admin can allow managers to override this restriction.

When this permission is enabled, a manager may be able to book a disabled leave type on behalf of an employee.

Disabled leave types are clearly marked in the list.

This can be useful for leave types that should only be entered by authorised managers, such as:

an approved unpaid absence
a special company leave type
a sensitive absence category
an absence that requires manager confirmation

Only use a disabled leave type when the booking follows your company’s rules.

Check the effect on allowance

The selected leave type decides whether the request:

deducts from allowance
adds to allowance
has no effect on allowance
uses its own leave type limit

Before submitting, check that the correct leave type has been selected.

Using the wrong type can affect the employee’s remaining allowance and reports.

Add a clear comment

Add a short comment when it helps explain why the request was created.

For example:

“Added following manager approval”
“Employee reported sick by phone”
“Historical leave record”
“Corrected dates agreed with employee”

Comments help maintain a clear record for the employee, managers, and administrators.

Do not include sensitive personal information unless your company requires it.

When you book for one employee, the comment box also has a paperclip, Attach a file, for a file such as a fit note. A booking for several employees has none: attach the files to each leave from its details afterwards.

Check the request after saving

After submitting the request, check:

the correct employee was selected
the leave type is correct
the dates and duration are correct
the approval status is correct
the allowance was updated as expected
the employee notification setting was correct, if you are an administrator
any files you attached are listed on the confirmation; one that could not be attached shows Try again

The leave should appear in the employee calendar and Team View according to its status and company privacy settings.

Edit or cancel the request

Authorised managers and admins may be able to edit or cancel the request later.

This may be needed when:

the wrong date was entered
the wrong leave type was selected
the duration needs changing
the employee’s plans change
the request should be removed

Add a short comment when changing an employee’s leave record.

Create employee leave on mobile

Managers and admins can also add employee leave from a mobile browser where their permissions allow it.

Best practice

Check the employee, leave type, dates, duration and approval status before submitting and, if you are an administrator, the notification option.

Add a short comment when the employee did not create the request themselves.