New manager guide

9 min read By TimeOff Support

Welcome to TimeOff.Management.

This guide helps managers and supervisors understand the main tools they may use day to day.

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

view Team View
check who is off
approve or decline leave requests
add leave on behalf of employees
edit or cancel employee leave
view employee records
check allowance or PTO information
use TimeOff on mobile
receive weekly Who is Off emails

Your access depends on your company permissions.

1. Access your TimeOff account

Your administrator will add you to TimeOff.Management.

You may receive a welcome email to set your password.

Welcome email sent to a new employee to set up a password

Your company may also use Single Sign-On, such as Google or Microsoft.

Welcome email for a new employee using SSO login

Use the login method your company has set for your account.

If you cannot log in, check with your administrator.

2. Use My Calendar

Managers also have their own My Calendar.

Use My Calendar to:

view your own leave
request time off
check your allowance or PTO
see public holidays
see company events
see blackout periods
cancel or revoke your own leave, where allowed

3. Use Team View

Team View helps managers see who is off.

You can use it to check:

approved leave
pending requests
public holidays
blackout periods
company events
overlapping leave
who else is off on a selected date

This is useful before approving a request or planning team cover.

4. Understand Team View access and privacy

What you can see in Team View depends on company settings.

You may be able to see:

only employees you manage
employees in selected departments
employees in selected locations
the full company calendar, if your role allows it

Some companies hide leave type names from ordinary employees.

For example, employees may only see that someone is unavailable, without seeing whether the leave is Holiday, Sick Leave, or another leave type.

Managers and administrators may still see more detail where their permissions allow it.

5. Approve or decline leave requests

When an employee submits a leave request, you may receive:

an email notification
an in-system notification

This is how an in-system notification can look:

The manager may also receive an email about the employee’s request.

Email notification sent to an approver about an employee time off request

Open the request and review the details before making a decision.

Check:

employee name
leave type
dates
duration
comments
allowance or PTO balance, where visible
who else is off
blackout periods
company events
team cover

Then approve or decline the request.

When you open the notification, a side panel shows the pending request details.

6. Add a clear comment when needed

When approving, declining, editing, or cancelling leave, add a short comment if it helps explain the decision.

Useful comments may include:

“Approved — cover arranged”
“Declined — too many people already off”
“Dates corrected after discussion”
“Added on behalf of employee”

Keep comments short and professional.

Avoid adding unnecessary sensitive personal information.

7. Add leave on behalf of an employee

Managers and supervisors may be able to create leave for employees they manage.

This is useful when:

an employee is sick
an employee cannot access the system
a leave record was missed
an agreed absence needs to be added
historical leave needs to be entered

To add leave on behalf of an employee, use the same New Absence button used for personal time off requests.

When creating leave for an employee, check:

the correct employee is selected
the leave type is correct
the dates are correct
the duration is correct
the email notification option is correct
the approval status is correct

8. Add a leave request

When adding a leave request on behalf of an employee, complete the request details.

Select details

Choose:

the employee’s name
the leave type
the dates
the duration

Set email notification

Use the Send Email Notification toggle to choose whether the employee should receive an email.

Turn it on if you want the employee to receive a notification.
Turn it off if you are adding historical data and do not want the employee to receive an email.

Choose request type

Depending on company settings, you may be able to choose:

single day — all day, morning, or afternoon
multiple days — all day, morning, or afternoon
part of a day — in hours

Morning and afternoon are each counted as half of a nominal workday.

New absence request on behalf of an employee

9. Edit or cancel employee leave

Managers and administrators may be able to edit or cancel employee leave.

This can help when:

the wrong date was entered
the wrong leave type was selected
the duration needs changing
an employee’s plans change
a request was created by mistake

To do this, click the leave request in Team View.

Depending on your permissions:

pending leave requests can be edited and then approved
approved leave requests can be edited or cancelled

After editing or cancelling leave, check whether employee allowance or PTO has changed as expected.

10. Use the Employees section

Depending on your permissions, you may have access to the Employees section.

This can help you check:

employees you manage
employee calendars
leave records
schedules and rotas
remaining allowance or PTO
past and future leave
employee profile information

This is useful when answering common employee questions, such as:

“How much leave do I have left?”
“Why did this request not deduct allowance?”
“Am I working on this date?”
“Has my leave been approved?”

11. Check schedules and rotas

Schedules and rotas affect how leave is calculated.

For example, if an employee books leave on a day they do not normally work, allowance may not be deducted.

If a leave request looks wrong, check:

the employee schedule
the employee rota
the selected leave type
the standard day length
whether the request is full day or partial day

12. Check allowance and PTO

Managers may be able to view employee allowance or PTO information.

This can help when reviewing leave requests.

Check:

remaining allowance
leave already used
pending leave
carried-over allowance
manual adjustments
leave type limits

If allowance looks wrong, ask an administrator to check the employee setup.

13. Choose the correct leave type

When adding or editing leave, choose the leave type carefully.

Leave types may behave differently.

A leave type can:

deduct from allowance
add to allowance
have no effect on allowance
have its own limit
require approval
auto approve
require advance notice

Using the wrong leave type can affect allowance, reports, and employee records.

14. Use TimeOff on mobile

Managers can use TimeOff.Management from a mobile browser.

On mobile, you may be able to:

view Team View
approve or decline requests
check employee leave
add leave on behalf of employees
edit or cancel leave, if allowed
view your own calendar
request your own leave

This is useful when you need to make a quick decision away from your desk.

15. Weekly Who is Off emails

Managers can sign up for weekly digest emails.

Weekly digests give you a quick overview of useful team updates for the upcoming week.

The weekly digest can include:

who is off in the upcoming week
work anniversaries in the upcoming week
birthdays in the upcoming week

You can turn each option on or off, depending on what you want to see in your weekly email.

To set this up:

Log in to TimeOff.Management.
Go to My Profile.
Open Communications.
Find the weekly digest settings.
Turn on the updates you want to receive.
Save your changes.

Weekly digest setup in communication settings

Common manager questions

I cannot see an employee

Check whether you manage that employee.

An administrator may need to review:

department settings
location settings
supervisor settings
employee visibility settings
Team View privacy settings

I did not receive a leave request

Ask an administrator to check:

who approves leave for the employee
whether you are assigned as the approver
whether a direct supervisor is set
whether the request was auto-approved
whether another approver already actioned it

I cannot approve a request

You may not have the required permission.

Check with an administrator if you believe you should be able to approve leave for that employee.

I cannot see leave type details

Your company may hide leave type details in Team View for privacy.

Managers may still see more information depending on company settings.

The allowance looks wrong