How to assign and manage leave approvers

6 min read By TimeOff Support

Account administrators decide who reviews employee time off requests.

In TimeOff.Management, you can assign approvers in two main ways:

by department
directly for one employee

This gives you a simple approval setup for most teams, with flexibility where one person needs a different approver.

Approval options

Option	Best used when
Department approver	Everyone in a department should follow the same approval route
Direct supervisor	One employee needs a different approver from the department manager
Secondary approver	A second person should also be able to action requests
Two-tier approval policy	A request needs one extra approval step before final manager approval

Most companies start with department approvers.

Direct supervisors are useful for exceptions, project-based teams, temporary staff, or employees who report to someone outside their department.

1. Set approvers for a department

Department approvers apply to all employees in that department, unless an employee has a direct supervisor set.

You can assign:

a manager
a secondary approver

Both approvers receive notifications and emails when a leave request is submitted.

Either approver can approve or decline the request.

Once the request has been actioned, it is removed from both approvers’ notification lists.

When to use department approvers

Use department approvers when:

one manager approves leave for a whole team
each department has a clear manager
the approval process should be simple
employees in the same department follow the same route

For example:

Department	Main approver	Secondary approver
Sales	Sales Manager	Operations Manager
Support	Support Lead	HR Manager
Finance	Finance Manager	Company Admin

Why add a secondary approver?

A secondary approver helps avoid delays.

This is useful when the main approver is:

on leave
unavailable
travelling
too busy to respond quickly

The secondary approver can action the request without waiting for the main approver.

This helps employees get a faster answer.

2. Set a direct supervisor for one employee

A direct supervisor is set at employee level.

Use this when one employee should not follow the normal department approver route.

For example, this can help with:

project-based teams
temporary staff
contract workers
employees reporting to a manager in another department
senior employees with a different approval route
cross-functional teams

How to set a direct supervisor

To set a direct supervisor:

Go to Employees.
Select the employee.
Open Employee Details.
Go to the General tab.
Select Edit.
Choose a Direct Supervisor from the list.
Save your changes.

Direct supervisor selection in Employee Details

After saving, that employee’s requests can be sent to the direct supervisor instead of using only the department approver setup.

3. Use a two-tier approval policy

A two-tier approval policy adds one more approval step before the final manager approval.

This is useful when a company needs an extra review before the request reaches the final approver.

For example, a request may need to be checked first by:

a team lead
a project manager
an HR user
a finance or operations manager
another nominated approver

After the first approval step is complete, the request can then move to the final manager or department approver.

This does not replace the normal manager approval process. It adds another layer before the final approval.

When to use two-tier approval

Use two-tier approval when:

leave needs an extra compliance check
a project manager should review absence first
HR needs to approve selected leave types
senior roles need a more controlled approval route
your company wants stronger checks before final approval

For simple teams, one manager approval is usually enough.

For larger teams, regulated teams, or companies with more complex approval rules, two-tier approval can give extra control.

Department approver or direct supervisor?

Use the simplest option that matches your company structure.

Situation	Recommended setup
Everyone in the department reports to the same manager	Department approver
One employee reports to a different manager	Direct supervisor
A project worker reports to a project lead	Direct supervisor
A department needs backup approval cover	Secondary approver
A senior employee needs a separate approval route	Direct supervisor

What happens when an employee submits a request?

When an employee submits a leave request:

TimeOff.Management checks the employee’s approval setup.
The correct approver receives an in-system notification.
The approver also receives an email notification.
The approver reviews the request.
The approver approves or declines it.
The employee receives the result.

Check approver notifications

Approvers may receive:

in-system notifications
email notifications
pending request alerts

If an approver does not receive a request, check:

the employee’s department
the department approver
the secondary approver
whether a direct supervisor is set
the employee’s email address
the approver’s email address
whether the request was auto-approved

If the wrong person receives the request

If a request goes to the wrong person, check the employee’s setup.

The most common causes are:

the employee is in the wrong department
the department approver is outdated
the employee has a direct supervisor set
the direct supervisor is no longer correct
the employee recently moved teams
the approver has left the company

Update the department or employee profile, then save your changes.

If a manager leaves the company

Before deactivating a manager, check whether they approve leave for anyone.

You may need to update:

department approvers
secondary approvers
direct supervisors
employee policies
manager visibility settings

This prevents leave requests from being sent to an inactive user.

Approval and auto approval

Approver settings control who reviews a request.

Auto approval controls whether some requests are approved without manual review.

These are separate settings.

For example, a leave type may be set to auto approve, or an employee may have auto approval enabled.

If a request is approved automatically, it may not need to wait for a manager decision.

Approval and leave on behalf of employees

Managers and admins may be able to create leave on behalf of employees.

Depending on your company settings, those requests may be:

approved immediately
sent through the normal approval process
handled according to admin or supervisor auto-approval settings

Managing departments Set department details, department allowance, managers, and approvers.
Approve or decline time off requests Review pending requests and understand what managers should check before approving leave.
Auto approval settings Control when requests can be approved automatically instead of waiting for manual review.

Best practice

Use department approvers for your normal approval process.

Use direct supervisors only when one employee needs a different route.

Add a secondary approver where leave requests must not wait for one manager to be available.