Creating a Holiday Request

Flowtly provides the opportunity to request various types of holidays. Only the holiday types that have been set up by your organisation will be available for you to select when creating a holiday request. If a specific type of holiday is not listed, it means that it has not been configured or made available by your organisation (Go to Leave types tile in Settings to find the details).

Not all holiday types will affect employee's leave balance. By default, only requests with the holiday types "vacation" and "on demand" will be deducted from your remaining leave balance once they are approved by managers. Leave balance is calculated based on the Job Size and Hours per Week fields set up in employees agreements.

Note: Your remaining days off are displayed at the top of the "My absences" page, above the list of requests. This summary shows the total available leave balance and, if applicable, the number of pending time-off requests that are not yet approved. It appears at every screen size, including on a phone.

Note: The summary also breaks the year's absences down by leave type, under This year's absences by type. A leave type that carries its own separate allowance — such as time off in lieu of overtime — shows how much of that allowance is left rather than only how much has been taken. On a narrow screen the breakdown is collapsed; select it to expand.

Steps to Create a Holiday Request

To create a holiday request, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to My absences item from the main menu.
2. Click the "New absence request" button in the top right corner of the page.
3. Enter Request Details:
   • Type: Specify the type of holiday you are requesting (e.g., vacation, sick leave, etc.)
   • Description: Provide a brief description or reason for the holiday (can be optional if configured in settings).
   • Leave Period: Select the day or period for the holiday in the calendar using drag&drop functionality.

Note: Once a holiday type is selected, the description field will be marked as required or remain optional based on the common holiday settings.

Note: You also have the option to select a few hours (from 1 to 7) inside Hours field if the requested time off is less than one full day.

Note: Once you have chosen a type and the dates, the panel beside the form shows what the request would change, before you send it. It gives the number of working days the request actually costs — weekends, public holidays and your own working pattern are already taken out — your balance now and what it would become, and how much would still be left to take by the end of the year. For a type that draws on your annual leave, a bar shows the request against your whole year's entitlement, with any part that reaches beyond what you have accrued marked separately. A type with an allowance of its own — a pick up day, for instance — gets no such bar, because the annual entitlement is not what it is taken from; the panel names that allowance instead, and the balance beside it is the allowance's.

Note: The panel also gives you one of three answers. It fits: the request is within the leave you have already accrued. You are taking it ahead of accrual: the leave has not accrued yet, your organisation allows it, and the panel tells you the date by which it evens out. It is beyond your entitlement for the year: the request cannot be sent, and the panel says why.

Note: If the dates overlap an absence you already have, the panel says so before you send, rather than the request failing afterwards. It also names who the request will go to for approval, and says when a supporting document is required for the type and reason you chose. In the type list, each type shows how much of it you have left, and the calendar marks weekends and public holidays, puts a dot on days you have already booked, and outlines today.

4. Click Create request to save your holiday request.

Once you save your holiday request, it will appear in the Leave Requests tab of the "My absences" page with its current status. It will also appear in the Leave Requests tab of the Holiday Management item in order to be approved or rejected by managers.

Holiday History

The Time off history tab displays a complete list of all fully approved leave requests. Once a time-off request receives all necessary approvals, it automatically appears in this view.

Each row in the table provides the following details:

• Leave type – The category of leave taken (e.g., Vacation, Marriage, Disease).
• Description – Description provided during request creation (can be optional).
• From / To – The start and end dates of the leave.
• Duration – The total length of the leave (in hours or days).
• Status – The final approval status of the leave ("Accepted").

This tab allows employees to easily review their historical leave records. Use the filters at the top to narrow results by leave type or date range.

Managing Your Own Holiday Requests

You can cancel your request by clicking the Bin button next to the request and confirming your choice. This option is available as long as your request has not yet been approved or declined by a manager.

The same Bin button also appears when you open your own pending request's details from the Leave Requests tab, so you can withdraw it from either place.

Attaching a Supporting Document

Some holiday types ask for a supporting document, such as a sick note. While your request is waiting for approval, open it from the Leave Requests tab. The Supporting documents section shows whether a document is still missing, and Attach document lets you choose the file. Once it is attached, the people who can see your request — you, HR and your approvers — can open it from the same section.

Note: Attach the document before the request is approved: a type that requires one cannot be approved without it. A request of a type that is Accepted automatically is accepted as soon as you send it; once it appears in the Time off history tab, you (or HR) can attach a document from there instead of from the request.

Notification of Approval or Rejection

• Approval: If your request is approved, you will receive an email notification, and the status of the request will change to Accepted, accepted leave will move to Time off history tab. If more than 1 approval is set up for your organisation, then request will stay in pending status after one approve, until all necessary approves are given.
• Rejection: If your request is rejected, you will also receive an email notification, and the request will be removed from the Leave Requests list.

Example use cases

• Requesting a week-long vacation for a planned trip.
• Submitting a single-day request for a doctor's appointment.
• Booking a few hours off for a personal errand.
• Applying for a longer period of parental leave, if configured by your organisation.