Submitting a request
Employees access the My Time Off page and click Request Time Off. They fill in:
- Leave type, vacation, sick leave, personal day, parental leave, etc. (set by admin)
- Date range, single day or multi-day. Half-day options available if enabled in policy.
- Note, optional message for the approver
Once submitted, the request appears in the manager's approval queue and triggers a notification (email, Teams, or Slack depending on your integration setup).
Request statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
Pending | Submitted, awaiting manager review |
Approved | Confirmed. Leave is booked and visible on the team calendar. |
Declined | Not approved. Employee is notified with the reason. |
Cancelled | Withdrawn by the employee before the leave date |
Leave balance
Each employee's remaining balance is visible on their dashboard. TimeLeaf calculates the balance based on the accrual schedule in their assigned leave policy, minus any approved requests.
Balance deducted on approval, not on request. Submitting a request does not immediately reduce the balance. It is only deducted when an approver confirms the leave.
Overlapping requests
TimeLeaf shows a warning when a new request overlaps with another employee's approved leave in the same team. You can configure minimum coverage rules per team (e.g., "at least 2 developers must be available") under Settings → Coverage Rules.
Overlapping requests are never blocked automatically. The system flags them for the manager to decide.
Cancelling leave
Employees can cancel a pending or approved request from their dashboard. Cancelling an approved request notifies the manager and restores the balance. Cancellations after the leave start date require manager action.
Manager view
Managers see all pending requests on the Team → Requests page. They can:
- Approve or decline with an optional comment
- See who else is off during the same period
- View the employee's remaining balance for that leave type
- Bulk-approve recurring requests (e.g., every Friday afternoon)