Managing approval requests

In absentify, you can be assigned as an approver or representative for absence requests submitted by your colleagues, depending on your organization’s configuration. This guide explains how to manage these requests, approve or decline them, and access additional details relevant to your role in the approval process.

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Notifications for pending requests

If you’ve been assigned as an approver or representative for an absence request, you’ll receive a notification via the bell icon in the top-right corner of the navigation bar.
The displayed badge number includes pending approval and representative requests assigned to you. Selecting the bell icon takes you straight to the list of approval and representative requests assigned to you.

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Open and History segments

Your pending requests appear under Open. Switch to History to review requests you already approved or declined, or that were canceled, including who decided and when. The number next to Open matches the list below. When search or filters are on, it shows how many requests match. The page always opens on Open. You can approve several requests at once on Open. See Approve several requests at once.

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Sorting, filtering, and view controls

Open and History share a toolbar for organizing requests.

• Search by employee name or reason on Open. The field says Search employee or reason…. On History, the field says Search employee….
• Select Filter to add a Leave type, Employee, Department, or Approver filter. On History, you can also add Status. Each filter appears below the toolbar. If you have pending requests assigned to you, your name is at the top of the Approver list, with me in parentheses.
• Select Display to sort by Start, Created, or Name.
• On Open, Display also has Group by: Approver, Leave type, or None. A group with more than 10 requests shows a button with the full count so you can expand it.

A Department filter shows requests whose requester belongs to any department you select. On Open, Department lists departments that appear on a pending request you can see. On History, it lists the departments you can access. Urgency hints such as Starts today, Starts in 2 days, Already started, or Already over help you prioritize. Each request also shows when it was submitted, as Requested plus how long ago. Your items appear under My approvals and show the open count. When Group by is Approver and you have representative requests, those items appear under As representative. If you also have approval requests, those appear under Directly to me. With no representative requests, the items stay in one list under My approvals. On History, add a Status filter and choose is or is not to show or hide Approved, Declined, or Canceled requests. When search or filters are on, select Reset filters to show the full list again. absentify keeps your filters, grouping, and sort with your account. They follow you when you sign in on another device. Search stays in this browser and does not follow you to another device. On Open, each request has a checkbox. Select one request. Select the checkbox on a group header to take every request in that group that you can approve, including those not yet shown. When Group by is None and the list has more than one request, a row at the top selects every request in the list that you can approve. After you select at least one, a bar at the bottom can select the rest. Select Clear selection or press Escape to clear the selection. Changing search or filters clears the selection. A disabled checkbox cannot be selected. Point at it to see why.

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Viewing and managing representative assignments

If you have been selected as a representative for a colleague’s absence, you must confirm your assignment before their request can proceed to the approver. Once the required number of representatives (if more than one) have approved their assignment, the absence request will be forwarded to the designated approver for final approval. To review and respond to representative requests:

1. Select the bell icon in the top-right corner to open the approval list.
2. If there are any outstanding requests where you are selected as a representative, they will be listed here.
3. For each request, you can:
   • Details: View more information about the request.
   • Approve: Confirm that you will cover for the employee during their absence.
   • Decline: Decline if you are unavailable or cannot take on the responsibility.

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Processing recurring representative assignments

When a recurring absence includes a representative, approving or declining the representative request applies to the entire series. It is not possible to accept or reject individual dates separately within the same recurring request.

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Viewing and managing approval requests

If you are the assigned approver for a user, you are responsible for reviewing and processing all of their absence requests that require approval. To manage approval requests:

1. Select the bell icon in the top-right corner to open the approval list.
2. A list of pending requests will appear, displaying the following details:
   • The name of the employee who submitted the request.
   • The date and time the request was created.
   • The type of leave and the duration requested.
3. You can take the following actions for each request:
   • Details opens the requester’s calendar with the request in context. Select Back to requests at the top to return to the list. This is especially useful in the Microsoft Teams client, where there is no browser back button.
   • Approve: Approve the request if everything is in order.
   • Decline: Decline the request and provide a reason in the prompt before confirming.

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Processing recurring absence requests

When a recurring absence request is approved or declined, the action applies to all occurrences in the series. It is not possible to approve or decline individual dates separately within the same request.

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Approve several requests at once

On Open, you can approve several requests at once, including representative assignments. Select the requests as described in Sorting, filtering, and view controls. Then select the button that shows how many requests you will approve. absentify asks you to confirm. Each selected request is approved the same way as a single Approve. If a selected request is recurring, all open dates in that series are approved too. The users involved are notified, as they are for a single approval. If a request needs another approver, it stays open for them. You can select Stop while absentify approves them. If some requests cannot be approved, select Show details to read why.

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Additional visibility for approvers and representatives

Depending on your role in the approval process, you may have access to different levels of information about the absence request: If you are a representative, you can view:

• Leave type: The specific reason for the absence (e.g., vacation, sick leave, home office).
• Request details: A complete breakdown of the absence, including start and end times.

If you are the approver of a request, you have access to all of the above, plus:

• Remaining allowance: How many days or hours the employee still has available in their leave allowance.

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Key considerations

• Access limitations: For requests with privacy activated, you can only view and process requests where you are specifically assigned as the approver or representative.
• Notifications: When you take action on a request (approve or decline), the employee who submitted the request will be notified.
• Reasons for decline: If you decline a request as an approver, your reason will be recorded and shown to the employee for transparency. Providing a reason for decline is not required from representatives.
• Data privacy: Enhanced visibility is limited to the approval process and does not grant general access to other employee information beyond the request.

For further assistance or if you encounter any issues with managing approval or representative requests, contact your manager or HR administrator.