> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://absentify.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Create an absence request
> Submit an absence request in absentify — choose vacation, sick leave, home office, or other leave types and send it to your approver in a few steps.
In absentify, you can log various types of absences based on your company’s setup. Common absence types include vacation, sick leave, and home office, though your organization may have customized types with specific rules, allowances, or approval processes. Follow the steps below to create an absence request.
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**Via the AI assistant**: If your organization has the [Azure AI integration](/docs/en/roles/m365admins/permissions/azure_ai_integration) enabled, you can also create leave requests by chatting with the AI assistant. Just type something like "Book vacation next Monday to Friday" or "I'm sick today" and the assistant will handle the rest.
## How to create an absence request
To create a new absence request, go to the **Overview** page and select **Create request**. Alternatively, you can select the date(s) in your calendar for the desired absence period.
In the request form, open the **Leave type** dropdown menu. Select the type of absence you need to request, such as vacation, sick leave, or home office. Some types may display **(Deductible)** next to the name, indicating they will impact your leave allowance.
**Note**: Absence types marked as **(Deductible)** in the dropdown will typically reduce your leave allowance by the calculated number of days, while non-deductible absences will not. The number of days deducted may account for your working schedule and public holidays, but these settings are customized by your company.
* **Duration**: Specify the start and end dates for your absence. For hourly leave, also specify the start and end times. Dates before your employment start date or after your last working day cannot be selected; both boundary dates remain available. If you type a date outside this period, the field shows an inline error instead of changing the date. absentify automatically calculates the deducted duration in days or hours based on your work schedule and any holidays in the period. For hourly requests, only working time within your configured schedule counts. Breaks and time outside your schedule are excluded. absentify uses this calculated duration consistently across the request, calendar, allowance balance, exports, and connected tools. For example, weekends or holidays may not count against your allowance, but this setting varies by your company’s configuration. If your selected date range includes public holidays, an informational banner appears. It shows how many public holidays fall within the period and whether the leave type deducts them from your allowance. Select **View details** in the banner to open a dialog with each holiday’s date, name, and deduction status.
**Note**: You can only create absence requests for the current year or the upcoming year (according to your company’s fiscal year settings). If you need to plan further in advance, please consult your HR administrator.
* **Public holidays in your selection**: If the dates you choose include one or more public holidays, an info box appears telling you how many public holidays fall within the selected period. Once you have picked a leave type, the box also indicates whether those days are **Deductible** or carry **No deduction from allowance**. Public holidays only count against your allowance when the leave type is set to both use an allowance and ignore public holidays. Select **View details** to open a read-only window listing each holiday’s date, name, and allowance-deduction status.
The same public holiday detection also applies when a manager creates a [group (department) request](/docs/en/roles/manager/group_requests#public-holidays-in-the-selection). In that case the banner shows how many members are affected (for example, *3 of 8 members*) instead of a single holiday count.
* **Available for these dates**: If your allowance rule changes later in the fiscal year, a line reading **Available for these dates** appears below the deducted duration and updates as you pick dates. It shows how much of your allowance you can actually book for the selected period. This can be less than the **Remaining** balance in your calendar, because that balance covers the whole year and already includes allowance a rule grants later. Choose dates on or after the rule change and the amount goes up. If your selection still exceeds what is available, absentify names the available amount, the additional amount, and the date it arrives — for example, *You only have 1 day available for the selected dates. 10 days will be added on 01.09.2026.* This line only appears when a rule change is scheduled for the rest of the year.
* **Reason (optional)**: Depending on the absence type and your company’s settings, you may need to provide a reason for your absence. The field supports multiple lines of text. If your entry exceeds the character limit, absentify prompts you to shorten it. Fill this in if prompted.
* **Attachment (optional)**: If document uploads are enabled for the selected leave type, you will see an **Attachment** field. Select **Upload** or drag and drop files to attach supporting documents to your request. Depending on your company’s plan:
* In the Essentials plan, you can upload one document per request (max. 2 MB).
* In the Plus plan, you can upload multiple documents per request (max. 15 MB per document).
If a representative is required for the selected leave type, the **Representative** section will appear in the request form.
* Depending on your company’s settings, one or more representatives may be required.
* The representative(s) may be automatically prefilled from your profile or, if allowed, you may have the option to select them manually.
* If selection is allowed:
* If multiple representatives are selected, you can rearrange the order in which they are contacted for approval.
* You can add or remove representatives depending on who you want to cover for you during your absence.
* If the representatives are assigned automatically, no changes can be made—simply proceed with submitting your request.
Representatives must confirm their assignment before your request is forwarded to the approver. After submission, a manager or admin may [replace a representative](/docs/en/roles/manager/approval_requests#replacing-a-representative) on your behalf if needed, so the assigned list may change.
Once all information is complete, select **Send request** to submit your absence request. If selected dates fall outside your employment period, the button remains unavailable and explains why. If the absence type requires approval, your manager or approver will be notified. If approval is not required, the request will be logged immediately.
After submitting, you can see your absence request logged on the **Overview** page. Here, you can track its status to see if it’s pending, approved, or declined.
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### Create a recurring absence request
absentify allows you to create recurring absence requests with flexible scheduling options. Please note that recurring absence requests cannot start in a previous fiscal year, and the selected recurrence period must not exceed one year from the chosen start date.
Recurring absences are only available on the **essentials** or **plus** plan.
Select **Create absence** and select the desired **absence type** from the dropdown.
Activate the **Make recurring** option to convert the absence into a recurring request.
Select the start date for the recurring absence.\
Select the repetition interval:
* **Daily**
* **Weekly**
* **Monthly**
Optionally, define whether intervals should be skipped and how many (e.g. every 3 weeks).
* For **weekly** recurrence, select the days of the week.\
Non-working days for the selected user will be shown, but they can still be selected.
* For **monthly** recurrence, select either:
* A specific day of the month (e.g. the 15th), or
* A weekday pattern (e.g. every third Monday)\
Then, define the interval (e.g. every 2 months).
Select one of the following options to determine when the recurrence stops:
* Until a specific end date
* Until a defined number of occurrences
Every occurrence must fall within your employment period. If even one occurrence is before your employment start date or after your last working day, absentify rejects the entire series rather than skipping or shortening it. If the recurrence starts after your last working day, the disabled submit button names that boundary.
* For **hourly leave**, enter the start and end time for each occurrence.
* For **daily leave**, select either:
* **Full day**
* **Half day** (if allowed by your system settings)
Any potential conflicts appear before submission. Conflicts may include:
* Assigned representative is unavailable on one or more dates
* Maximum absence limit for the department has been reached
* Overlapping requests for the same user
* You are currently acting as a representative for a colleague during the requested period (depending on the leave type configuration, this may block submission, show a confirmation dialog, or appear as an informational warning for pending representative assignments)
You can choose to skip the conflicting dates.
In some cases, you must skip conflicts to proceed. For example, if the representative is mandatory or overlapping absences cannot be submitted.
Once you’ve reviewed the summary and resolved any conflicts, select **Apply** to create the recurring absence.
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## Viewing absence details
Clicking on a specific day for an absence opens a detailed dialog box with the following information:
* **Leave type and duration**: Displays the type of leave (e.g., "Vacation") along with the start and end dates. For day-based absences (including multiple days or half-day absences), the time settings will reflect your company’s configuration, such as **Morning**, **Afternoon**, **Lunchtime**, or **End of day**. For absences tracked by the hour, specific times are displayed according to your profile settings.
* **Reason**: If a reason for the absence was provided during the request creation, it will be displayed here.
* **Status**: Shows the current status of the leave request:
* **Pending**: The request is awaiting approval from your manager or approver.
* **Approved**: The request has been approved and is officially recorded. The date and time of the approval decision is displayed next to the status.
* **Declined**: The request was declined. You may need to adjust details and resubmit if necessary. The date and time of the decline is displayed next to the status.
* **Canceled**: The request was withdrawn by the employee or by another user with the appropriate permissions. The cancellation date is displayed next to the status.
For **declined** and **canceled** requests, the approve and decline actions are not available in the detail view.
* **Process status**: Details the approval process, indicating who needs to approve the request and their decision status.
If your absence request requires approval, it will go through one of the following processes, as set by your company:
* **Linear - All must agree**: Approvers are contacted one after the other. The request is approved only if all approvers agree. If even one approver denies the request, it will not be approved.
* **Linear - One must agree**: Approvers are contacted one after the other. If at least one approver approves the request, it will be approved.
* **Parallel - All must agree**: All approvers are contacted at the same time. The request is approved only if all approvers agree. If even one approver denies the request, it will not be approved.
* **Parallel - One must agree**: All approvers are contacted at the same time. If at least one approver approves the request, it will be approved.
These approval processes impact how quickly a decision is made on your request, and you can check the status to see if it’s awaiting action from any approvers.
* **Take from allowance**: Specifies the number of days (or hours) deducted from the employee's leave allowance, if applicable.
* **Request created**: Indicates the date and time when the leave request was originally submitted.
* **Request created by**: Shows the name and profile picture of the person who created the request.
* **Files**: If documents were uploaded during the absence request creation, they will be displayed here under **Files**. You can download these attachments by clicking on the file name.\
**Admins, approvers, and requesters** can upload additional files later.
If you are viewing another team member’s leave, you will only see the details you’re authorized to view. For your own leave requests, all relevant details are accessible.
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## Reminder emails
If your request requires approval and you haven’t received a response within 24 hours, you can send a reminder email to the approver. This option becomes available 24 hours and again 48 hours after the request is created. Sending a reminder helps ensure approvers are promptly notified of pending requests, avoiding delays in the approval process.
## Outlook calendar integration
Once your request is submitted, absentify will automatically add the absence to your Outlook calendar if your company has granted the necessary Microsoft permissions.
If these permissions aren’t set, you’ll receive an iCal invitation via email to manually add the event to your calendar.
Companies can also disable this feature entirely.
If you need further assistance, please contact your HR administrator for specific guidance on your company’s absence policies and settings.