What's covered in this guide?:
Submit Leave Requests
Employees can apply for leave via the Workforce.com Mobile App or online at my.workforce.com.
Employees can submit unavailability requests (days or times they cannot work) through the same channels.
Managers approve requests online at my.workforce.com and only see requests for teams they manage.
Leave Approval Process
When an employee submits a leave request, it remains pending until approved or declined.
Once approved, Workforce.com automatically creates timesheets for the leave dates with the correct hours.
Approve Leave Requests
To approve leave requests:
Go to Time & Attendance > Leave > Leave Requests.
Select View Request or open the dropdown arrow ˅.
Choose Approve or Decline.
Approve: adds the leave to the employee’s timesheet and notifies them.
Decline: managers may add a reason, which is visible to the employee.
Tip: To decline an already approved request, select View Request > Decline.
Approve Leave Requests on the Rota
To approve leave requests on the rota:
Open the rota.
Click the pending leave request.
In the left-hand panel, select More Information.
Click Approve.
Edit Pending Leave Requests
To edit a pending leave request:
Go to Time & Attendance > Leave.
Select View Request.
To edit:
Leave details (dates, type, reason, attachments): go to Leave Details > Edit.
Daily breakdown (days, hours, teams): go to Daily Breakdown > Edit.
Advanced settings (restrict to one team): go to Daily Breakdown > Edit > Advanced Settings.
Select Update or Save.
Block out Periods of Leave
Use custom events to prevent leave being taken during specific times.
Go to Schedule > Events & Comments > + Add New Event > Prevent Staff from Taking Leave.
(For more detail, see the guide: Leave Blackouts.)
Bulk Apply Holiday Leave
Apply holiday leave to multiple employees at once using the Bulk Apply Holiday Leave tool.
To bulk apply holiday leave:
Go to Time & Attendance
Select Leave
Click Leave Requests
Open Leave Tools
Select Bulk Apply Holiday Leave
Apply holiday leave
Select the holiday date
Choose the leave type
Click Submit
Allow employees to view other employees’ leave
To allow employees to view other employees' leave:
Go to Settings > Permissions.
Enable Allow staff to view the full leave calendar.
Employees will then see approved leave on the rota and calendar.
Visible: leave type.
Not visible: reason, pending, or declined requests.
View Leave Request History
Each request has a full audit trail of submissions, approvals, declines, and timestamps.
Go to the Leave request > Drop down menu > History:
Notifications
Once a day, Workforce.com emails managers/admins about new leave and unavailability requests.
Change preferences via Profile (top right) > My Notification Preferences.
Managers inactive for 1 month will not receive these emails.
(For more detail of managing notifications, see the guide: Manage Notification Settings.)
Leave Request Details Explained
Start Date → when leave begins
Duration → total length of leave
Hours → total hours requested
Leave Type → type of leave available
Current Balance → current entitlement
Projected Balance → entitlement if the request is approved
Created → date the request was submitted
Reason & Attachments → optional (e.g. medical certificate)
Team → allocates leave cost to a team (optional)
Daily Breakdown → details of hours/days applied
Events & Schedules → shows clashes with public holidays, events, or shifts
Decline & Notify → option to decline and give a reason
Unavailability requests
How it works
Staff submit unavailable days/times through the app or online.
Requests are pending until a manager approves or declines.
Approved unavailability shows on the rota.
Approve unavailability requests
Go to Time & Attendance > Unavailability.
Select Review.
Choose Approve or Decline and Notify.
Unavailability details explained
Date → start date of unavailability
Repeats → whether it repeats
Frequency → cadence (e.g. weekly)
Requested → when it was submitted
Reason → required field
Status → pending, approved, or declined
Events → clashes with public holidays or rota events
FAQs
Why can’t a user request a certain leave type?
Why can’t a user request a certain leave type?
No balance assigned
Leave type not applied to that employee (through tags)
Leave type has “prevent leave requests” enabled
Who can approve leave?
Who can approve leave?
Admins, General Managers, Payroll Officers, and Team Managers (restricted to their teams).