Available for the following HR plan: Platinum
Available for the following user access levels: Employee , Manager , Admin
You sync leave requests with your calendar simply by approving a setting in your Employment Hero platform.
If you have the Employee user access level, you sync leave requests by accessing your Notifications Settings page, referring to the Leave (Employees) module, and approving the 'Send calendar event for leave' setting.
The process is different if you have the Manager user access level, however. Rather than approving Leave (Employees) in your Notification Settings page, you instead use that same page to approve the 'Send calendar event for leave' for the Leave (Managers) module.
To learn more, you can click the following links to jump straight to our step-by-step interactive learning guide and written instructions. Plus, you can visit our benefits and privacy measures section to read why the syncing of leave requests can ensure both your day-to-day operations and your employees' data are well-managed and secure.
You can also learn more by checking out this article's Tips section. This includes information that is specific to whether you are using Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar.
Interactive learning
Written instructions
- Click the Settings menu.
- Under Notifications, click the Notification Settings submenu.
You will now see the Notification Settings page, which has a table consisting of three columns entitled Module, Event, and Email Notifications.
- On the row that begins with the term Leave (Employees), click Yes.
- (Providing your user access allows this) On the row that begins with the term Leave (Managers), click Yes.
The benefits and privacy measures
Approving your relevant leave setting allows Employment Hero to sync email notifications with attached ICS (Internet Calendaring and Scheduling) files. These notifications detail new, updated, or cancelled leave requests. They will automatically appear on your calendar, where you will be marked as busy throughout the entirety of your leave.
Having standard Leave Calendar events is especially useful for direct (primary) managers who want to track employee absences and availability. Employees' leave requests trigger real-time notifications that sync to the Leave Calendar, so managers have a single, clear overview of their team's goings-on.
It is important to remember, however, that this function is only for primary managers. Users who only have the Employee user access level cannot use this feature.
Employment Hero is designed to send a standard Leave Calendar event to managers to avoid having automated emails that reveal sensitive information. This is so that employees' privacy is protected even if managers accidentally leave their inbox open around other people.
The primary manager can decide if they wish to learn more about the leave request. They can only do this by using the Leave Calendar feature in Employment Hero or their Swag app.
Tips
There may be times when your email provider will need you to respond to an event before it even reaches your calendar. To ensure these events appear automatically, you may need to check and configure your external calendar settings accordingly.
Google will show the event automatically in your calendar. However, be aware that a notification in your inbox may ask whether the email is spam.
We therefore recommend you carry out the following steps:
- In the email, click a button in your inbox that confirms you trust the sender (for example, there may be an I know the Sender button).
- Add no-reply@employmenthero.com to your contact list.
- Reply to the email to check if everything is working as it should.
After you complete these steps, calendar events should show normally in your calendar without the need to respond to the event anymore.
When viewing calendar events in Outlook, you may notice the dates sometimes appear differently to what you would expect. To combat this, click on the event tile in Outlook. When you then click and accept the invite, the event should present the correct dates.
Explore related content
- Submit, view, and edit leave This article covers a feature that lets you see your latest leave balance and submit a time off request.
- How do I enable a company leave calendar view via the HR platform? FAQ This article answers a common question we receive about how to enable a company-wide leave calendar.
Comments
A roster change was made on December 21st 2023, the roster change was not sent to the employees on SWAG till December 25th 2023. Why would this happen?
Hi Andrew MUELLER the best place to get a solution to your issue would be from our support team. If you contact our support team they can look into the above issue for you and hopefully provide a resolution.
It would be helpful if the secondary manager also received the email ICS attached so they are also aware when staff on their team are on leave. Then if the primary manager is away they are aware of team movements. Is there a way that we can trigger this?
Hi Sara Hamilton, thank you for your comment.
Currently, only direct managers can be configured to receive leave requests.
Although what you're seeking is not current functionality, please be assured, I have noted this as feedback and shared with our product development team for future consideration.
Article is closed for comments.