Configure my organization's time off workflows

1. Click the WorkFlows menu.
2. Click the Create New button.
3. Select the Time off option and click the Create New button. 
4. Click the WHEN field.
5. Complete the following fields:
   • When:
     • Time off a request created.
     • Time off request declined.
     • Time off request approved
6. Click the Save button.
7. Click the IF field.
8. Complete the following fields:
   • Field:
     • Approver.
     • Comments.
     • Days of time off.
     • Decliner.
     • End date.
     • Hours of time off.
     • Time off category.
     • Employee.
     • Start date.
     • Group.
   • Condition:
     • Is one of.
     • Is equal to.
     • Does not equal.
     • Is not one of.
     • is today.
     • is tomorrow.
     • is next month.
   • Value.
9. Click the Save button.
10. Click the THEN field.
11. Click the Add Action button.
12. Complete the following fields:

    • Then:

      • Request approval:
        • Approver.
        • Backup approver.
        • Require all approvals. Tick this checkbox if you want all selected approvers to approve the time off request before it can proceed. This creates a parallel approval workflow, where every approver must take action.

      Important

      If multiple Request Approval actions are placed inside the same THEN node → They will be triggered in parallel. → Approvers (e.g., Finance Manager and HR Manager) receive their tasks at the same time and can both approve or decline the time off at any time. For more information about parallel approvals, see the above accordion named Add parallel time off approval.
      
      If Request Approval actions are placed in different THEN nodes → They will be triggered sequentially. → One approval from a manager must be completed before the next approval is assigned to the next approving manager.

      • Automatically approve:
        • Approver's name.
      • Automatically decline:
        • Decline reason.
        • Decliner.
      • Send email notification:
        • Type of recipients.
        • Subject.
        • Contents.
      • Create task (useful for tasks such as ensuring proper handover of work and collecting all necessary documents to maintain compliance when an employee is on time off.)
        • Name of task.
        • Description.
        • Owner.
        • Send this task to an email address.
        • Subtasks.
        • Due date.
    • Click the Save button.

13. Click the Save and Publish button.

    Helpful Hint

    To add an additional step, click the  button below the last step. Also, you need to publish this workflow for it to become active. Any time off requests sent before the workflow becomes active will still need to be solved manually in the old way. Alternatively, you can ask employees to resubmit.

To add two managers providing time off approval to a time off workflow, you can add a parallel time off approval, meaning two managers can approval or decline a time off approval independently of each other.

1. Click the WorkFlows menu.
2. Click the Manage Workflows tab.
3. Click Time off button.
4. Click on the workflow in which you want to add parallel time off approval.
5. In the THEN step, click on the pen icon.
    

6. Add each manager for parallel approval by clicking on + Add Action.

   Helpful Hint

   Each approving manager must be added in the same THEN step of the workflow to effectuate a parallel approval.

7. Tick Require all approvals to ensure both managers approve a time off request.
    
8. Click on Save.
    

Available for the following EmploymentOS plans: Employment Plus, Employment Unlimited
Available for the following HR plans: Free, Standard, Premium, Platinum
Available for the following user access levels: Manager, Admin

The Restrict Admin Overrides toggle button lets you enforce mandatory approvals for specific workflows. When on, admins cannot skip steps, ensuring compliance. The setting is locked once published for stability. If no approver is found with this on, the workflow owner is notified. Admins explicitly assigned as approvers can still approve. All override attempts are validated.

If toggled OFF:

• Admins can override approval steps as needed.

If toggled ON:

• Admins are strictly prevented from overriding any approval steps within that workflow.
• Employment Hero will fully enforce the designed approval path with no bypass allowed.

1. Click the WorkFlows menu.
2. Click the Manage Workflows tab.
3. Click Time off option.
4. Click on the Restrict Admin Overrides tile. 
5. Click on the Workflow Settings button.
6. In the pop-up screen, toggle on Restrict Admin Workflows. The toggle will appear purple when toggled on.
7. Click Save in the bottom right-hand side of the screen.

1. Click the WorkFlows menu.
2. Click the Manage Workflows tab.
3. Click Time off button.
4. Click the  button for the workflow you need to publish.
5. Click the Publish button.
    

1. Click the WorkFlows menu.
2. Click the Manage Workflows tab.
3. Click Time off button.
4. Click the  button for the workflow you need to unpublish.

5. Click the Unpublish button.

   Important

   If the Default workflow for Time off Requests is unpublished, Managers will be unable to approve or decline time off requests (but Admins still can). Those options will be greyed out.
   
   For Time off Requests, we recommend you either keep the Default workflow active or ensure another workflow is in place to allow these actions to proceed.

1. Click the WorkFlows menu.
2. Click the Manage Workflows tab.
3. Click Time off button.
4. Click the  button for the workflow you need to edit.
5. Click the Edit button.
6. Edit the workflow as needed.
7. Click the Save button.
    

1. Click the WorkFlows menu.
2. Click the Manage Workflows tab.
3. Click Time off button.
4. Click the  button for the workflow you need to delete.
5. Click the Delete button.
    

The Time off WorkFlows feature lets you create a set of steps that the HR platform will take regarding time off request approvals. Each step follows the When-If-Then sequence, which is like this:

• When this happens -> If this condition is met -> Then do this.
  • "When" is the situation that will trigger the workflow.
  • "If" is the condition that decides what action should be taken.
  • "Then" is the action that the platform will take.

To visualise this better, please see the examples below. "X" and "Y" in these scenarios refer to values you can pick and enter on the HR platform.

1. When an employee submits a time off request, If the time off hours is more than "X", Then the time off request will be sent to the executive leadership team for approval.
2. When an employee submits a time off request, If the time off hours is more than "X", Then the time off request will be automatically declined.
3. When an employee submits a time off request, If the time off request comment contains "christmas", Then the time off request will be automatically approved.
4. When an employee submits a time off request, If start date is after "X" AND end date is before "Y", Then the time off request will be automatically approved.

When you click the "IF" field when creating a workflow, the "Add conditions" panel will slide out. There, you will have to fill in the following: Field, Condition, and Value.

Below those is the Add condition button, which lets you set up an additional condition to come with the first one. When you click this button, you will be asked to choose between:

• And condition - This means the platform will take action only if BOTH the original and additional conditions are met.
• Or condition - This means the platform will take action if EITHER the original or additional condition is met.

To demonstrate this, here are some examples:

And condition:

For the image below, the platform will act only if the time off request falls between 15/02/2024 and 22/02/2024 AND has a category of Annual Time off. The platform will not take the specified action in the "THEN" field if both are not met, even if one of the conditions is followed.

Or condition:

For the image below, the platform will take action if the time off request falls between 15/02/2024 and 22/02/2024 OR is filed by employee Armin Jaeger.

There just needs to be at least one condition met for the platform to act. So, the workflow will still function if two, three, or more conditions were met.

For our example, this means the workflow will act if the time off request falls between the date range provided, even if a different employee filed it. The platform will also function if employee Armin Jaeger filed the request, even if the request falls outside the date range provided.

When setting up a time off workflow using the Request approval action, you’ll see a checkbox called Require all approvals. This controls how the platform handles multiple approvers listed in the same workflow step (or node).

What happens if I tick Require all approvals?

If you tick Require all approvals, every listed approver must approve the time off request before the workflow can progress. This includes any backup approvers, if triggered. This setup creates a parallel approval workflow, where all approvers in the node need to take action.

Important: The Require all approvals setting applies only to Request approval actions within the same node. It does not apply across the entire workflow. That means:

• You can have one node that requires all listed approvers (checkbox ticked), and
• Another node where only one approval is needed (checkbox unticked).

Each node's approval logic is independent. The checkbox only affects the Request approval actions in that specific node.

Example:
You add three managers as approvers, and tick Require all approvals. All three managers must approve the request. If even one manager hasn’t responded, the workflow won’t move forward.

What happens if I untick Require all approvals?

If the checkbox is left unticked, approval from any one of the listed approvers will allow the request to move forward. Once one person approves, the workflow progresses — no further action is required from the other approvers in the node.

Example:
You add three managers as approvers, and leave Require all approvals unticked. As soon as one manager approves the request, the workflow proceeds to the next step.

Declining a request

Regardless of whether the box is ticked or not, if any approver declines the time off request, the workflow will stop — unless you’ve added cancellation logic to handle this differently.

💡 Note: The Require all approvals option only applies to workflow steps using the Request approval action. It does not apply to actions like Automatically approve or Send email notification.

Restrict Admin Overrides is evaluated at the time a request is triggered, not at the time an admin attempts to override.

Once a request is created, it inherits the toggle setting from the workflow version that was active at that moment.

This enforcement state is persisted for the lifetime of the request, even if the workflow is later unpublished or the toggle is changed.

This ensures:

• Consistent enforcement for each request.
• No retroactive changes to approval rules
• Clear audit trails and compliance alignment