Time off approvals help you track, review, and manage your team’s time off requests before they are confirmed in the Schedule.
Enabling time off approvals ensures that all time off is reviewed by the relevant managers. This gives you better visibility, prevents scheduling conflicts, and supports team accountability.
Time off approval settings
The Account Owner and Admins can enable time off approvals in Team settings > Time off > Time off approvals.
Setting up an approver
Once enabled, time off requests must be approved by the corresponding Manager. To set up a manager:
Give someone Manager access rights.
Grant them permission to Add and approve time off for People they manage.
The Manages tab will appear in their profile, allowing you to select which departments or people they are the manager of.
Each person's manager is displayed in the Info tab of their profile under Managed by.
📝Note: The Account Owner and the Admins can approve or decline time off for all team members.
Time off requests
When time off approval is enabled, team members must Request time off instead of creating it directly. Requests are sent to the assigned Manager. Requestors can see who will receive their request in the time off menu.
Time off requests are shown on the Schedule as tentative.
Time off request notifications
If the person's Manager is online in Float, they will receive an in-app notification to approve or decline the request. If they do not check the notification within 15 minutes or are not logged into Float, they will also receive an email notification. Additionally, if they are using the Float mobile app, the notification will appear there as well.
Time off requests show in the notification bar with the Pending indicator to distinguish them from other notifications.
The Account Owner, Admins, and People Managers can also navigate to the Request tab in the notification bar, which is dedicated to pending time off approvals only.
Time off approvals
To approve or decline time off, click on the request to see its details. This is also where a Manager can adjust the request details and add a note to clarify their decision.
Once approved, the time off is confirmed on the Schedule. Clicking the time off record displays the requester’s and approver's information, along with timestamps. The Pending indicator is removed from the notifications.
Approved time off notification
Once the request is approved, the requester receives an in-app notification. If they are not online, they are also notified by email.
Declined time off notification
Similarly, if the request is declined, the requester is notified.
Editing time off
Approved or declined time off can be edited or deleted as needed by both the requestor and the approver. It can also be adjusted by the Account Owner and the Admins.
Example use case
Scenario:
A designer requests three days off next month.
The request appears as tentative on the Schedule.
The designer's Manager reviews the workload for those dates.
The manager notices a key deadline and adjusts the dates by one day.
The request is approved with a note explaining the adjustment.
The designer receives a notification and sees confirmed time off on the Schedule.
This workflow ensures clarity, avoids last-minute conflicts, and keeps everyone aligned.
Best practices
To keep approvals running smoothly:
Assign accurate Managers to all of your team members to ensure requests are routed correctly and approvals aren’t delayed.
Review notifications regularly.
Encourage team members to request time off early.
Add notes when approving or declining to provide a clear context.
Monitor tentative time off on the Schedule to anticipate capacity gaps.