The approval workflow defines who must approve a leave request and according to which rules. It is configured as a series of successive steps, accessible via the Approval Settings button on the Leave page.
Each workflow can comprise one or more steps (for example, an N+1 approval step, followed by an additional step if required). To add a step, simply click on ‘+ Add a step’ at the bottom of the list of steps.
Configuring a step:
Clicking on an existing step (for example, ‘N+1 Approval’) takes you to its detailed settings:
• Step name: the label displayed in the workflow, for example ‘N+1 Approval’ or ‘Manager Approval’.
• Description: an optional text field to specify the purpose of the step.
• Step owner: defined either via a dynamic variable (e.g. ‘the employee’s line manager’) or by manually assigning a specific person. The dynamic variable is particularly useful for automating the workflow without having to reconfigure it every time there is a change of team.
Define the behaviour based on the approver’s response:
For each stage, it is possible to define the workflow’s behaviour precisely according to the response of the designated approver:
If the response is ‘Yes’: the request’s status is updated to the selected value, usually ‘Approved’.
If the response is ‘No’: the status is updated (for example, ‘Rejected’), with the option to enable or disable the ability to proceed to the next stage despite the rejection.
If the deadline is missed: a specific status can be applied, with the option to enable automatic progression to the next stage. This option is particularly recommended: it prevents a request from remaining stuck indefinitely if a validator does not respond in time.
An additional option, ‘The stage manager can approve and complete the workflow’, allows a single validator to close the request directly without it needing to go through the subsequent stages. Once all the settings have been defined, simply click Save to confirm the stage configuration.
Remove duplicate validators: when enabled, this option ensures that if the same validator appears in multiple stages, only the last occurrence is retained.