Life Cycle of a Time Off Request

The article outlines the workflow for time off requests within an organization. It begins with the submission of a request by an employee, which initiates an approval process. The approver receives automated email notifications to review the request, and can approve or deny it through their online account or mobile app. If approved, the request is confirmed and reflected in the employee's calendar. Denied requests are communicated to the employee via email. The article also details how employees can view their time off history and modify or cancel requests. Administrators have additional capabilities to manage requests within the approval workflow. The guide aims to clarify the entire process from submission to final approval.

  • Jul 2, 2026
  • Knowledge

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Life Cycle of a Time Off Request
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This feature is included in the Core, Pro, and Elite packages.

What is the workflow of a time off request?

Purpose: Once an employee submits a time off request, it begins the approval process. This guide will help you understand the time off request process from submission to approval.

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Submission of a request

To start the time off request cycle, an employee will request time off from Home, the mobile app, or from their Time Off tab.

Automated email notification of a request

The approver(s) will receive an automated email notification with a link to the employee's time off request for approval. If there is a multi-level approval workflow, then the designated approver in the first position will receive an email notification about the time off request. After the first recipient approves the request, the next approver receives an email notification about the request. The recipient can approve the request or deny it from the email. An alternative way for approval is by reviewing the request in BambooHR (additional information below). The multi-level approval process will end if any approver denies the request before completing the process, and the employee will receive an email notification about their denied request.

Please note that a direct reply to an email notification will send back to the BambooHR Customer Service Department. If there are questions about a request, you need to contact the employee directly.

Approve or deny a request

An approver can approve or deny a request through their online account or the mobile app. In the web app, they can view a request by accessing Time Off Requests in their inbox and selecting a request on which they would like to take action.

When an approver views a request, they can see what stage the request is in the approval process. In the example above, it shows an employee's request is pending approval from the first approver.

Clicking Approve results in immediate action, and an email notification will be sent to the next approver in a multi-level approval process so they can take action on the request as well. If an approver is the only approver or the last approver in an approval process, their approval action will notify the employee of their decision. Clicking Deny gives the approver an option to add a note as to why they denied the request, and the employee will receive an email notification upon their decision.  

For Administrators: If you are not the first approver in a workflow, you still can go to your inbox and bypass the previous approvers on a request. To do this, navigate to the inbox, click Assigned to Me in the top left corner, and change it to Assigned to Company. In this way, you will see all requests in the company. Navigate to the time off request and take action. You will immediately see a pop-up box notifying you that you are bypassing other approvers. Click Approve Anyway to continue with this action.

Confirmation of an approval

Once an approver takes action on a request, a confirmation message will appear. If the approval process is complete with an approved time off request, the request will show up in the Who's Out calendar. If the approver denies the request during the approval process, it will not show in the calendar.

Automated email notification of an approval

Once an approval process is complete, the employee will receive an email notification informing them of the action taken on their request.

Time off history

An approved request will show up in the employee's Upcoming Time Off section within the Time Off tab. Additionally, the time off request will show up as approved or denied in the History table along with the date and the name of the final approver.

Note:  An employee can modify or cancel an approved request for a future date or a pending time off request through the Upcoming Time Off section, Requests History, or mobile app. When an employee modifies a request, it is automatically resubmitted for approval and goes through the time off approval process. 

An administrator can modify or cancel the request at any time.

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