FAQ

This page covers the most common questions and issues reported by employees, managers, and HR when working with the OBS Leave Management module. Each answer is direct and actionable.

Request Status

Q: What does the "Template" status mean on a leave request?

It means the request was created but never submitted for approval. The manager has not been notified and the days are not deducted from the balance. There are two known causes:

  • Employee created the request manually without using the standard submission flow. This is not recommended. To fix it, open the request and move it to Pending Approval manually.
  • The system email was inactive at the time of submission. The request was generated internally, but the notification email failed to send, leaving the request stuck in Template status. In this case the employee should resubmit, or the request should be manually advanced to Pending Approval and the manager notified directly.

Note: Always verify the system email configuration is active to prevent silent failures of this type.

Sick Leave

Q: Does sick leave require manager approval?

No. Sick leave is submitted directly and does not go through an approval workflow. Once submitted, it is registered immediately. The manager receives a notification email, but no approval action is required from them.

Sick Leave

Q: What happens if I get sick during an already approved vacation?

The system handles this automatically. When you submit a sick leave request that overlaps with an approved vacation, the system:

  • Shortens the original vacation to end the day before the sick leave begins.
  • Creates a new vacation request for the remaining days after the sick leave ends.

Example: Approved vacation 19-Feb to 01-Mar. Sick leave submitted for 22-Feb to 26-Feb. Result: vacation shortened to 19–21 Feb, new request auto-created for 27 Feb – 01 Mar.

Note: If the original vacation was electronically signed, no additional signatures are needed. The sick leave document overrides the approved period for those days.

Cancellations

Q: Can I cancel a leave request that is already approved?

Yes, but the process depends on the current status of the request:

  • Pending Approval: Can be cancelled directly. No manager action needed.
  • Approved (not signed): A cancellation request is created and must be approved by the manager. E-signatures may apply depending on company settings.
  • Approved and Signed: Same as above — requires a formal cancellation request with manager approval and signatures if enabled.
  • Sick Leave: Can only be cancelled in case of submission error. Cancellation is blocked for sick leave covering past dates.
  • Cancelled / Rejected / Approval Expired: Already finalized. No further action is possible.

E-Signature

Q: What does "Approval Expired" mean and what should I do?

This status means an electronic signature was required but was not completed before the configured deadline. The system automatically cancels the request and reverts all affected shift codes to their original state — the leave is treated as if it was never approved.

The employee will need to submit a new leave request. Expiration periods are configured in Control Panel > Admin Panel > Settings.

⚠ Note: Both the employee and the manager receive an email notification when a request expires due to an unsigned document.

Leave Balance

Q: My vacation balance looks incorrect. Why?

The three most common causes are:

  • Pending requests are not deducted. Only approved leave reduces the balance. Requests still in Pending Approval do not affect the count.
  • Incorrect contract data. The fields "Vacation Days Per Contract" and "Vacation Days for Current Year" in the Staff module must be accurate. If these are wrong, the balance will be wrong.
  • Rollover was not processed correctly. The annual rollover runs automatically on January 1st at 00:05. If leave from the previous year was not fully registered before year-end, the carry-over calculation may be off.

To investigate, check the Remaining Vacation Days report (Home > Employee > Reports) which shows a full breakdown: contract days, transferred days, extra days, used days, and remaining balance.

Past Period Requests

Q: Can a leave request be submitted or cancelled for a past period?

Yes, but it requires temporary deactivation of system restrictions. By default, the system blocks all modifications to past periods to protect payroll and schedule integrity.

Access is restricted to HR Representatives and Administrators only. To proceed:

  1. Navigate to Home > Employee > Vacations > Request.
  2. Click the wrench icon in the page header to open the Vacation Restrictions CPanel.
  3. Disable only the restrictions relevant to your use case.
  4. Complete the required action.
  5. Immediately re-enable all disabled restrictions.
🔴 Critical: Restrictions do not re-enable automatically. Leaving them off exposes historical records to unintended changes.

Manager Actions

Q: Can a manager submit or cancel a leave request on behalf of an employee?

Yes. In the Vacations module, click the "Request on behalf of" button, then select the employee from the dropdown. The calendar and request table will update to show that employee's data. From there, the manager can submit or cancel requests using the same steps as for their own leave.

Unplug Days

Q: I tried to request leave on a specific date and the system blocked me. Why?

The selected date is likely designated as an Unplug Day — a company-defined day reserved for employees to spend time with their families. Regular vacation requests are blocked on these dates. Only sick leave can be submitted for an Unplug Day.

The system will display a message identifying the date as an Unplug Day. Unplug Days are managed by administrators in Control Panel > Admin Menu > Vacation Unplug Days.

Notifications

Q: I submitted a leave request but my manager says they received no email. What happened?

There are two likely causes:

  • The system email was inactive or misconfigured at the time of submission. Check the email service status in the system settings. If this is the case, the request may be stuck in Template status (see question 1 above).
  • The email landed in the manager's spam or junk folder. Ask the manager to check there and whitelist the sender address.

As a workaround, the manager can access all pending requests directly through the Home screen > Approval Requests section or via their employee profile without needing the email link.

Manager Actions

Q: How can a manager approve or reject a request if they did not receive the email?

There are two access points that do not require the email link:

  • Home screen: The "Approval Requests" section lists all pending items. Clicking any request opens the resolution page where the manager can approve or reject.
  • Employee profile: Click on the profile image in the top-right corner, navigate to the "Requests" section, and click any pending item to act on it.

Documents

Q: How do I generate a PDF copy of a leave request?

Navigate to Home > Employee > Vacations, click "Vacations" (top-left) to switch to table view, find the relevant request, and click "Edit". Inside the request, click the "Print" button and choose either:

  • Preview – to view the document before downloading.
  • Generate PDF File – to create and download a PDF copy immediately.

For detailed step-by-step instructions on any topic above, refer to the corresponding section in the full Leave Management documentation.