Submitting a Time Off Request on Behalf of an Employee

Purpose

When time off was arranged outside UZIO (a phone call, a legacy system, a verbal approval) it still needs to be recorded so balances, payroll and reports stay accurate. This article covers logging a request on an employee's behalf from their profile.

Who can do this: Users whose role grants Full Access to the employee-level Manage Time Off permission for that employee. The Employer Administrator has this for everyone; HR admins and other custom-role admins have it for the employees their role covers. Whether Reporting Managers can open this dialog for their direct reports has not been confirmed; managers approve and deny requests through their own queue (Reviewing Team Time Off Requests).

When to use this, and when not to

• Use an on-behalf request when the employee actually took time on specific dates. The entry lands in Time Off History and reports as dated time off, and, if the policy is linked to a payroll earning, the hours are paid through the next pay run that covers those dates.
• Use a balance adjustment instead when you are correcting a number that is not tied to dates taken: an opening balance, a buyback, an error fix.
• Employees cannot change or cancel an approved request once its start date has passed. Corrections to past time off therefore come to you: cancel the request from the employee's Time Off tab and re-enter it on their behalf.

Steps

1. Open the employee's profile.
2. Go to the Time Off tab.
3. Click Request Time Off.

[Screenshot: Request Time Off dialog]

1. Select the Time Off Type. The dropdown lists the employee's assigned policies. On selecting one, a display-only preview appears: Current Balance and Available Balance. Check it before committing the dates.
2. Enter the From and To dates (MM/DD/YYYY) and, optionally, Comment(s).
3. Decide on the approval checkbox: "Send the time off request to the reporting manager for approval." It is unchecked by default.
4. Click Submit.

Expected outcome

• With the checkbox unchecked (the default), the request is approved immediately and the balance is deducted. The employee sees it under their time off history as an approved request. The Reporting Manager is not notified and has nothing to act on.
• With the checkbox checked, the request routes to the employee's Reporting Manager for approval instead of auto-approving. It arrives in the manager's queue like any request the employee typed, and the employee is notified of the manager's decision as usual. If the employee has no Reporting Manager, the request routes to the Employer Administrator.
• Once approved, the hours move to the employee's Scheduled balance until the dates pass. If the policy is linked to a Vacation, Sick or Unpaid Time Off earning, the pay run covering those dates picks the hours up automatically (details).

Common problems

The request is blocked with a date restriction

"Time off request dates should be on or after MM/DD/YYYY as per the policy setup." The dates fall before the employee's usage waiting period ends or before the policy effective date. The message tells you the first allowed date. Time off before it cannot be recorded as a request under this policy. If the balance impact still needs recording, use an adjustment.

The request is blocked for insufficient balance

"You cannot request leaves more than your available balance." The policy does not allow negative balances, and the range you entered exceeds the employee's Available Balance shown in the dialog's preview. Shorten the range, adjust the balance first, or (if company policy allows) enable negative balances on the policy.

The request is blocked by a usage limit or an hour increment

• "You cannot take more leaves than the maximum N Days defined in the policy for a period of <start> - <end>." The policy caps how much can be used per reset cycle and this request would exceed it. Shorten the request or raise the cap on the policy.
• "This policy requires leave in 1-hour increments..." The policy enforces an Hour Increment. This applies to on-behalf entries as well as employee entries. Re-enter in whole increments.

The amount deducted isn't what I expected

There is no hours field. The deduction derives from the date range, the policy's units and Standard Daily Working Hours, the policy's work-week days, and the employee's work schedule, if assigned, which overrides both the daily hours and the working days. Company holidays inside the range are not deducted.

I meant the manager to review it, but it's already approved

The routing checkbox was left unchecked. The default auto-approves and deducts immediately. Cancel the request from the employee's Time Off tab (the balance restores automatically) and resubmit it with the box checked.

Related articles

• Adjusting Employee PTO Balances (for corrections that are not dated requests)
• Accessing Time Off Reports
• Reviewing Team Time Off Requests
• Employee side: Requesting and Managing Your Time Off