This guide covers the full workflow for managing leave in ShiftCare, including requesting, approving, declining, editing, and cancelling leave requests. It also addresses how to handle shifts that overlap with leave requests.
📝 This feature is available for Enterprise accounts only.
It is more common to have the Unavailability feature enabled.
In this article, we will cover:
📝 Read this guide to learn how staff members can add leave from the mobile app.
Receiving and Viewing Leave Notifications
When a staff member submits a leave request via the mobile app, the admin team receives both an email and a web notification.
Managing Leave Requests Through the Web
Click the Bell Icon in the top right corner of the page to view notifications.
Click on the specific leave notification to open the leave's details page, where you can either approve or decline the leave.
Declining the leave will require you to leave a comment explaining the reason.
Not receiving notifications? If these alerts are not appearing, check your profile settings:
Click your Profile Icon/Name in the top right corner of the screen, select Profile, and ensure the 'Notify Leave Requests' checkbox is ticked.
Managing Leave Requests Through Email
You will also receive an email containing the details of the leave request.
Clicking 'Accept' or 'Decline' will open the leave's details page, where you can either approve or decline the leave.
Approving and Declining Leaves
You can manage incoming requests by navigating to Staff > Leave> List.
Here, you can filter leave requests by searching for a staff member's name, adjusting the date range, or selecting the leave category.
Approving Leaves
Tick the checkbox next to a staff member's name to select the request. You can tick more than one request at a time.
Click the green 'Approve Selected' button in the bottom right corner.
Once approved, the leave will appear in Blue on the Staff > Leave > Calendar page.
The staff member cannot be assigned new shifts after their leave request has been approved.
Leave entries are colour-coded in the Leave Calendar page (Staff > Leave > Calendar) to help you identify their status quickly:
Pending (Purple): The request has been submitted but not yet approved.
Approved (Blue): The request has been approved.
Scheduler View: All leave appears in shaded Grey on the Scheduler.
Declining Leaves
Leave requests can be declined from the Leave Calendar page.
Open the pending (purple) request from the Leave Calendar.
Click the red 'Cancel Leave' button in the bottom right of the page.
Cancelling a recurring/repeating leave will cancel all leaves in the cycle.
Declined requests are removed and will not appear on the Leave Calendar.
Managing Overlapping Shifts
If a staff member requests leave for a time when they are already rostered, you can manage the conflict through the leave's details page.
Click the leave request notification to open the leave's details page.
You will see a list of shifts that overlap with this request. You can either approve or decline the leave based on this information.
If you approve the leave, a 'Remove Staff' checkbox will appear for overlapping shifts. Tick the box/es to remove the staff member from the selected shift/s, and click the red 'Remove staff from selected shift(s)' button.
If the staff member is the only person on the shift, or if removing them causes a ratio violation, the shift will revert to Pending status.
Adding Leave on Behalf of Staff Members
Admins can manually add leave requests for staff members directly from the Leave Calendar.
Navigate to the Leave Calendar and click the 'Add Leave Request' button.
Choose the staff member from the dropdown menu and click 'Create'.
Fill in the relevant details. You can also attach supporting documents (e.g., medical certificates) if required. Click 'Save'.
This creates a pending leave request. You will have to go to the Staff > Leave > List page to approve the leave.
Editing and Cancelling Requests
You can adjust or cancel leave requests at any stage from the Leave Calendar.
Editing Pending Leaves
Click the pending request (purple) on the Leave Calendar.
Make the necessary changes and click 'Send'.
The edited request will remain pending and will still need to be approved in Staff > Leave > List.
Cancelling Approved Leaves
Click the approved request (blue) on the Leave Calendar.
Click the yellow 'Decline This Leave' button.
Enter a reason for the cancellation when prompted to confirm.
Note: Staff members cannot cancel approved leaves via the mobile app. This must be done by a role with access to the Leave Calendar.
Partially Declining Approved Leaves
If you need to cancel only part of an approved leave request (e.g., one day out of a week):
Click the approved (blue) leave date you want to decline on the Leave Calendar.
The chosen date will be marked with a green circle in the small calendar. Click 'Decline This Leave'.
Enter a reason for the cancellation.
The declined leave date will be removed from the Leave Calendar.
For further assistance with Staff Leave Management, please contact our Support team using online chat when you're logged into ShiftCare or email our Support team at support@shiftcare.com.