Absence

Request, approve, and track time off in one place, so it's always clear who's away and when. Absence brings leave requests and approvals together and keeps a clear record of what's been agreed.

Overview

Absence handles time off from request to decision. People submit a leave request with the type and dates, an approver reviews it, and the outcome is recorded — so leave lives in one organized place instead of scattered across spreadsheets and chat. An overview keeps upcoming and recent absence visible to the people who need it.

Key features

• Leave requests — Submit time off with a type, start and end dates, and a reason.
• Approval workflow — Requests start as pending; an approver can approve, reject, or cancel them, with a response comment.
• Status tracking — Follow each request through pending, approved, and rejected, and search past requests.
• Absence types — Categorize requests by type — for example vacation, sick, or personal leave — so they're easy to tell apart.
• Overview — See upcoming and recent absence and a yearly view to understand patterns over time.

How it works

1. A person submits a leave request, choosing the type and the dates, and adding a reason.
2. The request starts as pending and goes to an approver.
3. The approver approves, rejects, or cancels it, and can add a response comment.
4. The outcome is recorded, and the request shows its current status.

NOTE

Until a request is approved it's a proposal — only confirmed absence should be treated as agreed when you're planning coverage.

Requesting and approving leave

Requesting time off is straightforward: pick the type and dates, add any context, and submit. Approvers see incoming requests and can approve, reject, or cancel them, adding a comment to explain the decision. The overview makes it easy to spot overlapping requests before approving, so you can avoid leaving a stretch of work uncovered.

TIP

Check the absence overview before approving — spotting overlapping time off on the same team is the quickest way to avoid a coverage gap.

Absence types

Different kinds of leave are handled with their own types — for example vacation, sick, and personal leave — so requests are easy to tell apart and review. Use consistent types so the overview and yearly view give you a clear picture of why and when people are away.

Keeping availability clear

The overview shows upcoming and recent absence and a yearly view, so the team can see who's away and when. Keeping leave here — rather than in someone's inbox — means availability is based on what's actually been approved.

Works with the rest of Heyweek

• Keep your wider schedule visible alongside leave with the Calendar.
• Manage who's on each team in Teams and People.
• Talk through requests and decisions in Messages.

Tips

• Submit requests early so approvers can plan coverage with plenty of notice.
• Check the overview before approving to catch overlapping time off.
• Use consistent absence types so the yearly view reflects the real reasons people are away.
• Add a reason or comment so the record explains the decision later.