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PTO Approvals

The PTO Approvals page lets managers review and act on pending time-off requests from their team. You can approve or deny requests one at a time, or approve everything in a single click. Denial reasons are visible to the technician.

This page requires the PTO feature to be enabled for your company.

Opening PTO Approvals​

  1. Go to Office > Technicians.
  2. Click PTO Approvals (or navigate directly from any PTO notification).

The page opens on the Needs Action view. This is the combined approval workload: it shows both regular Pending requests and Emergency requests together, since both are waiting for you to act. An emergency stays in Needs Action until its dates have passed. You can switch to other views (such as Pending only, Emergency only, or Approved) using the status tabs.

Use the Table / Cards toggle near the top of the page to switch layouts. Table is the default; Cards shows the same requests as individual cards.

Summary Stats​

Three cards at the top of the page give you a quick overview of the current workload:

CardWhat it shows
Pending RequestsTotal number of requests waiting for review
Total Hours RequestedSum of hours across all pending requests
Team MembersNumber of distinct technicians with pending requests

These counts update as you approve or deny requests.

Filtering Requests​

Two controls help you focus on specific requests:

ControlOptions
SearchType a technician name, or a keyword from the request reason if you can see reasons
Status tabsNeeds Action / Pending / Emergency / Approved / Denied / Cancelled / All

Needs Action is the default view and combines Pending requests and Emergency requests that have not ended yet. The Needs Action and Pending tabs show a count so you can see how much work is waiting. Pick the Emergency tab to see every emergency request, including past ones, or All to see every request regardless of status.

The result count ("Showing X of Y requests") updates instantly as you type or change the tab.

Approving Requests​

Approve one request​

  1. Find the request card for the technician.
  2. Click Approve.

The card disappears from the list immediately and the summary counts update.

Approve all at once​

When the list is not empty, an Approve All (N) button appears in the top-right corner.

  1. Optionally apply filters to narrow the list (e.g., only Sick Leave requests).
  2. Click Approve All (N).

Only the Pending requests in the current view are approved this way. Emergency requests are never approved by Approve All — they must be reviewed and approved one at a time. This cannot be undone, so use filters first if you need to exclude any requests.

Denying a Request​

A denial requires a written reason. The technician will see this reason.

  1. Find the request card.
  2. Click Deny.
  3. In the dialog that opens, enter a reason in the Reason for Denial field.
  4. Click Deny Request.

The Deny Request button stays disabled until you type a reason. Click Cancel to close the dialog without taking action.

Viewing a Denial Reason After the Fact​

Once a request is denied, its reason stays visible: in Table view, a Denial Reason column shows it for every denied row; in Cards view, the same text appears on the denied request's card, below the technician's own reason for asking. The technician also sees this reason on their end.

Emergency PTO​

An Emergency request is a time-off request that a technician submits at the last minute — close enough to the start of their shift that it counts as an emergency under your company's settings. These need a manager's attention right away, so they are treated differently from regular requests.

How Emergency requests appear:

  • They are included in your approval workload. The Needs Action count and view combine Pending and Emergency requests until the emergency's dates have passed; after that it is listed only under the Emergency and All tabs.
  • They carry a solid red Emergency badge in the Status column. The bold red pill stands out from the amber Pending badge and the lighter Denied badge, so urgent requests are easy to spot at a glance.
  • When an emergency is submitted, the technician is already marked as unexcused on the schedule, and a ticket is opened for the office so the absence is tracked.

Approving an Emergency request:

  1. Open the Needs Action or Emergency view.
  2. Find the request with the red Emergency badge.
  3. Click Approve.

Approving an emergency keeps the technician marked off on the schedule and records the decision. Emergency requests must be approved individually — they are left out of Approve All on purpose.

You cannot deny an Emergency request. The Deny option does not appear for emergencies. This is by design: because the technician is already recorded as unexcused and a ticket has been opened, there is nothing to deny. If you approve the request, it is recorded as approved time off. If you take no action, the unexcused mark and the ticket stay in place. To address the absence itself, use the technician's profile and the ticket rather than trying to deny the request.

Request Card Details​

Each card shows everything you need to make a decision:

ElementDescription
Technician nameLinks to the technician's full profile
Type badgeRequest type (Vacation, Sick, and so on)
Status badgeRequest status — Emergency shows as a solid red badge, Pending in amber, Approved in green, Denied in light red
Hours badgeTotal hours requested
DateSingle date or date range (e.g., "Mar 15 – Mar 17")
SubmittedDate the request was submitted
ReasonThe technician's explanation for the request. Shown only to users with the HR Admin add-on.

Permissions​

PermissionDescription
View PTO requestsView pending requests
Approve PTO requestsApprove requests
Deny PTO requestsDeny requests

Role access:

RoleAccess level
AdministratorView, approve, and deny
OfficeView, approve, and deny
SalesView, approve, and deny
HR AdminView, approve, and deny, and see the technician's reason
Payroll AdminView, approve, and deny
TechnicianView own requests only

Only users with the HR Admin add-on see the reason a technician wrote on a request. For everyone else the Reason stays blank, though technicians always see the reason on their own requests.

Nobody can approve or deny their own request, whatever their role. Another approver has to act on it.

Tips​

  • Use filters before Approve All — if you want to exclude certain request types, filter first so only the requests you want to approve appear.
  • Check the tech's profile before deciding — click the technician's name to open their profile and review attendance history.
  • Denial reasons matter — write clear, professional reasons since technicians will read them.
  • PTO balances are shown on the request drawer — if a technician submitted the request through the office drawer, available hours were shown at submission time.

Troubleshooting​

No requests appear​

The page only shows pending requests. If the list is empty, all requests have already been acted on. Check the All caught up! message.

Approve All button is missing​

The button only appears when at least one request matches the current filter. Clear or change your filter if you expect to see requests.

I can see requests but the Approve/Deny buttons are missing​

Your role may only have permission to view PTO requests, not to approve or deny them. Contact an administrator to verify your access level.

The Reason on a request is blank​

Only users with the HR Admin add-on see the reason a technician wrote. You can still approve or deny the request without it.

Why can't I deny an Emergency request?​

Emergency requests cannot be denied — the Deny option is hidden for them on purpose. When a technician submits an emergency, they are already marked unexcused on the schedule and a ticket is opened, so there is nothing left to deny. You can Approve the request to record it as approved time off, or leave it and let the unexcused mark and ticket stand. Handle the absence itself through the technician's profile and the ticket.

Emergency requests are not included when I click Approve All​

This is expected. Approve All only approves regular Pending requests. Approve each Emergency request one at a time from the Needs Action or Emergency view.