Time off permissions in Factorial decide who can request, edit, delete and attach documents to absences. In this article, you'll learn what each time off permission allows, how the permissions work together, and how to set them up so employees can request time off without changing absences that are already approved.

How to set up your time off permissions

1. In your sidebar, go to Settings
2. Click on Permissions
3. Select the permission group and open it
4. Select the Time off section
5. Enable or disable permissions
6. Click on Save changes

Time off permissions

• Request leaves
  Lets employees request their own absences, and edit or withdraw them while they are still pending.

  This permission only works For themselves.

   
• Edit leaves and create for others
  Lets employees edit absences, including approved ones, and create absences for other people. This permission was previously called Create and edit leaves. Requesting your own absences is now part of Request leaves.

  You can choose the scope of this permission.

   
• Delete leaves
  Lets employees delete absences that have not started yet.

  You can choose the scope of this permission.

   
• Delete leaves that have already started
  Lets employees delete absences that are in progress or already over. It works together with Delete leaves, so employees need both permissions.

  You can choose the scope of this permission, except For themselves.

   
• Manage documents of own leaves
  Lets employees add, edit or delete the documents attached to their own absences, such as a medical certificate. It requires Request leaves.

  This permission only works For themselves.

   
• Manage leave documents
  Lets employees manage the documents attached to other people's absences.

  You can choose the scope of this permission.

   
• Approve and reject leaves
  Lets employees approve or reject absence requests. Learn more in About the time off approver.

Let employees request time off without changing approved absences

If your company needs approved absences to stay fixed (for example, because the annual holiday plan has to be published), you can let employees request time off without letting them change it once it is approved.

1. In your sidebar, go to Settings
2. Click on Permissions
3. Select the permission group of your employees (for example, Default employees) and open it
4. Go to the Time off section
5. Make sure Request leaves is enabled
6. In Edit leaves and create for others, remove For themselves. Keep any other scope the group needs
7. (Optional) Enable Manage documents of own leaves so employees can attach documents, such as medical certificates, to their own absences
8. Click on Save changes

Employees in this group can request time off and edit or withdraw a request while it is pending. Once a request is approved, they need to ask someone with Edit leaves and create for others (for example, HR or their manager) to change it.

Control who can delete absences that have already started

1. In your sidebar, go to Settings
2. Click on Permissions
3. Select the permission group (for example, managers or HR) and open it
4. Go to the Time off section
5. Check Delete leaves and its scope. Users with this permission can delete absences that have not started yet
6. Enable Delete leaves that have already started only for the groups that should be able to delete absences that are in progress or already over, and choose its scope
7. Click on Save changes

How One follows these permissions

One can only do what your permissions allow. When it cannot make a change for you, it tells you why and who can do it:

• Your own approved absence: if you ask One to change it (for example, "I want to change my holidays") and you don't have Edit leaves and create for others, One tells you that your manager or HR can change it and offers to ask them, to cancel the absence, or to request extra days.
• Someone else's absence that has already started: if you ask One to cancel it, One tells you that the absence has started and that you need the Delete leaves that have already started permission.
• Asking someone else to make the change: One offers to send your request as a chat message to the person you choose. If it cannot send messages, it tells you who to ask and helps you write the request.

Important notes

• Approved absences need the edit permission. With only Request leaves, employees can edit or withdraw their own requests while they are pending, but not once they are approved.
• Started absences need their own delete permission. Delete leaves alone only allows deleting absences that have not started. To delete someone else's absence that is in progress or already over, users also need Delete leaves that have already started.
• Employees cannot delete their own started absences. Delete leaves that have already started cannot be given For themselves, so an employee's own absence that has already started must be deleted by someone else with the right permission.
• Manage documents of own leaves depends on Request leaves. If you turn off Request leaves for a group, Manage documents of own leaves is turned off too.
• Attaching documents no longer depends on the edit permission. An employee who cannot edit approved absences can still add a medical certificate to their own absence if they have Manage documents of own leaves.
• Some scopes are not available. Request leaves and Manage documents of own leaves only work For themselves. Delete leaves that have already started does not work For themselves. Settings does not let you save a scope that a permission does not support.
• The absence type must allow document uploads for any document to be attached. Learn more in How to configure an absence to allow document uploads.

FAQ

1. What happened to "Create and edit leaves"?
   It was renamed to Edit leaves and create for others. It still lets users edit absences, including approved ones, and create absences for other people. Requesting your own time off is now the separate Request leaves permission.
    
2. Do I need to change anything after this update?
   No. Your groups work as before, because their settings were copied into the new permissions. Change them only if you want a different setup, for example, letting employees request time off without editing approved absences.
    
3. An employee can't change an approved holiday. Is this a bug?
   No. Their group has Request leaves but not Edit leaves and create for others for their own absences. Approved absences can only be changed by someone with Edit leaves and create for others, so they can ask HR or their manager.
    
4. Can employees still withdraw a request?
   Yes. Employees can withdraw their own pending requests with Request leaves (or with Delete leaves for themselves).
    
5. A manager can no longer delete an absence that started last week. Why?
   Deleting an absence that has already started needs Delete leaves that have already started in addition to Delete leaves. Add it to the manager's group if they should be able to do this.
    
6. Why did "Manage documents of own leaves" turn off by itself?
   Because Request leaves was turned off for that group. Managing documents of your own absences requires Request leaves.
    
7. Can One change an approved absence for me?
   Only if you have Edit leaves and create for others for your own absences. Otherwise, One tells you who can change it and offers to send them your request.
    
8. Who can attach documents to other people's absences?
   Users with Manage leave documents for those employees.