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Approve Leave / Leave Approvals

Overview​

The Leave Approvals page is your central dashboard for reviewing and processing time-off requests submitted by your team members.

Instead of hunting through emails or relying on verbal requests, this page consolidates all leave applications that require your attention into one clear, actionable list. From here, you can review the request details, simulate the outcome of your decisions, and officially approve, reject, or forward applications.

Why This Feature Exists​

Managing team availability requires oversight. This feature exists to give managers and HR personnel a structured way to:

  • Ensure leave policies are being followed.
  • Prevent team understaffing by reviewing requested dates.
  • Maintain an accurate audit trail of who approved what, and why.
  • Automatically deduct approved days from the employee's leave balance.

Who Can Use It​

You will only see the Approve Leave page if your account has the authority to review leave requests. Generally, this includes:

  • Managers / Team Leads: Reviewing requests from their direct subordinates.
  • HR / Admins: Reviewing requests escalated to them or requests from the broader organisation.

[!NOTE] If an employee does not report to you (or if the workflow is not configured to send their requests to you), their leave applications will not appear on your screen.

How to Access Leave Approvals​

  1. Log in to Optima Orbit.
  2. Click your Profile Avatar in the top-right corner to open the User Menu.
  3. Select Approve Leave from the menu.

Understanding the Leave Approvals Screen​

Pending Requests and Alerts​

At the top of the page, a summary box displays the total number of Pending Requests that "Require your attention." This number matches the amount of leave applications awaiting your decision.

Searching Leave Applications​

If you manage a large team and have many pending requests, you can use the Search applications bar at the top right.

  • You can search by the employee's Name.
  • You can search by the Leave Subject (e.g., "Sick Leave" or "Vacation").
  • Search results update instantly as you type.

The Empty State ("All caught up!")​

If you have no pending requests, or if your search yields no results, the system displays an "All caught up!" message.

Reviewing a Leave Request​

When an employee submits a leave request, it appears as a card on your dashboard. Optima Orbit displays everything you need to make a decision without having to click into a separate page.

Each request card shows:

  • Applicant Information: The employee's name, profile picture, email, and their office Zone.
  • Leave Type & Duration: The category of leave (e.g., Earned Leave, Casual Leave) and the total number of days requested.
  • Subject & Description: The title of the request and any supporting notes the employee provided.
  • Date Range: The exact Start Date and End Date.
  • Submission Date: When the employee actually submitted the request.

Processing Applications: Approve, Reject, or Forward​

On the right side of every request card, you will see your available action buttons.

Approving Leave​

  1. Review the request details to ensure the dates are acceptable.
  2. Click the green Approve button.
  3. A confirmation window will appear.
  4. Comments are required. You must type a brief comment (e.g., "Approved, have a good trip").
  5. Click Confirm Approve.

Rejecting Leave​

  1. Click the white Reject button.
  2. A confirmation window will appear.
  3. Reason for rejection is required. You must explain why the request is being denied (e.g., "Please reschedule, we have a major deadline that week").
  4. Click Confirm Reject.

Forwarding Leave​

If you are not the right person to approve this request, or if it requires higher authority:

  1. Click the Forward button.
  2. A confirmation window will appear.
  3. Under "Select User to Forward", search for and select the appropriate manager or HR representative.
  4. Comments are required. Explain why you are forwarding the request.
  5. Click Confirm Forward.

[!IMPORTANT] You cannot process an application without providing a comment. If you attempt to submit without one, the comment box will highlight in red and prompt you to enter text.

What Happens After a Decision?​

Once you process a request, it disappears from your Leave Approvals queue.

If Approved:​

  • The request status changes to Approved.
  • The approved days are permanently deducted from the employee's Leave Balance.
  • The employee is notified of the approval.
  • The approved dates will reflect on team availability calendars and attendance reports.

If Rejected:​

  • The request status changes to Rejected.
  • The employee's Leave Balance remains entirely unaffected.
  • The employee is notified of the rejection and can view your rejection reason.

If Forwarded:​

  • The request leaves your queue and appears in the Leave Approvals queue of the person you forwarded it to.

Relationship with Apply Leave​

This feature is the second half of the time-off workflow. It directly connects to the Apply Leave page used by employees.

The Manager's Workflow​

Verify Mode (Simulation)​

(Available in Development environments)

If you see a Verify Mode toggle at the top of your screen, you can simulate what will happen when you click Approve, Reject, or Forward—without actually performing the action.

When Verify Mode is turned ON:

  1. Clicking an action button will open an Action Simulation Result window instead of processing the request.
  2. The system will predict the outcome, showing you the resulting status (e.g., Pending → Approved).
  3. It will show you if any further approvers are required.
  4. It will show you exactly which email notifications will be triggered and who will receive them.

Troubleshooting​

Why can't I see an employee's leave request?

  • The request may have already been approved or rejected by another manager.
  • The employee might have cancelled the request before you could review it.
  • The employee does not report to you in the system hierarchy.
  • You may have an active search filter typed in the search bar hiding the request.

Why won't the system let me click "Confirm"? Ensure you have typed something into the Comments/Reason box. The system enforces mandatory comments for all actions to ensure proper record keeping.

Can I undo an approval or rejection? Currently, decisions processed through this dashboard are final. If an employee's approved leave needs to be cancelled, the employee can cancel it from their own Apply Leave page (provided the leave start date has not passed).

Technical Reference​

For administrators and developers, the Leave Approvals module uses the following architecture:

  • Route: /org/leave/approvals
  • Permission Required: org.lvhdcf.approveleave
  • Component: src/components/leave/LeaveApprovals.tsx
  • API Endpoints:
    • GET /org/leave-approvals/pending - Fetches the current user's queue.
    • POST /org/leave-approvals/{id} - Processes the approval, rejection, or forward action.
    • GET /org/leave-approvers - Fetches potential users a request can be forwarded to.
  • Transitions Logic: Action buttons (Approve, Reject, Forward) are generated dynamically based on the transitions array returned by the backend for each specific request. This allows for complex, multi-step custom approval workflows.
Leave requests waiting on you, with the decision controls on each row. Colleagues’ names are blurred in this documentation.
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