> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Time off overview

> Track holidays, sick leave and any other paid time off with leave policies, balances, accrual, approvals and a company holiday calendar.

Time Off is where your team books days away and you keep track of what everyone
has left.

Open it from **Time Off** in the sidebar.

## What it covers

| Piece       | What it is                                                                                                                                        |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Policy**  | A type of leave – annual leave, sick leave, unpaid leave. It sets the unit, who can use it, whether it needs approval, and how balance is earned. |
| **Request** | Someone asking for specific dates off under a policy.                                                                                             |
| **Balance** | How much of a policy a person has earned, used, and has left.                                                                                     |
| **Holiday** | A company-wide day off that leave requests skip over.                                                                                             |

## The three tabs

The Time Off page has three tabs, and the tab is kept in the URL so you can share
the view.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Requests" icon="list">
    Your own requests, in every status, with filters and row actions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Timeline" icon="calendar">
    A month calendar of who is away, plus company holidays.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Balance" icon="wallet">
    A member-by-policy roster of accrued, used, pending and remaining. Approvers only.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Two buttons sit in the header: **Export** and **Request time off**.

## How a request flows

<Steps>
  <Step title="Someone requests time off">
    They pick a policy and dates. TimeTracker works out how much that consumes
    from their own schedule, skipping non-working days and company holidays.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Balance is held">
    The amount moves into **pending**. It is reserved, not spent, so a second
    request cannot double-spend it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="An approver decides">
    On the Approvals page, a holder of `leave.approve` approves or rejects it.
    A policy set to not require approval skips this and lands approved straight
    away.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Balance settles">
    Approved moves the amount from **pending** to **used**, and **remaining**
    drops. Rejected or withdrawn releases the hold and nothing is consumed.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Statuses

| Status        | What it means                                                                                  |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pending**   | Submitted, waiting for a decision. Balance is held.                                            |
| **Approved**  | Granted. Balance is consumed.                                                                  |
| **Rejected**  | Turned down. The hold is released.                                                             |
| **Withdrawn** | Taken back by the requester, or an approval reversed. The hold or the consumption is released. |

Allowed moves: `pending` → approved, rejected or withdrawn. `approved` →
withdrawn. **Rejected** and **withdrawn** are the end of the line.

## Example

Sarah Lin at Northwind Studio books a week off.

<Steps>
  <Step title="She requests it">
    Policy `Annual leave` (days), 21 to 25 July. Her `Standard week` schedule has
    those five days as working days and there is no company holiday in the range,
    so the request is **5 days**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Her balance holds it">
    Sarah had **20 accrued**, **4 used**, so **16 remaining**. The request adds
    **5 pending**, leaving **11 available**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Priya approves it">
    On **Approvals → Time Off**, Priya Raman approves. Sarah is now **20 accrued,
    9 used, 0 pending, 11 remaining**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Everyone can see it">
    The week appears on the Time Off timeline and on the Planner for anyone who
    can see Sarah's calendar.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Where time off shows up

| Surface                  | What it shows                                                              |
| ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Time Off → Timeline      | A month grid of who is away, with pending shown tinted.                    |
| Planner                  | Teammates' leave as all-day cards, and your own leave shading your column. |
| Approvals → Time Off     | The queue awaiting a decision, and the decision history.                   |
| Member record → Time off | One person's balances and their full ledger.                               |
| Notifications            | Requests, decisions, withdrawals and upcoming leave.                       |

## Plan and app

Time Off is an **app**. Switch it on or off in **Settings → Apps**. It is on by
default.

| Capability                                     | Plan                  |
| ---------------------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| Requesting leave, balances, holidays, policies | **Free**              |
| Approving or rejecting a request               | **Pro** (`approvals`) |
| Exporting requests or balances                 | **Pro** (`exports`)   |

That split is the general rule: Free lets you record work, Pro lets you resolve
it. See [/concepts/plans-and-features](/concepts/plans-and-features).

Turning the app off hides Time Off and stops new requests. Balances and past
requests are kept, and accrual pauses while it is off.

## Permissions

| Action                                            | Capability           | Roles                                                      |
| ------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| Request your own leave                            | `leave.request`      | Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Finance, Member, Contractor |
| Approve or reject                                 | `leave.approve`      | Owner, Admin, Project Manager                              |
| See other people's leave                          | `leave.viewOthers`   | Owner, Admin, Project Manager                              |
| Manage policies, holidays and balance adjustments | `leave.managePolicy` | Owner, Admin                                               |

Full detail at
[/time-off/time-off-permissions](/time-off/time-off-permissions).

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Does a weekend count against my balance?">
    No. TimeTracker counts only days your schedule marks as working days, and
    skips company holidays that apply to you.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can leave be booked in hours instead of days?">
    Yes. Set the policy **Unit** to `Hours`. Each counted day then consumes that
    day's expected hours from the schedule, not a flat 8.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does approved leave create time entries?">
    No. Time off is tracked separately from time entries. It appears on the
    timeline and the Planner.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens to requests if we drop to Free?">
    People keep requesting, and the requests keep queueing. Approving needs Pro,
    so the queue waits. Nothing is lost, and the backlog clears the day you
    upgrade.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a client-portal contact see who is away?">
    No. Client contacts hold no leave capabilities and never see the Time Off
    area.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Troubleshooting

| Problem                                         | Likely cause                                                                                                                           |
| ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| No **Time Off** in the sidebar                  | The app is switched off in Settings → Apps.                                                                                            |
| "You are not assigned to any leave policy yet." | Every policy is member-scoped and does not include you. Ask an admin.                                                                  |
| A request is worth 0 days                       | The range covers no working days – weekends or holidays only.                                                                          |
| Approve is greyed out with a Pro badge          | Approvals is a Pro feature.                                                                                                            |
| The Balance tab is empty                        | The roster is only shown to holders of `leave.viewOthers`. Your own balance shows inside the request dialog and on your member record. |

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Request time off" href="/time-off/request-time-off">
    Book days away.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Approve time off" href="/time-off/approve-time-off">
    Work the approval queue.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Leave policies" href="/time-off/leave-policies">
    Set up the types of leave you offer.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Leave balances" href="/time-off/leave-balances">
    Accrued, used, pending, remaining and available.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Company holidays" href="/time-off/holidays">
    Days the whole workspace is off.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Time off permissions" href="/time-off/time-off-permissions">
    Who can do what.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>