Show allowance use before submission
Let the employee see how much allowance the request will use and how many leave days the selected block contains.
How employee leave requests work in FlowRota From request to rota-ready decision
Give employees useful allowance and team-limit information before they submit, then give managers the hours, cost and pay details needed to make a clear decision.
This feature guide follows the leave-request workflow itself: a block of dates, an optional note, an approval decision and a leave block that FlowRota protects when the rota is built.
included for £1 per user per month
One request, with the information both sides need
Employees should not have to guess whether a request is practical, and managers should not have to rebuild its cost in a spreadsheet. FlowRota brings allowance use, team limits, requested days, notes, daily leave hours and relevant pay information into the same workflow.
A more transparent way to request time off
Each stage answers a practical question before the request turns into approved leave on the rota.
Make team limits visible
Display any limit applied to the employee’s team and flag when the request may be unlikely to receive approval.
Keep context with the request
Employees can add a note so managers review the dates and the useful context together.
Put daily hours in front of managers
Break the leave block into the hours assigned to each day before the manager approves or declines it.
Show projected hourly-paid cost
For hourly-paid employees, show the expected cost of the request. Salaried users are treated separately.
Protect approved leave on the rota
Alert a manager if they later try to place a shift inside the employee’s leave block.
Help employees understand the request before they send it
The employee view is designed to answer the obvious questions early: how long the leave lasts, what it uses and whether the team is already close to its limit.
A clearer self-service leave request
After choosing the dates, the employee can review the effect of the request before committing it. A warning about the team limit is guidance rather than an automatic rejection—the manager still makes the decision.
Information shown- First and last day of the leave block
- Number of leave days in the request
- Amount of allowance the request will use
- Any team leave limit that applies
- A warning when the limit makes approval less likely
- Add an optional note for the reviewing manager
- Check the request before submitting it
- Keep the complete request in FlowRota
The leave-request workflow, step by step
FlowRota turns the request into a visible process rather than a loose message that has to be checked against allowance and staffing later.
Select a block of dates
The employee chooses the first and last day of the period they want away from work.
Review allowance and limits
FlowRota shows the leave days, allowance use and any warning caused by the team’s leave limit.
Add a note and submit
The employee can explain the request or add useful context before sending it to a manager.
Approve or decline
The manager checks the daily hours, relevant pay information and note, then records the decision.
A warning is not a decision.
Team-limit information helps set expectations, while the manager
keeps control of approval or decline.
Keep the calculation visible inside the request
Instead of presenting only two dates, FlowRota explains what those dates mean for the employee and the team.
Days and allowance
Show the length of the leave block and the amount that will be taken from the employee’s allowance.
Request details- Start and end dates
- Number of leave days
- Allowance used by the request
- Remaining allowance context
Team leave limits
If the team has a limit, employees can see it during the request and understand when too many colleagues may already be away.
What the limit does- Makes the team rule visible
- Checks the selected leave block
- Warns when approval may be less likely
- Leaves the final decision with a manager
Request notes
An optional note keeps relevant context attached to the request, where the manager will see it during review.
Useful for- Explaining flexibility around the dates
- Adding information for the manager
- Keeping the discussion with the record
- Avoiding a separate message thread
Give managers more than an approve or decline button
The review view translates a block of dates into the hours and, where relevant, the expected pay cost behind it.
Daily leave hours
Managers can inspect the amount of leave assigned to each day, rather than judging the request from its total duration alone.
Benefit
- Understand differently sized working days
- See how the block reaches its total allowance use
Projected cost for hourly-paid staff
When the employee is paid hourly, FlowRota shows what the request is expected to cost. Salaried employees do not need an hourly leave-cost calculation.
Benefit
- Put operational and pay context together
- Reduce separate manual calculations
A recorded manager decision
After reviewing the dates, limits, note, daily hours and pay details, the manager approves or declines the request in FlowRota.
Benefit
- Keep the decision with its supporting information
- Turn approved dates into a usable leave block
Account for holiday linked to regularly worked overtime
Where an employee routinely works overtime, FlowRota can calculate and display an overtime-accrued holiday component alongside their contracted allowance. Managers can then control its inclusion in the individual request.
Keep contracted and overtime allowance distinct
The request can show the employee’s contracted leave and the additional allowance accrued through overtime as separate parts of the calculation.
Shown in the request- Contracted allowance used
- Overtime-accrued allowance used
- Total leave hours for the block
- Related pay for hourly-paid employees
Control overtime allowance per request
Once overtime-related holiday is configured, the manager can toggle whether it is included for that specific request instead of applying one hidden calculation to every decision.
Manager control- Review the calculated overtime component
- Include it alongside contracted leave
- Exclude it where it does not apply
- See the resulting request totals
Holiday-pay rules depend on the worker and the leave
Current GOV.UK holiday-pay guidance says that a worker’s normal rate of pay includes regular overtime payments. It also distinguishes between normal and basic rates for some regular-hours workers, while irregular-hours and part-year workers have their own rules. FlowRota provides the calculation and request controls; employers remain responsible for applying the rules that fit each worker’s circumstances.
Turn approved requests into protected leave blocks
A leave request covers a continuous block of dates. Once approved, those dates become part of the scheduling context rather than sitting in a separate holiday list.
Warn managers before they schedule over leave
If a manager tries to add a shift that falls within the employee’s leave block, FlowRota raises an alert. The warning catches the issue while the rota is being edited, when it is easiest to fix.
Benefits- Keep approved leave visible during rota building
- Reduce accidental scheduling during time off
- Give managers a chance to correct the shift immediately
Leave-block warnings complement FlowRota’s wider shift clash checks , which catch overlapping scheduled work.
Use a similar date-block structure for absence periods
Absence periods work in a similar way to leave blocks, but the workflow starts differently: an employee cannot request one, so a manager creates the record directly.
| Record | Who starts it? | How the dates work |
|---|---|---|
| Leave request | An employee submits it for manager approval. | A defined block of requested leave dates. |
| Absence period | A manager adds it directly; employees cannot request it. | A defined block or an ongoing period with no known end date. |
For shift absence, lateness, absence types and return-to-work forms, visit the dedicated absence feature page .
Make every leave decision easier to understand
A request works better when employees can see the likely constraints and managers can see the operational and pay effect before deciding.
Fewer avoidable requests
Team-limit warnings help employees spot dates that may be harder for a manager to approve.
Faster, informed decisions
Put the note, allowance use, daily hours and relevant cost in the manager’s review view.
Clearer holiday calculations
Show contracted and overtime-accrued components separately where the overtime setting is used.
Safer rota building
Carry approved leave into scheduling and flag shifts that land inside the employee’s leave block.
Connect leave requests with the rest of FlowRota
These related feature guides and articles cover the workflows that sit around a leave decision.
Frequently asked questions about FlowRota leave requests
How does an employee make a leave request in FlowRota?
The employee selects a block of dates, reviews the allowance and team-limit information shown for the request, adds an optional note and submits it to a manager.
Can employees see team leave limits before requesting leave?
Yes. Where a leave limit is set for the team, the employee can see it while preparing the request. FlowRota can indicate when the request is likely to be declined because the limit would be exceeded.
What allowance information does a leave request show?
The request shows how many leave days it covers and how much of the employee’s available allowance it will use.
Can managers approve or decline a leave request?
Yes. A manager can review the request details and its note before approving or declining it.
Does FlowRota show the cost of approved leave?
For an hourly-paid employee, the manager can see the projected cost of the request together with the leave hours assigned to each day. Salaried employees are not shown an hourly leave cost.
Can holiday pay include regularly worked overtime?
Yes. Where configured, FlowRota can show overtime-accrued holiday allowance separately from contracted allowance and let the manager include or exclude it for an individual request. Employers remain responsible for applying the holiday-pay rules relevant to the worker.
What happens if a manager tries to schedule a shift during leave?
Approved leave is stored as a block of dates. FlowRota alerts the manager when they try to add a shift that falls within that leave block.
How are absence periods different from leave requests?
They use a similar block-of-dates structure, but employees cannot request an absence period. A manager creates it directly.
Can an absence period be ongoing?
Yes. Managers can create an ongoing absence period when the employee’s return date is not yet known.
How much does FlowRota cost?
FlowRota costs £1 per user per month after a 30-day free trial. No credit card is required to start the trial. Visit the pricing page for full details.
Try the complete leave-request workflow with your team
Create a request, check its allowance and limits, review the manager view and see how approved leave carries into the rota. The trial is free for 30 days, no credit card is required, and continued access costs just £1 per user per month.
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