How it works
- An employee raises leave, a correction, work from home or on duty, and it goes to their reporting manager first.
- The manager opens Today and approvals on My Team, where each request shows its type, dates and reason, with Approve and Reject.
- The approval engine checks that the request is waiting at the manager's step before it records the decision.
- An approval moves the request on to HR; a rejection closes it.
- The team's overtime waits on the Overtime tab, and swaps from direct reports wait on the Shift Swaps page.
- The Leave calendar tab shows the team against the days of the month, with approved and pending leave in different fills and half days half filled.
What you can set
- Requests at the manager's step: leave, attendance corrections, work from home, on duty, shift swaps and overtime.
- Decisions: Approve or Reject, each confirmed before it is recorded.
- Chain: reporting manager first, then HR, the same for every request type.
- Team leave calendar: people by days for the month, with weekends shaded and today marked.
- Leave type letters on the calendar, such as CL for casual leave, with details on hover.
- The same approvals in the employee app for leave, corrections and swaps, plus overtime decisions.
Why the manager decides first
The manager is the person who knows whether the team can spare someone next Friday, whether the site visit really happened, and whether the extra hours were needed. HR knows the policy and the balances. Putting the manager first and HR second lets each check what they know best. It also means HR's queue holds only requests the manager has already agreed to, which keeps the HR step quick.
Worked example: a Monday queue for a Pune production supervisor
Amol Deshmukh supervises 18 operators at a Pune auto parts plant. On Monday morning his Today and approvals tab shows four requests. Two are leave: Kiran wants CL on Friday, and Sagar wants three days of EL the following week. Before deciding, Amol opens the Leave calendar and sees that two operators on the same line already have approved leave on Friday, in the solid fill, and a third has pending leave in the lighter fill.
He rejects Kiran's Friday and asks him to pick the next Monday, and approves Sagar's EL, which moves to HR. He approves a Forgot check-out correction for an operator who stayed back for a changeover, and an on duty request for a visit to a supplier in Chakan. On the Overtime tab he approves six requests from Saturday's maintenance shutdown, and each moves on to HR.
Approving well
Quick, consistent decisions matter more than perfect ones. A request that waits a week leaves the employee unable to plan, and a month-end rush of approvals is where mistakes creep into attendance and payroll. A few minutes each morning is usually enough to keep a team's queue empty.
- Decide within a working day or two, because a waiting request blocks the employee's plans.
- Look at the leave calendar before approving leave in busy weeks.
- When you reject, tell the person why and suggest another date.
- Clear corrections and overtime before month end, so HR can close attendance on time.
See manager approvals in a demo
We show it on a video call with your own shifts, leave types and rules. Free for your first 50 employees.
Book a free demoSee pricingFrequently asked questions
Where do managers approve leave in ZeniaHR?
On My Team, under Today and approvals, where leave and attendance requests waiting at the manager's step are listed with Approve and Reject. Managers can also approve in the employee app. After the manager approves, the request moves to HR for the final approval.
Can managers see team leave before approving?
Yes. The Leave calendar tab on My Team shows everyone in the team against the days of the month, with approved leave, pending leave and half days in different fills. Checking it before approving avoids leaving a shift or a counter short.
What happens after a manager approves a request?
It moves to HR, who gives the final approval. Only then is leave deducted from the balance, a correction applied to the day, a swap written to the roster or overtime paid. If the manager rejects, the request closes and nothing changes.