Staff and absences in one place

Keep staff with their documents, request and approve annual leave and other absences, and see in the rota who is not there.

This area is included in Standard and Premium. Sign up for free, core features stay free.

What you set up

First, the business needs a job position. An employment needs exactly one. You write the name yourself. Each name exists only once in the company. It can be renamed and deactivated, but not deleted, because employments refer to it. A deactivated position takes no new employment. Existing employments remain.

The job position describes the work. It grants no permission in the software. A name such as head chef or restaurant manager does not change what the person may open.

AI-generated

The employee record holds first and last name, optionally a staff number, the status and the employment. The status is "Active" or "Left". The employment names the place of work, the job position and the start as a calendar day. You enter an end when the employment ends. First and last name are each at most 120 characters long, the staff number at most 40.

"Linked to an account" means the person can sign in. "Kept without an account" means they have no access. Access comes from the invitation in the company account, not from simply creating the employee record. Anyone without a login does not open "My absences". Another person with the right permission can still keep absences for this person.

On the employee record, you store one PDF file per item. The person sees the files that have been provided to them. An empty state means that nothing has been provided yet, not that access is missing. Every download runs through the signed-in session. There is no link to pass on. Changes are made by whoever may manage documents.

Reading and managing are separate, for employee records, for documents and for absences. The scope is the whole company or one location. A job position and a role in the company account do not grant these permissions.

How an absence works

Under "My absences", the person makes the request, if they have an active employee record. No extra absence permission is needed for this. Anyone without an active employee record sees the state "No employee record" and no list that would pretend nothing has been recorded.

The request has three details: the type, the first day and the last day. Both days count. There is no time of day and no half day. For a single day, the last day is the same as the first. After submitting, the status is "Requested". Date and time are shown on the item.

The types in the form are annual leave, sickness, special leave and other absence. Annual leave is a planned absence. For sickness, only the period is recorded. Special leave is time off for a particular occasion. Other absence is a full-day absence that does not fit any of the other categories. For every type: type and period are saved. There is no field for a reason, diagnosis or symptom.

As long as the request is open, the person can withdraw it. The button is called "Withdraw". The person cannot withdraw an absence that has already been approved.

Managers see the request on the employee record if they may read absences, and decide on it if they may manage them. The buttons are called "Approve" and "Decline". The decision is shown with date and time. The person making the request does not decide on their own request.

Anyone with the permission to manage can also record an absence for another person. This record is already the decision "Approved", with date and time. You cannot do this for yourself. In the rota, one way to do this is to enter someone as sick. It stores a full-day absence without a diagnosis and without free text. A rota permission alone is not enough for this.

A person with the right permission can change the period. The button is called "Change period". There is no deleting that makes the item disappear. An item that no longer applies is cancelled. The button is called "Cancel absence". The days become free again, the history remains.

If there is already an absence on a day in the period, the new request is not saved.

A single item covers at most 10 calendar years for technical reasons. This is an input safeguard and not a statement about any entitlement. For a longer period, you record several items.

The status values are requested, approved, declined, cancelled and withdrawn.

The list shows type, duration, recorded and decision. The duration is the number of calendar days, both days included. The decision is marked with "Decision:". If the business records the absence for another person, the event in the history is called "Recorded by the company".

The last day may not be before the first. Otherwise the item is not saved.

A document is "Active" or "Archived". Managing means uploading and archiving.

The history of the absence stays on the employee record: requested, decided, period changed, cancelled, withdrawn. Anyone who may manage but not read can record and decide. The page then does not show whether something has already been recorded, because the permission to read is granted separately.

The status of the person and the status of the employment are two different things. The person is "Active" or "Left". The employment is "Ongoing" or "Ended".

In the rota

Only the approved absence appears in the weekly grid, as absent, without type and without reason. A request that is only requested does not appear there and does not block planning. The marker is seen by people with the permission to plan and the permission to read staff data at the location, on days that have not yet fully passed.

In "My shifts", the department list shows no absence. From the absence, planning learns only that the person is away on these days.

Week, publishing, day off and clock-in, break, clock-out are on Rota and time tracking.

Who sees what

Every person with an active employee record sees their own absences and their own provided documents. They see other people's absences only with the permission to read. Deciding, changing the period, cancelling and recording for another person are possible only with the permission to manage. The two permissions are granted individually.

The owner runs the company account, invites people and books the plan under Profile, then Plan. Head chef and shift lead are names within the business. They get the same permissions as above only if you grant them, for the company or for one location.

Who it suits

In a restaurant, two people request annual leave for the same day, with type and calendar days. Each request carries date and time. Approving or declining needs the permission to manage. Before approval, nobody is shown as absent in the grid.

In a hotel, the employment belongs to a place of work. A permission for one property does not already apply to the second. You record an illness as sickness, with the period only, or the person makes the request themselves.

In canteens and contract catering, annual leave is a request for whole days. The software does not calculate an entitlement or a remainder from it. It stores type, period and status.

In catering, you keep people with or without a login. Anyone who should sign in needs the invitation. For a person without a login, another person with the permission to manage records the absence. This record is already approved. An event folder is not part of this area.

In a bar, the absence stays full-day. There is no half evening in this step. The late shift that runs into the next day stays a shift in the rota.

Plan

Staff management, documents and absences are included in Standard and Premium. The free account has no company account and no staff.

Standard covers up to 20 active staff per business, Premium up to 50. The owner does not count towards this. More than 50 active staff is the Custom offer via Contact. All locations are in one company account, with no extra charge per location. The prices are on the Plans page. You book in the app under Profile, then Plan, by card or SEPA direct debit.

Sign up for free, core features stay free.

What this feature does not do

No entitlement and no remainder of annual leave days. No half day and no time of day in the absence. No field for diagnosis, symptom or reason.

No payroll and no payouts. No till and no accounting.

A request that has not yet been approved is not shown as absent in the rota. The marker names neither type nor reason.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What details does an employee record have?

Name, optionally a staff number, status active or left, employment with place of work, exactly one job position and a start as a calendar day.

Does the position grant a permission?

No. The name describes the work. You grant permissions separately, for the company or for one location.

Does every person need a login?

No. A person kept without an account has no access. Only someone with a login and an active employee record opens "My absences". For a person without a login, another person with the permission to manage records the absence. This record is already approved.

Which types are in the form?

Annual leave, sickness, special leave and other absence. For sickness, only the period is recorded. No type has a field for a reason.

Are there half days?

No. They are whole calendar days, first and last day included. There is no time of day in this step.

Who approves?

Another person with the permission to manage absences. The person making the request does not decide on their own request. Reading and deciding are two permissions.

Does every person see the data of others?

No. Every person sees their own absences. You set anything further with the permissions. In the rota, people who plan and have the right permissions see only absent, without type and without reason.

Does the request appear in the rota before it is approved?

No. Only the status approved becomes absent, and only for people with the permission to plan and the permission to read staff data at the location.

What documents can I store?

One PDF file on the employee record. The person downloads files provided to them in the signed-in session. There is no link to pass on.

How many staff does a plan cover?

Standard up to 20 active staff, Premium up to 50. The owner does not count towards this. The prices are on the Plans page.