How to request time off#
For: Shift worker You’ll need: Nothing.
Request vacation, sick days, unpaid leave, or other leave from ‘My availability’. Shiftavo creates a leave request from your entry and sends it to your manager for approval. This is how it works everywhere — in the browser and in the mobile app alike. There is no separate leave screen for shift workers: the request is the availability block, so that is where you make it and where you track it.
Create a leave block#
In the sidebar, open Planning → Availability and click ‘My availability’.
In the ‘Unavailable’ section, click ‘Create unavailability’.
In the ‘Unavailability type’ dropdown, choose your leave type — ‘Vacation’, ‘Sick’, ‘Unpaid’, ‘Other absence’, or another type your company offers (bereavement, civic duty, military service, care leave, and — in Switzerland — time compensation). ‘Time in lieu’, a day off spent from your time-account balance, is offered as well while your time account is active.
Pick the date(s) and times.
Click ‘Save’.
A leave request is created automatically and routed to your manager.
Tap More → ‘Availability’.
Tap +, then choose ‘Unavailable’ from the ‘Add availability’ sheet.
In the ‘Unavailability type’ picker, choose your leave type — ‘Vacation’, ‘Sick’, ‘Unpaid’, ‘Other absence’, or whichever your company offers.
Tap ‘Start’ and ‘End’ to set the dates and times.
Tap ‘Save’ (top-right).
A leave request is created automatically and routed to your manager.
Picking a leave type is what makes it a request. Leaving the type on plain ‘Unavailable’ just blocks scheduling — no request, no approval.
Note
Some leave types may be grayed out and unselectable. That means your employment type has no policy for them, so there’s nothing to request against — ask your manager. If none of them can be picked, only ‘Unavailable’ is available to you and the help text under the dropdown says so.
Tip
Curious how much leave you’re entitled to? Your entitlement is set by your leave policy — see Leave policies.
Ask for part of a day#
You don’t have to take whole days. Leave the block’s times set to the hours you’ll be away — a dentist appointment from 14:00 to 16:00, say.
A part-day block is charged against your working hours, not against the clock. If you’re away from 14:00 to 16:00 and your working day ends at 15:00, one hour comes off your balance, not two. Time outside your working hours, and time on a day you don’t work at all, costs you nothing. And a block that covers a working day end-to-end costs exactly one full day — never more.
Track approval#
The block shows up in the ‘Unavailable’ section of your ‘Overview’ tab, badged with its leave type and — while your manager still has to decide — an amber ‘Pending’ badge. When the request is approved the ‘Pending’ badge goes away and the block stays. If it is declined, revoked, or withdrawn, the block is removed from the page along with the request.
There is no separate leave screen on the phone: a leave request is an availability block, so it lives with the rest of them.
Tap More → ‘Availability’.
Find the block in the Unavailable section — its second line names the leave type.
Tap it. The detail carries a ‘Status’ row with a badge: amber ‘Pending’ until your manager decides, green ‘Confirmed’ once approved. A declined, revoked, or withdrawn request takes its block with it, so it won’t be in the list any more.
While the request is live, ‘Change end date’ and ‘Delete’ can sit under the detail — see How to extend or shorten your time off and How to withdraw a time-off request. Leave balances are web-only.
Verify it worked#
You see the new entry in the ‘Unavailable’ section, marked ‘Pending’ until your manager reviews it.
Tip
Away longer or shorter than you asked for? Don’t file a second request — change the end date of the one you have. See How to extend or shorten your time off. Not taking the time off after all? Withdraw the request before it starts — see How to withdraw a time-off request.