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. The ‘Leave’ screen lists what you’ve already asked for; it isn’t where you ask.
Create a leave block#
In the header, open Planning and click ‘My availability’.
In the ‘Unavailable’ section, click ‘Add unavailability’.
In the ‘Unavailability type’ dropdown, choose your leave type — ‘Vacation’, ‘Sick’, ‘Unpaid’, or ‘Other’.
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 greyed 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 with its current status (pending, approved, rejected).
Tap More → ‘Leave’.
The ‘Leave requests’ segment lists every request with its status — ‘Pending’, ‘Confirmed’, ‘Declined’, or ‘Revoked’.
Switch to ‘Balance’ to see how much of each leave type you have left.
Tap a request to open it. ‘Cancel request’ is there if you’ve changed your mind — it can’t be undone.
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.