Turn on and manage employee time off requests (for admins)
After adding your employees to a time off policy, turn on time off requests to allow your employees to submit time off requests in Gusto.
Employees can use a desktop computer or Gusto's mobile app to request time off.
Managers can also view and manage time off requests.
If you need to adjust the time off recorded on an already paid pay period, learn how to adjust the payroll here.
Gusto does not send time off requests to managers if the employee requesting the time off is also an admin on the account.
Keep in mind, you must have the required permission to enable or disable time off requests.
Enable time off requests
If you have not done so already, grant your employees access to Gusto.
In your web browser
Click your company name (lower-left corner).
Click Customization under Settings.
Next to “Time off requests,” click edit.
Toggle to Enabled.
Click Save.
We'll send an email notification to your employees so they can start making time off requests.
When an employee makes a request, you can view, approve, or decline it. You can also delegate these tasks to assigned managers.
In the Gusto mobile app
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
In the top-right corner, tap the You icon.
Select Company.
Tap the
More menu.Select Customization.
Next to Time off requests, tap Edit.
Select Enabled.
Choose Save & continue.
We'll email your employees to let them know they can start making time off requests through Gusto.
When an employee makes a request, you can view, approve, or decline it. You can also delegate these tasks to assigned managers.
Disable time off requests
Important: Disabling your time off requests automatically declines all open requests.
In your web browser
Click your company name (lower-left corner).
Click Customization under Settings.
Next to “Time off requests,” click edit.
Toggle to Disabled.
Click Save.
In the Gusto mobile app
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
In the top-right corner, tap the You icon.
Select Company.
Tap the
More menu.Select Customization.
Next to Time off requests, tap Edit.
Select Disabled.
Choose Save & continue.
Once you set up paid time off requests, you can manage and view all employee requests from your Gusto account.
Admins are notified of employee time-off requests, unless a manager is assigned to an employee. Once a manager is assigned, admins will no longer receive notifications of time off requests. Admins can still see and manage requests in the Time Off tab.
In your web browser
To view time off requests in your web browser:
Click the Time & Attendance section and select Time off.
Use the dropdown on the right side to view all requests for vacation and sick time.
To Review: Requested time off that has not yet been approved or declined.
Approved: Approved time off that has not yet been paid (payroll has not been processed for all requested dates).
Paid: Approved time off that has been paid (payroll has already been processed for all requested dates).
Declined: Requested time off that has been declined.
Approved requests will appear in the Time Off Tracker.
In the Gusto mobile app
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
Go to Time.
Select Time off.
Once an employee submits a time off request, admins will receive an email notification. A reminder will also appear as a sticky note on the Home page.
If you’ve assigned a manager to your employee, only the manager will receive the email notifications. You can still manage all time off requests from the Time off section.
Heads up: Administrators listed as “external accountants” in Gusto will not receive these notifications. If you’d like them to receive emails, contact us from the Help section of your account to request the removal of the user’s role type.
Approve or edit a time off request
Click the Time & Attendance section and select Time off.
Under "To Review," click a View next to a request.
Review the request.
If necessary, click Edit next to "Requested time" to make changes.
Add a note to your employee (optional).
Click Approve.
We automatically approve the time off and email the employee to let them know you added it for them. The approved hours will show up in the related payroll run, and the employee’s available time off balance will update to reflect the approved time.
If an employee requested time off but it hasn’t been approved, you’ll see a notification when running payroll. Unapproved time off will not be synced to payroll. If you need to record time off from a previous pay period, see Manage pending time off requests after running payroll.
If a payroll admin submits a time off request, no email communication will be sent to any other admins on the account.
Declined requests cannot be undone. If a request is denied in error, the employee will need to resubmit the request.
Decline a request
Click the Time & Attendance section and select Time off.
Under "To Review", click View next to a request.
View the request.
Add a note to your employee about why you are declining their request.
Click Decline.
Your employee will be emailed once the request has been declined.
Decline a previously approved request
This only works if the applicable payroll has not been processed.
Click the Time & Attendance section and select Time off.
In the dropdown on the right-hand side, change to "Approved."
Click view next to a request.
Click Decline Approved Request.
Add a note to your employee about why you are declining their request.
Click Decline.
We email the employee when the request is declined. Payroll and, if needed, Gusto time tracking timesheets will be updated automatically for the affected pay periods.
Admins with the required permissions have two ways to add time off for an employee:
From the Time off section
Click the Time & Attendance section and select Time off.
Click Record time off for an employee in the US at the bottom of the page.
Enter the time off details.
Click Record Time Off.
We automatically approve the time off and email the employee to let them know you added it for them. The approved hours will show up in the related payroll run, and the employee’s available time off balance will update to reflect the approved time.
From the employee's page
Click the People section.
Select the employee's name.
Navigate to their Time Off tab and click Record [employee]’s Time Off.
Enter the time off details.
Click Record Time Off.
We automatically approve the time off and email the employee to let them know you added it for them. The approved hours will show up in the related payroll run, and the employee’s available time off balance will update to reflect the approved time.
Record time off for a salaried employee with default hours
If you set default hours for a salaried employee, those hours will automatically be added to the regular hours field in payroll for that employee. Since default hours are the total hours a salaried employee is expected to work during that pay period, their time off should never exceed the default hours.
When running payroll, if you override a salaried employee’s default hours in the regular hours field, their time off will be added to the regular hours.
If you’ve already processed payroll and have a pending time off request for the same work period, you can still record it or decline it.
If you manually added time off hours when running payroll that covered a time off request not yet approved, decline the time off request since you already incorporated these hours. No further action is needed.
If you still need to approve the time off request and record the time off, you can do so using an off-cycle payroll.
Click the People section.
Select the employee.
Scroll to the "Recent paystubs" section and click Run off-cycle payroll.
Select a date range under "Work period".
Enter the PTO date range as the work period.
The requested time off hours will autofill in the off-cycle payroll. This will also automatically recalculate the employee's remaining time off balance once the payroll is submitted.
Review the Advanced Settings to make sure the tax withholding rate, work period, and deduction and contribution settings are as desired.
Click Gross Earnings.
Manually input 0.00 into the Gross Earnings field.
Click Save & Continue.
The time off will appear on Page 2, click Save & Continue.
Review and submit the payroll.
Once processed, a paystub will be generated for the time off.
Hourly employees will see wages paid for the paid time off processed.
Salaried employees will not see additional pay as a result of this off-cycle; they should have been paid in full on the original payroll run.
Before you start: Make sure you’ve added the employee to the time off policy.
To edit an employee's time off balance:
Go to People.
Click the employee's name.
Go to Time off.
Under Policies, find the policy you’d like to edit.
Click edit.
Edit the employee’s balance.
Click Update.
After you’ve edited their balance, the employee can see their new hours. If your company's time off policy is set up to accrue hours, the employee will keep accruing hours as normal.
Note: Employees might see a different balance than you. Their Gusto account shows their entire balance (including their requested time off), while you’ll see their requested hours and remaining balance separately.