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 web browser 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.
Keep in mind, you must have the required permission to enable or disable time off requests.
If the employee requesting time off is an admin on the account, their time off requests are not sent to managers.
If you have not done so already, grant your employees access to Gusto.
To enable time off 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 Enabled.
Click Save.
To enable time off requests in the mobile app:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
In the top-right corner, tap the Profile icon.
Scroll and tap Customization.
Next to Time off requests, tap Edit.
Select Enabled.
Tap 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.
Important: Disabling your time off requests automatically declines all open requests.
To disable time off 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.
To disable time off requests in the Gusto mobile app:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
In the top-right corner, tap the Profile icon.
Scroll and tap Customization.
Next to Time off requests, tap Edit.
Select Disabled.
Tap 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.
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.
To view time off requests 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.
If a policy has automatic approval turned on, requests that meet the policy’s rules skip this step. The request is approved the moment the employee submits it and does not appear in your pending queue. You can turn automatic approval on or off for a policy from the Time off page by clicking Manage auto-approval.
To review time off in your web browser:
Click the Time & Attendance section and select Time off.
Under To Review, click a View next to a request.
Review the request.
If you need to make changes, click Edit next to Requested time.
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 has not 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.
To review time off in the Gusto mobile app:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
Go to the Time tab.
Tap Time off.
Under Requests and in the To Review tab, select View next to a request you want to see.
Review the request.
If you need to change the amount of time, tap Edit next to Requested time.
Add a note to your employee (optional).
Tap Approve request.
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.
To decline a request in your web browser:
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 request.
To decline a request in the Gusto mobile app:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
Go to the Time tab.
Tap Time off.
Under Requests and in the To Review tab, select View next to a request you want to see.
Review the request.
If you need to change the amount of time, tap Edit next to Requested time.
Add a note to your employee (optional).
Tap Decline request.
Your employee will be emailed once the request has been declined.
This only works if the applicable payroll has not been processed.
To decline a previously approved request in your web browser:
Important: Click Decline approved request to actually decline the request. Clicking Done closes the window without declining the request, and the hours will still show as approved.
Click the Time & Attendance section and select Time off.
Click the Approved tab.
Click View next to a request.
In Note for declining request, enter a note explaining why you are declining the request.
Click Decline approved request.
To decline a previously approved request in the Gusto mobile app:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
Go to the Time tab.
Tap Time off.
Under Requests and in the Approved tab, select View next to a request you want to see.
Review the request.
If you need to change the amount of time, tap Edit next to Requested time.
Add a note to your employee (optional).
Tap Decline approved request.
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:
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.
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.
To record time off for your team in the Gusto mobile app:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
Go to the Time tab.
Select Time off.
Tap Record time.
Select the employee you need to record time for.
Choose the policy and the time off dates.
Tap Record time off.
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.
Go to the Payment tab.
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.
To record time off with an off-cycle payroll in the Gusto mobile app:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
Go to the People tab.
Tap on the employee’s name.
In the top-left corner, tap the Work menu and select Pay.
Scroll to the bottom and tap Run off-cycle payroll.
Select why you’re running this payroll. We’ll suggest tax and benefit settings based on your selection:
Fix a mistake from a previous payroll — pay missed wages.
Give extra pay — bonuses, commissions, or other pay on top of regular wages.
Other — reimbursements, advancements, or any other regular wages.
Select Choose dates from a calendar and 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.
(Optional) Give the payroll a name to keep a clear record.
Tap Continue.
Review the payroll settings.
Pay entry type — Tap Edit to choose how you want to enter pay.
Deductions and contributions — Tap Edit to choose whether to include regular benefit deductions and company contributions.
Tax withholding rate — We apply the regular tax rate from your standard pay schedule by default. For extra wages, tap Edit to apply the supplemental 22% tax rate.
Tap Create payroll.
Tap Edit next to the team member’s name to edit their hours or earnings. When you’re done, tap X or Done — either saves your changes.
If you just want to pay out PTO, add 0 hours.
When you’re ready, tap Review summary.
Review the payroll summary. At the bottom, use the dropdowns to see:
What will get taxed and debited
What your employees worked and take home
What your company will pay
Once everything looks good, tap Submit 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 in your web browser:
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.
To edit an employee’s time off balance in the Gusto mobile app:
Open the Gusto mobile app and sign in.
Go to the People tab.
Find and tap the employee’s name.
Tap the Work menu and select Time off.
Scroll to the Policies section at the bottom.
Tap edit under the policy’s balance you need to edit.
Make the changes and tap 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.