Managers with the required permissions can approve, edit, or decline their team's time off requests in their Gusto account.
If you do not see "My Team's Time Off" under the Time off tab, you may not have the required permissions. Reach out to your payroll admin for help.
Once an employee submits a time off request, you'll get an email notification as their assigned manager. A Time off requests card also appears under Important tasks on your Home page. Click Start to go to the Time off tab. If the admin has turned on automatic approval for a policy, requests that meet the rules are approved right away and you will not get the usual review email for them. Instead, you'll get a note letting you know no action is needed.
Note: Managers do not have the ability to add employees to a time off policy, or update their accrued time off or time off balance.
If you're an employee, head to this article to learn how to request time off.
Your team’s approved time off appears on the Time off tab, under My Team’s Time Off. To see it, choose Approved from the dropdown menu. Approved time off moves to Paid after payroll processes all the requested dates.
Keep in mind, we do not send time off requests to managers if the employee requesting the time off is also an admin on the account.
To view your team’s time off requests and balances, follow these steps.
Click the Time off tab.
Scroll to My Team’s Time Off.
Use the dropdown menu to view your team’s time off requests by status.
To Review—requests you have not approved or declined yet
Approved—approved time off that payroll has not processed for all requested dates
Paid—approved time off that payroll processed for all requested dates
Declined—requests you declined
Click View next to the request to see the request details and the employee’s time off balance. The Time off balance section shows the employee’s current balance, their other requested hours, this request, and the remaining available balance for that policy.
There are a few ways you can approve a time off request. If you see a Time off requests card under Important tasks on your Home page, click Start to go to the Time off tab. You can also follow the steps below.
To approve a request from the Time off tab, follow these steps.
Click the Time off tab.
Scroll to My Team’s Time Off.
If needed, choose To Review from the dropdown menu.
Click View next to the request to see the request details and the employee’s time off balance.
Add a note (optional).
Click Approve request.
To approve a request from the employee's page, follow these steps.
Click the People section.
Select the employee requesting time off.
Click the Time off tab.
Under the "Time off requests" section, click View next to see the request and the employee's current time off balance.
Click Approve.
Your employee will be emailed once the request has been approved. Approved time off hours will be processed in payroll, and the employee's available time off balance will be updated.
Some requests may be approved automatically based on rules an admin set up for the policy. These appear marked as approved and do not require further action from you — look for a note in your email letting you know no action is needed.
There are a few ways you can edit a time off request—follow the steps below.
Note: If the time off has already been approved but not yet paid, you cannot edit the hours directly. You need to decline the approved request, then have your employee resubmit it with the correct hours. Learn how in Decline previously approved requests.
To edit a request from the Time off tab, follow these steps.
Click the Time off tab.
Scroll to My Team’s Time Off.
If needed, choose To Review from the dropdown menu.
Click View next to the request to see the request details and the employee’s time off balance.
Add a note (optional).
Next to the request time, click Edit.
Make any edits and click Save.
To edit a request from the employee's page, follow these steps.
Click the People section.
Select the employee requesting time off.
Click the Time off tab.
Under the "Time off requests" section, click View next to see the request and the employee's current time off balance.
Next to the request time, click Edit.
Make any edits and click Save.
Once your employee submits a time off request, you'll receive an email notification as their assigned manager. There are a few ways to decline a time off request—follow the steps below.
Note: Declining a portion of the request is not supported—you'll need to decline the full request and ask the employee to submit 2 separate requests.
To decline a request from the Time off tab, follow these steps.
Click the Time off tab.
Scroll to My Team’s Time Off.
If needed, choose To Review from the dropdown menu.
Click View next to the request to see the request details and the employee’s time off balance.
Add a note (optional).
Click Decline request.
Your employee will be emailed once the request has been declined.
To decline a request from the employee's page, follow these steps.
Click the People section.
Select the employee requesting time off.
Click the Time off tab.
Under the "Time off requests" section, click View next to see the request and the employee's current time off balance.
Click Decline.
Your employee will be emailed once the request has been declined.
You can also decline a previously approved request if the applicable payroll has not yet processed.
To decline a previously approved request, follow these steps.
Click the Time off tab.
Scroll to My Team’s Time Off.
Choose Approved from the dropdown menu.
Click View next to the request.
Click Decline approved request.
Add a note to your employee about why you're declining their request.
Click Decline.
We email the employee when the request is declined. Payroll and, if needed, Gusto Time Tracking timesheets update automatically for the affected pay periods.
You can only record time off for future dates, not for a payroll that already ran.
To record time off for an employee, follow these steps.
Click the Time off tab.
Below the My Team’s Time Off table, click Record time off for a US employee.
Select the employee and the policy.
Enter the dates under Date(s) requested.
Check the Time off balance section to see the employee’s remaining available balance.
Add a note for the employee (optional).
Click Record time off to save.
We automatically approve the time off and email the employee to let them know you recorded it for them. All approved requests appear in the Time Off Tracker.