The Departments section in absentify enables administrators to organize employees into groups, assign managers for absence approvals, and configure department-specific settings such as maximum absences and default allowances.

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Overview of departments

The Departments page provides a list of all departments in your organization. For each department, you can view:
  • Name: The department’s title.
  • Manager(s): Approvers for leave requests from the department’s members.
  • Maximum absent: The maximum number of users allowed to be absent simultaneously in the department.
  • Microsoft Entra ID/Teams Synchronization: Indicates synchronization status with Microsoft services.

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Adding a new department

  1. Navigate to Settings > Departments and click + Add new department.
  2. Fill in the department details:

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General information

  • Name: Enter the name of the department.
  • Manager: Add one or more department managers. Managers act as default approvers for leave requests submitted by employees in the department.

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Approval process

  • Select the approval flow for leave requests:
    • Linear – All must agree: Requests are sent sequentially, requiring approval from all managers.
    • Linear – One must agree: Requests are sent sequentially and approved when one manager accepts.
    • Parallel – All must agree: All managers are notified simultaneously, and all must approve the request.
    • Parallel – One must agree: All managers are notified simultaneously, and approval from any one of them suffices.

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Maximum absent

  • Define the limit for simultaneous absences in the department:
    • No limit: No restrictions on the number of employees who can be absent at the same time.
    • Custom value: Specify the maximum number of absent employees.
    Admins can override the defined maximum absence limit when creating requests—both for individual employees and group requests. This provides flexibility in exceptional cases where the department’s configured limit must be exceeded.

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Advanced settings

  • Standard absence quotas: Specify default allowances (e.g., vacation days) for employees assigned to this department. These quotas are automatically applied for both the current and next fiscal years.
  1. Click Save to create the department.
The default quotas in the advanced settings streamline allowance management for new employees. These quotas can be adjusted later under the employee’s profile if needed.

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Editing a department

  1. Navigate to Settings > Departments.
  2. Click the pencil icon next to the department you wish to modify.
  3. Update the department’s settings, such as adding/removing managers, adjusting the approval process, or updating quotas.
  4. Click Save to apply changes.
Changes to department settings may affect existing leave requests and allowances. Carefully review potential impacts before saving.

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Deleting a department

  1. Navigate to Settings > Departments.
  2. Click the trash icon next to the department you want to delete.
  3. Confirm the deletion.
Departments cannot be deleted if they have active members. Reassign employees to a different department before attempting to delete.

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Managing employees within departments

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Adding or moving users to a department

  1. Go to Settings > Users.
  2. Click the pencil icon next to the user you want to update.
  3. In the Department dropdown, select the desired department(s).
  4. Click Save to assign the user to the selected department(s).
You cannot add a user to a department if the department has been synced to an Entra ID group. See this article for more information.

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Privacy settings: Department visibility

By default, employees can only see absences from their own department. To enable visibility of absences across all departments:
  1. Navigate to Settings > General > Privacy.
  2. Enable the toggle for Cross-department visibility.
When cross-department visibility is enabled, employees will see absences from all departments on the Overview page. For more control, you can keep this setting disabled.

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Best practices for department management

  • Assign multiple managers: Ensure approval coverage by assigning more than one manager to a department.
  • Configure maximum absent limits: Avoid disruptions by setting appropriate absence limits for each department.
  • Standardize quotas: Use advanced settings to assign consistent allowances for all new employees in a department.
Regularly review and update department configurations to align with organizational changes.