How Does an Online Leave Management System Work? Explore the Steps Involved

Wondering how an online leave management system works? Here is an overview of how the system helps in managing employees’ leaves.

Imagine, if you as a field manager could approve, reject, or manage all leave requests by using a one-stop system. Wouldn’t it free up your time and lower your work-related stress caused by manual leave management?

Thinking what that one-stop system could be? Well, it’s an online leave management system that centralizes and manages all data pertaining to employees’ leaves. It helps field managers define employees’ leaves, acknowledge leave requests, and manage holidays.

Here is how the online leave management system works and untangles the complex web of constant leave applications.

How Does the Leave Management System Work?

Managers may bid goodbye to regular scanning of the inbox, overlooking leave applications, and acknowledging requests over SMSs. New-age leave management systems notify, remind, and archive every request online and provide insights.

So much better, right?

Let’s find out how.

Step 1	Field employees log in on the leave management app and apply for leave.
Step  2	As soon as the employees hit the submit button, the concerned managers receive an immediate notification.
Step 3	Managers assess the reason, duration, and leave types specified by employees to accept or reject their leave requests.
Step 4	The system automatically updates the leave balance/data when managers provide their approvals.

 

Must-have Features in an Online Leave Management System

Here’s a complete rundown of how a leading online leave management system helps in managing employees’ leaves.

1. Easier Leave Applications

Your employees can access their mobile apps to request a leave of absence. It enables them to avoid indulging in paper-based or email-based leave applications which ultimately saves everybody’s time. Moreover, the software takes over the task of notifying managers about those pending requests too. So, employees don’t have to call or meet managers personally to remind them.

2. Provide Notifications on the Go

Automatic alerts and reminders ensure that no leave request goes unnoticed. Managers receive real-time notifications on the phone or web application when an employee requests for a day(s) off. Even if they miss a few requests, the software keeps on sending alerts until the leaves are acknowledged. Meanwhile, employees receive notifications when the status of their applications is changed. It obviates the chance of guesstimating and forgetfulness at your workplace and facilitates smooth communication within the team.

3. Flexible Leave Acknowledgment Module

Every organization is different in terms of policies, guidelines, hierarchy models, operations, etc. Advanced leave management solutions allow flexibility in designing a leave approval hierarchy or process. For example, multi-level acknowledgment involves each manager across the hierarchy receiving notifications and checking the details of employees’ leaves. Upon assessing the reason, duration, and category of leaves, they approve/decline the requests.

4. Auto-updated and Reliable Leave Data

The online leave management system instantly updates the leave balance of individual employees as managers provide their approvals. Automation-back software like TrackoField auto-updates data w.r.t. year-end leave processing whether the company follows a carry forward model, leave encashment, or eligibility-wise lapses.

5. Effortless API Integration

Thanks to online leave management solutions, you can sync the employees’ leave data with tools like HRMS and payroll software. If the software comes with an inbuilt payroll module like TrackoField, salary computation is a matter of a few clicks only. That’s how it helps the finance team to credit accurate salaries to the employees. Easy and smooth API integration with multiple utility software like CRM, ERP, Tally, etc. simplifies inter-department operations too.

Top Benefits of Leave Management System

With an online leave management system, field managers can make the monotonous task of managing employees’ leaves more effective, quicker, and simpler. That’s not it, here are other major benefits of using leave management solutions.

1. Custom Hierarchy Approval

An online leave management system allows field organizations to customize the approval workflow according to their unique business structure. They can designate who must review or approve the leave requests. It can be the line manager or the head of the department. The system routes the application to the designated approvers and lets them acknowledge employees’ leave requests.

2. Intuitive Calendar View

Managers can access the leave calendar on the go to learn which employees will take leaves on which days. This keeps everyone in the loop and lets them plan and organize tasks ahead of time. Moreover, managers can easily deny or approve requests after assessing the total availability and workload during the work week.

3. Efficient Team Holiday Management

The leave management software allows field companies to configure the holidays as per their policies. They can update location-specific festivals, company holidays, special leaves, etc. on the software. All employees can view it and plan their time off accordingly.

4. Insightful Reports and Trends

A goldmine of insights! Yes, that’s what the best online leave management systems are with big data processing capabilities. Auto-generated reports help them analyze absence trends, the most frequent leave type, and teams with higher leave rates. Managers can even address challenges like understaffing and shift scheduling when they have such information at hand.

5. Flexible Leave Module

You can set up leave types, leave policies, and the number of leaves for each employee. Define casual, sick, earned, or any other leave type on the software. The flexibility to configure your organization’s leave policy lets you avoid compromises in the process.

6. Improved Employee Satisfaction

Quick accessibility to leave balance, convenience during request submission, and reminders when applications are approved/declined – such measures promote transparency, enhance fairness, and create a more satisfying working environment for field employees. All these elevate employees’ morale and positively impact their attitude towards the company.

7. Time-saving & Error-free Process

Conventionally, it is time-consuming to apply for leaves and get them approved by managers. Further, employees need to get their managers’ signatures on their applications, making this process a lot more time-consuming. On top of that, paper forms, emails, and spreadsheets-based leave management create the scope of manual errors. Luckily, the scenario has changed with an online leave management system that makes the whole leave-requesting process simpler and error-free, saving time for employees, managers, and the organization as a whole.

Final Words!

This is how a leave management system helps in tracking employees’ leaves via an online platform. The precise leave data lets field managers identify absenteeism and build further strategies as an answer to and according to it.

If you are somebody hunting for a leave management system, resort to tech that is readily available. Talk to experts in our panel to learn more and remove the lapses from the leave management procedure.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is an online leave management system?

  An online leave management system automates the entire procedure from generating a leave request to receiving managers’ approvals and auto-updating leave balance. Along with this, it helps in an accurate payroll calculation by syncing the employees’ leave data to payroll software.

• How does an online leave management system work?

  Here is how an online leave management system works:
  - Field employees check their leave balances on their mobile screens.
  - Then, they apply for leave by selecting the days, duration, and reasons.
  - Managers receive notifications, assess the -leave requests, and provide their acknowledgement.
  - Now, the system automatically updates the balance of employees’ leaves.

• What are some benefits of an efficient leave management system?

  Here are all the benefits you’ll receive while utilizing an online leave management system.
  - Leave requests/approvals
  - Customizable approval workflow
  - Leave calendar view
  - Holiday management
  - Report generation
  - Leave types configuration
  All these crucial features help you manage your employees’ leaves conveniently.