Setting a notice period helps make sure employees submit leave requests in advance. This gives managers enough time to review and plan accordingly. You can easily configure it from the leave policy settings.
Steps to Set It Up
- Go to Settings & integrations → Settings.
- Navigate to Leave Policies.
- Click the edit icon next to the leave type you want to update.
- From the left-side menu, select Restrictions.
- Enable the toggle for Request Notice Period.
- Set the notice period in days or hours, based on your preference.
- Click Save to apply your changes.
Once you enable it, employees can only submit leave requests that follow this rule.
What happens if the notice period is not met?
If an employee tries to submit a leave request without enough advance notice, they will see an error message. As a result, they cannot continue with the request until it complies with the policy.
Can admins override the notice period?
Yes. Admins can override this limitation and submit leave requests on behalf of employees, even when there isn’t enough advance notice.
- Go to People → Employees.
- Click on the employee to open their profile.
- Click Add day off (located under the employee profile picture).
- Select the leave type and the dates.
- An error message will appear indicating that the request exceeds the notice period.
- Click Confirm to proceed.
- Submit the request.
This allows admins to handle urgent or exceptional cases without being restricted by the notice period policy.
With this setting in place, you gain better visibility and planning for upcoming absences. At the same time, admins still have the flexibility to manage urgent or exceptional requests when needed.
Choosing the Right Lead Time
There is no single right number. However, a few simple ideas can help you decide:
- Match the lead time to how long your team needs to plan cover.
- Use a longer lead time for planned holidays and a shorter one for other leave types.
- Keep sick or emergency leave types free of this restriction, since those absences are rarely planned.
- Share the rule with your team, so nobody is surprised by an error message.
To manage these rules in one place, learn how a leave policy works in Day Off.