In Day Off, an approver has a decision-making role within the leave approval workflow. However, the permissions you assign limit their level of authority.
Level of Authority for Approvers
An approver can:
- Approve or reject leave request
- Receive and review requests submitted by assigned employees
- Move requests forward in the approval workflow
In each step, only one approver’s action is required to proceed.
Scope of Authority
An approver’s authority is limited to:
- The employees they are assigned to approve for
- The approval step they are part of (Step 1 or Step 2)
They do not have global control over all employees unless explicitly granted additional permissions.
Additional Access (If Enabled)
Depending on role permissions, an approver may also:
- View employee profiles
- Check leave balances
- Review request history
- Access team information, policies, and schedules
Why a Limited Level of Authority Helps
Keeping approver rights focused has clear benefits. First, each request goes to a person who knows the employee and the team. Second, managers only see the requests they are responsible for, so their queue stays short. Finally, sensitive employee information stays with the people who actually need it.
This approach follows the principle of least privilege. In other words, people get the access they need for their job, and nothing more.
Tips for Admins
- Assign approvers who work closely with the employee, such as a team lead or line manager.
- Review approver assignments when people change teams or roles.
- Grant additional permissions only when an approver truly needs them.
- Add watchers when other people only need to stay informed about requests.
To learn more, read how to assign approvers for an employee and the difference between approvers and watchers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an approver approve requests for anyone in the company? No. An approver can only act on requests from the employees assigned to them, in their own approval step.
Do all approvers in a step need to act? No. In each step, only one approver’s action is required to move the request forward.