Why manual absence approvals no longer work
Most HR teams still spend hours every week approving absences by email or message.
Someone requests a day off, a supervisor forwards it, HR updates a spreadsheet, and planners discover the absence days later.
It’s slow, confusing, and error-prone. Especially for field employees who aren’t behind a desk.
Automating absence approvals isn’t just about saving time.
It’s about clarity, consistency, and compliance across your entire organisation.
What does it mean to automate absence approvals?
Automation replaces the manual email chain with a digital workflow that handles:
- Submission of absence requests
- Supervisor approval or rejection
- HR validation
- Automatic update of calendars and payroll
Instead of chasing updates, the system does the work. Everyone; HR, managers, and employees sees the same data in real time.
Why automation is essential for field teams
In office environments, it’s easy to manage absences through shared calendars or HR portals. But for mobile and field-based teams, that’s not realistic.
Common challenges include:
- No access to internal HR tools on site
- Supervisors approving absences informally
- HR retyping the same data multiple times
- No link between absence and time registration
That’s why companies across construction, cleaning, and industrial services are moving to mobile-first absence approval systems like Suivo.
How automated absence approval works in Suivo
Suivo Time Registration & Absence brings requests, approvals, and validation together in one connected flow:
|
Step |
What happens automatically |
|
1. Employee submits request |
In the Suivo app, the worker selects the type (holiday, illness, unpaid leave) and dates. |
|
2. Supervisor receives notification |
The responsible manager gets an alert to approve or reject. |
|
3. HR is updated automatically |
Once approved, HR sees it in the central dashboard. |
|
4. Payroll syncs instantly |
Approved absences flow directly into ERP or social secretariat systems. |
|
5. Planners see updates live |
Schedules and availability adjust automatically. |
No emails, no double entry, no delays.
The benefits of automated absence approvals
Less admin: No more manual forwarding or data entry.
Faster approvals: Requests and responses in minutes, not days.
Real-time visibility: HR, planners, and employees always see the latest status.
Error-free payroll: Approved absences sync automatically.
Happier employees: Clear, fair, and transparent process.
When everyone trusts the system, communication becomes smoother across the whole organisation.
From inbox chaos to instant approval
A maintenance company with 250 field workers used to manage absences via email.
Supervisors often forgot to reply, HR had to send reminders, and payroll was always delayed.
After switching to Suivo’s automated absence workflow:
✅ Employees request absences in the app.
✅ Managers approve on their phone in seconds.
✅ HR validates directly in the Suivo dashboard.
✅ Payroll updates automatically.
“Absence approvals used to take days. Now they’re done before lunch.”
How to set up absence approval automation
You can automate your absence approvals in a few easy steps:
- Digitise the request process – Enable requests through a mobile app or web portal.
- Define approval roles – Assign supervisors and HR reviewers per team or site.
- Set automatic notifications – Keep everyone in the loop instantly.
- Integrate with payroll & planning – Sync data with existing systems.
- Monitor & optimise – Use dashboards to track requests and trends.
Suivo helps you configure all this in a single rollout, without IT complexity.
Compliance and transparency built in
With CIAW (Check-in-at-Work) and CIAO (Check-in-and-Out-at-Work) becoming stricter, it’s not just about convenience. It’s about compliance.
Suivo keeps a complete audit trail of every request and approval, fully traceable and GDPR-compliant.
If an inspector asks for absence records, they’re just one click away.
From manual approval to automatic clarity
Approving absences shouldn’t mean chasing emails.
With Suivo, every request, approval, and payroll update happens automatically in one connected system.
Make absence management effortless.
Book your free expert session and see how Suivo automates absence approvals for teams on site and in the office.
