Managing vacation leave is an annual headache for most small businesses. Spreadsheets, "Could I take some days off?" emails, and ultimately nobody knows exactly who's where or how many days they have left.

In Company Task Management, we've simplified this process. Here's how vacation and leave approval works in CTM.

Why Email and Spreadsheets Aren't Enough

The typical process at companies without a system looks like this: an employee emails a manager, the manager checks with HR, HR checks a spreadsheet, replies by email, and somewhere in that process something gets lost. At the end of the year, nobody knows exactly how many days each person actually used.

There's also a missing overview — a manager doesn't see who else is off during the same period until after they've approved the request. This leads to situations where too many people leave a department at once.

How Vacation Management Works in CTM

CTM has a built-in module for vacation and leave requests. The entire process is digital and transparent.

1. The Employee Submits a Request

In the Vacation section, an employee clicks "New Request", selects the type of leave (annual leave, sick leave, compensatory time off…), sets the from — to date, and optionally adds a note. The whole thing takes less than a minute.

2. The Manager Gets a Notification

As soon as the request is submitted, the responsible approver gets an email notification. They see the request with context — how many days the employee has available and who else is off during that period.

3. Approval or Rejection in One Click

The approver approves or rejects the request directly from the notification or within CTM. The employee gets an immediate response — no waiting for an email reply.

4. The Team Calendar Updates Automatically

Once approved, the vacation automatically appears in the team calendar. Everyone can see who's unavailable when — without having to ask anyone.

What the Manager Sees

Managers have an overview in CTM that simply doesn't exist in email:

Days remaining for each employee — entitlement, used, and remaining
Team calendar — who's off when, with a weekly or monthly view
Request history — all approved and rejected requests with dates
Parallel absences — see if multiple key people are off at the same time

Types of Leave CTM Covers

The system isn't limited to annual leave. You can track:

Annual vacation
Sick leave
Compensatory time off
Unpaid leave
Other (customizable)

Each type is color-coded in the calendar for instant visual clarity.

Integration with Projects and Tasks

One advantage you'll appreciate on larger projects: vacation data is visible alongside your project plan. When a manager is planning a project and sees that a key team member is on vacation during a critical week, they can adjust deadlines before the project gets underway.

How to Get Started

The vacation module is available on all CTM paid plans (Starter and Pro). Setup takes about 10 minutes:

Go to Settings → Vacation
Set the vacation day entitlement for each employee
Assign approvers (usually team leads or HR)
Employees can immediately start submitting requests

Conclusion

Managing vacations doesn't have to be a chaos of emails and outdated spreadsheets. CTM digitizes the entire process: the employee submits a request, the manager approves or rejects it in one click, and the team calendar updates automatically.

The result: less administration, more transparency, and no unpleasant surprises when you realize half the team is missing on a critical project.

Vacation and Leave Approvals in CTM — How It Works