Using Vacation Tracker

How Do I Add a Leave for a User?

Last updated on February 9, 2026

How Do I Add a Leave for a User?

Admins and Approvers can submit a leave on behalf of a User — useful when someone forgot to file a sick day, you're retro-recording a leave, or you're staging future time off on their behalf. Two entry points: the User's profile, or the Add Leave option in the dropdown next to the Request Leave button.

TL;DR
Two ways to add a leave for someone else: (1) open their profile and click Add Leave at the top, or (2) hover the Request Leave button in the top-left of the dashboard and pick Add Leave from the dropdown. Both open the same Add Leave form (separate from the standard Request Leave form), which includes a User picker, Leave Type, dates, and an optional reason. Leaves added this way are approved immediately and come straight out of the User's balance.

From the User's Profile

  1. Sign in at app.vacationtracker.io with an Admin or Approver account.
  2. In the left menu, click Users.
  3. Open the User's profile by clicking their name.
  4. Click Add Leave at the top of the profile.
  5. Pick the Leave Type, Start Date, End Date, and add a reason.
  6. If the policy supports half-day or hourly, the form gives you those options too.
  7. Click Add Leave. The User is notified and the days come out of their balance immediately.
User profile with the Add Leave modal open showing Leave Type dropdown, Start Date and End Date pickers, half-day/hourly options, and Reason field

From the Request Leave Dropdown

The big Request Leave button in the top-left of the dashboard is for your own leaves. To add a leave for someone else, hover that button — a dropdown appears with two options: Request Leave (for yourself) and Add Leave (for another User).

Picking Add Leave opens a separate form (different from the Request Leave form, even though they share a button) that starts with a User picker, then Leave Type, dates, and reason. Fill it out and click Add Leave.

Top-left of the dashboard with the Request Leave button hovered, showing the dropdown with Request Leave and Add Leave options. Below: the Add Leave form with User picker at the top, Leave Type, Start/End Date, and Reason
No approval step — added straight to the balance
Leaves added by an Admin or Approver this way are approved immediately. There's no separate approval flow — your act of adding is the approval. The User is notified through their integration's chat. This applies regardless of whether the date is past, today, or future.
Past, today, or future
You can add leaves for any date — past, today, or future. All of them come straight out of the User's current balance the moment you click Add Leave, since the leave is approved on submission. Future leaves don't sit in a "pending" state; they're already locked in against the balance.

Common Questions

Yes. Vacation Tracker sends them a notification through whatever integration they use (Slack DM, Teams chat, or email) confirming the leave was added on their behalf, with the dates and Leave Type.

Request Leave is the standard flow when you're submitting your own leave — it follows the Department's approval flow and goes to your Approver(s). Add Leave is for Admins/Approvers adding a leave for someone else, and it skips approval entirely. They share a button on the dashboard (the dropdown next to Request Leave), but they're two different forms with different behaviors.

Whether you can add the leave depends on the Leave Policy. Some policies block negative balances entirely; others allow Admins/Approvers to push a User into negative balance with a warning. The form tells you which case applies before you confirm.

What's Next?

Edit a User's Leave Request Add TOIL for a User View User Profiles (Approver)
Need help?
Contact our Support team via email or chat, Monday to Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM EST.

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