SOURCE:    Vacation Tracker
TITLE:     Location Admin Training 5: Choose Who Approves Whose Leave With Departments (Microsoft Teams)
URL:       https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/location-admin-training-microsoft-teams-choose-who-approves-whose-leave-with-departments/
LANG:      en
PUBLISHED: 2026-10-23
UPDATED:   2026-10-23
READING:   2 min
SUMMARY:   Create and edit Departments, and choose who approves leave for the people in them.

# Location Admin Training 5: Choose Who Approves Whose Leave With Departments (Microsoft Teams)

# Location Admin Training 5: Choose Who Approves Whose Leave With Departments (Microsoft Teams)

A Department is an approval group. When someone requests leave, the request goes to the Approver(s) of their Department.

## Decide First

- Which groups? Build Departments around who approves whose leave. They don't need to match your org chart.

- One level or several? With Single-level approval, one Approver signs off. With Multi-level, approvals happen in sequence. Multi-level is on the Complete plan only.

- Should pending requests expire? If not kept open, requests expire after 7 working days or on the leave end date, whichever comes first.

## Create a Department

- In the left-hand menu, under Team & Approval Flows, click Departments, then Create New Department.

- Enter a Name and, optionally, add Users.

- Under Approval Flow, choose the Approval Flow Type and add one or more Approver(s).

- Set Keep future pending requests open? to Yes or No.

- Click Create Department.

![Create Department form showing Approval Flow Type, Approver(s) and Keep future pending requests open?](https://cms.vacationtracker.io/uploads/location_admin_training_email_only_choose_who_approves_whose_leave_with_departments_1_e9acd03d04_f21f9f6056.png)

## Change a Department

On the Departments page, click the three-dot menu on a Department and choose Edit Department. You can also View Department or Delete it.

![Departments page with the Edit Department, View Department and Delete menu](https://cms.vacationtracker.io/uploads/location_admin_training_email_only_choose_who_approves_whose_leave_with_departments_2_67da31961c_c7d248f628.png)

## Check It Worked

Every Department shows at least one Approver, and each user's profile shows the right names under Approvers.

## Common Questions

Is Approver a role?No. Approver is set on the Department, so the person's role stays the same.

Can one person approve for several Departments?Yes. Add them as an Approver on each Department.

### What's Next?

Location Admin Training 6: Add Leave for Someone in Your Location (Microsoft Teams) (https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/location-admin-training-microsoft-teams-add-leave-for-someone-in-your-location/)
How Do I Set an Approver within Vacation Tracker? (https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/how-do-i-set-an-approver-within-vacation-tracker/)
Location Admin Training 3: Update a User's Profile, Working Days and Leave Quotas (Microsoft Teams) (https://vacationtracker.io/knowledge-base/location-admin-training-microsoft-teams-update-a-users-profile-working-days-and-leave-quotas/)

Need help?

Contact our Support team via email (mailto:hello@vacationtracker.io) or chat (#), Monday to Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM EST.