I cannot approve, refuse or move the absence forward

Symptom

An absence or holiday request stays in To Approve and the person who opens it does not have the Approve and Refuse buttons, the state at the top does not change when clicked, or Approve opens an error window and the request stays where it was.

Message

When the profile does not decide, no error message appears: the buttons do not exist and the state steps (To Approve, Second Approval, Approved) are disabled.

When the button exists and the request does not move forward, the Validation Error window says, for example:

“The holidays of Eva Cristina Rocha from 27/10/2026 to 27/10/2026 have 1.0 working days, fewer than the 10.0 consecutive days of one period (CT art. 241.º/8 (split leave: at least 10 consecutive working days)). […] How to fix it: tick “Interpolated, agreed in writing” when the agreement exists, or extend the period.”

Verified causes

• The profile does not decide, or the absence type is not theirs. Tested with an Annual holidays request in To Approve and with a Blood donation:
  • HR manager: sees Approve and Refuse on the list line and on the request. Annual holidays become Approved straight away; after that only Back to approval and Refuse remain.
  • Worker: sees the request in My absences, without buttons.
  • Payroll: sees the request in People › Leave and absences › Absence requests, without buttons.
  • Management: decides only Annual holidays, in Management › Approve › Absence requests, where the list and the request have Approve and Refuse (the “Time Off Approval” activity also reaches them). They do not have the Leave and absences menu in People: anyone looking for the buttons there will not find them. When the request moves to Second Approval, Management only has Refuse: Validate belongs to the HR manager.
  • Other absences (Management): Blood donation, Marriage, illness… are decided by the HR manager. Management sees them in Management › Approve › Absence requests without Approve or Refuse, and the screen refuses if they try to decide: “You cannot refuse this absence. What happened: this step belongs to another profile. Who can: the payroll administrator, Human Resources (when the absence is not health-related) and the payroll processor when the company allows it in the payroll settings. How to fix it: ask one of them.”
• The holidays are a short period. An Annual holidays request with fewer than 10 consecutive working days (for example, one day, on 27/10/2026) does not get past To Approve: Approve opens the Validation Error window above, whatever profile approves it. Pending validation by a certified accountant: the rule of art. 241.º/8 of the Labour Code (Código do Trabalho) that the screen quotes.
• The state is not written by hand. The state steps are disabled in all profiles: it only changes with the request's buttons.

What to check

1. The profile you logged in with.
2. The state of the request (To Approve, Second Approval, Approved, Refused) and the buttons you see.

How to fix it

• Done by the HR manager: open the request in People › Leave and absences › Absence requests and use Approve or Refuse. If the state moves to Second Approval, click Validate. To undo, Back to approval. Full steps in How to approve holiday and absence requests.
• Done by Management (annual holidays only): open Management › Approve › Absence requests and use Approve or Refuse on the line or on the Annual holidays request. If the request moves to Second Approval, ask the HR manager to click Validate. For any other absence type (for example Blood donation), ask the HR manager.
• “Validation Error” window on Approve: tick Interpolated, agreed in writing, in the Portuguese law tab, when the agreement exists, or extend the period (steps in How to approve holiday and absence requests).
• Ask HR: the employee and Payroll, who do not have these buttons.

Expected result

The request is Approved (or Refused) and the employee sees the state in My absences.

When to contact support

The HR manager does not see Approve or Refuse on a To Approve request, or Management does not see them on an Annual holidays request, or the Validation Error persists after following the window.

Information to send

The profile, the employee, the time type, the dates, the state of the request and the buttons you see.