# Leave Request Process

## Process Overview

<p class="callout info">All requests are managed in the [Leave Requests](https://app.asana.com/0/1204409034175458/board) Asana project.</p>

<div drawio-diagram="57"><img src="https://wiki.cloud.akvo.org/uploads/images/drawio/2023-04/c05HNY4UURsdEDrR-drawing-3-1681980487.png" alt=""/></div>

### Who starts the process?

The person requesting leave.

### When should the request be sent?

As soon as this person knows s/he wants to take leave. Depending on the duration of your leave you are expected to send the request a in advance. This is important to make the team has enough to get organized.

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-duration-notice-peri" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 148.984px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 50%;"></col><col style="width: 50%;"></col></colgroup><thead><tr style="height: 29.7969px;"><td style="height: 29.7969px;">Duration</td><td style="height: 29.7969px;">Notice Period</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr style="height: 29.7969px;"><td style="height: 29.7969px;">&lt;= 2 days</td><td style="height: 29.7969px;">1 week before the first day of leave</td></tr><tr style="height: 29.7969px;"><td style="height: 29.7969px;">3 &lt; days &lt;= 5</td><td style="height: 29.7969px;">2 weeks before the first day of leave</td></tr><tr style="height: 29.7969px;"><td style="height: 29.7969px;">1 &lt; week &lt;= 2 weeks</td><td style="height: 29.7969px;">1 month before the first day of leave</td></tr><tr style="height: 29.7969px;"><td style="height: 29.7969px;">&gt; 2 weeks</td><td style="height: 29.7969px;">2 months before the first day of leave</td></tr></tbody></table>

### When is a request approved definitively?

When it is reflected in the Capacity Planner.

## Detailed Process

### 0. Talk To Your Project Managers (Asana)

Before submitting a Leave Request, we recommend you first talk to the Project Managers of the projects you are working in order to:

1. Inform them
2. Confirm that it will be possible from the perspective of projects.

PM validation is not an absolute requirement depending on the reason why you need leave.

### 1. Leave Request Submission (Asana)

Create a task in the [Leave Requests](https://app.asana.com/0/1204409034175458/board) Asana project in the *Manager to Approve* column. All fields are mandatory.

1. **Title:** The name of the requester
2. **Start Date:** First day the request will be on leave
3. **End Date:** Last day the request will be on leave
4. **\# Working Days:** The number of working days included in the period of leave
5. **Assignee:** The requester's manager
6. **Description (optional)**: Any additional context related to the request. Remember that the content of this task is public.

### 2. Manager Approval (Asana)


The manager approves the request based on the following criteria:

- PMs are aware of the request
- PMs have a plan to in place to manage project deliverable during the leave period
- The leave request does not create issues with internal projects

The manager decision can be one of the following:

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-decision%C2%A0-action-in-" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 149.781px;"><colgroup><col style="width: 50%;"></col><col style="width: 50%;"></col></colgroup><thead><tr style="height: 29.7969px;"><td style="height: 29.7969px;">Decision </td><td style="height: 29.7969px;">Action In Asana</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr style="height: 46.5938px;"><td style="height: 46.5938px;">Approve the request</td><td style="height: 46.5938px;">Move the request to the *Capacity Planner To Update* column and assign the task to the Capacity Manager.</td></tr><tr style="height: 63.3906px;"><td style="height: 63.3906px;">Ask for more information</td><td style="height: 63.3906px;">Write a comment mentioning the requester and asking for additional information. Sensitive conversations should happen in direct Slack messages or during 1:1 meetings.</td></tr><tr style="height: 10px;"><td style="height: 10px;">Deny the request</td><td style="height: 10px;">Add “Not approved” in the comment section. The request should be moved to the *Processed* column.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### 3. Capacity Planner Update (Asana)


The Capacity Manager attempts to update the Capacity Planner accordingly. The following scenarios are possible:

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-scenario-action-in-a" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><colgroup><col style="width: 50%;"></col><col style="width: 50%;"></col></colgroup><thead><tr><td>Scenario</td><td>Action in Asana</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>No issues updating the Capacity Planner</td><td>The Capacity Manager:

- Moves the request to the *Internal Tools To Update* column
- Leaves a comment mentioning the requester indicating that the request has been taken into account.
- Assigns the task to the requester

**⚠️ At this stage only is the request considered as accepted.**

</td></tr><tr><td>A conflict appears in the Capacity Planner</td><td>The Capacity Manager leaves a comment mentioning the Manager. Discussions happen in Asana or on Slack.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### 4. Update Internal Tools

As the requester you are expected to update the internal tools to make sure other colleagues are aware / can find out that you have leave planned.

1. Announce your leave period in `#team-tech-leaves`.
2. Update the company Holiday calendar
3. Update your personal calendar. Make sure to use an [Out Of Office](https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/7638168?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform=Android) block so that meetings are rejected automatically. This inform meeting organizers immediately.
4. Log your leave in Clockwise (employees only, not applicable to contractors).

Details for steps 2 and 4 are available [here](https://intranet.akvo.org/holidays/).