In the Calamari Time Off module, apart from absences, you can also manage work outside the office.
Remote work is another absence type that can be configured by administrators. Once configured, employees can mark their working day as remote in the Time Off module. This helps organizations keep records of remote workdays and ensures transparency within the team.
Below, you'll find examples of how remote work can be managed in Calamari.
Remote work configuration
Customizing and enhancing remote work or hybrid work arrangements in Calamari can greatly benefit your organization by aligning them with the unique needs of your team. This flexibility allows you to create a tailored remote working experience that boosts productivity and fosters collaboration, enabling effective work regardless of location.
There are two primary ways to configure remote work:
Without limits — This option allows employees to utilize remote work without any restrictions, promoting autonomy and flexibility.
With limits — Administrators can set clear parameters to guide remote work usage:
Limit unit: Choose either days or hours.
Limit value: Specify the number of days or hours employees can utilize per week.
1. Unlimited remote work
Unlimited remote work becomes helpful when employees can freely request days without any restrictions.
Go to Configuration → Absence types and create a new absence type, e.g., named “Remote Work”.
Define it as Remote work.
Set the entitlement to Unlimited.
Decide for whom the remote work is available in Accrual tab → Restricted to... → Change.
Click Save.
2. Limited remote work
Accrual rates
Accrual rates
If remote work should be accrued in your organization, follow these configuration steps:
Navigate to Configuration and select Absence types.
Create a new absence type, e.g., named “Work from home”.
In the absence type General settings, locate the Consider as dropdown menu and select Remote work to categorize this absence appropriately.
In the Accrual tab, choose Accrued entitlement.
Scroll down and set the Accrual rules.
Depending on your company's policy, you can set up different accrual rates, such as weekly, monthly, or annual.
More details about accrual configuration can be found here: How to configure an absence type?
Example: Employees receive 8 days of remote work each month. This entitlement should not accumulate; instead, it should reset monthly, regardless of whether the employee has utilized it.
In that example:
Accrue period was set to a month, starting on the 1st day of the month,
Employee earns 8 days every month at the beginning of the month,
Accrual cap was set at 8 days to prevent accumulating earned days over the year.
Decide for whom the remote work is available in Accrual tab → Accrual Rules → go to specific rule → Restricted to.. → Change.
Click Save.
Maximum number of remote work days per week
Maximum number of remote work days per week
You can add a restriction if your employees can request remote work, but only for a limited number of days per week.
Navigate to Configuration and select Absence types.
Edit or create a new absence type, e.g., named “Work from home”.
In the absence type settings, locate the Consider as dropdown menu and select Remote work to categorize this absence appropriately.
Set the accrual rate to Unlimited entitlement.
Decide for whom the remote work is available in Accrual tab → Restricted to... → Change.
Within the absence type settings, navigate to the Restrictions tab, click on Add Restriction, and select: "The absence can be added for a maximum of X days in a week."
Specify your desired day limit.
Select Block request option to prevent employees from exceeding the set limit.
Click Save to apply the changes.
Once this rule is in place, employees cannot submit more than X requests weekly.
3. Required remote work details
If your organization requires employees to provide information about, for example, their remote work location or any other details, consider adding a required reason and/or comment field.
Go to Configuration → Absence types.
Select your remote work type.
Navigate to the Fields & visibility tab.
Set the Reason and/or Comment field as Required.
Optionally, restrict the visibility to Reporter, manager, approver and admins to ensure this information is private.
Click Save.
Go to Reports → Time Off: Requests
The Reason column is included in the Requests report, which you can export for further evaluation:
The Comment field is not visible in the preview, but it is included in the downloaded Requests report.
4. Automatic approval flow for remote work
You can activate automatic approval for remote work requests while ensuring that the established process for other types of absences remains intact. To do this:
Go to Configuration → Approval flows.
Select the approval process.
Click Add alternative process and select the remote work type.
Optionally, you can set a notification after final approval for selected people, roles, or teams:
Click Save.
Remote work with a fixed schedule
If your employees have fixed days assigned for remote work, you can import remote work requests in bulk from a file.
You can import remote work requests even for the whole year – fill in the specific dates the employee will work remotely.
Example: If your employee always works remotely on Tuesdays and Fridays, you can generate the specific Tuesday and Friday dates for the year using external tools.
Then, follow these steps:
Go to Configuration → Import → Request history.
Download the import template.
Fill it out according to the guide: How to import requests into Calamari?
Upload the completed .csv file in Configuration → Import → Request history → Attach file.
Once imported, you can verify everything on the Calamari calendar or in the Reports.
💡 Tip: On the Calamari calendar, you can easily filter "Work outside the office" requests separately from absences.
Managing in-office and remote work
Calamari offers modules for managing both time off and attendance tracking.
In the Time & Attendance module, employees can mark worked hours in real time or asynchronously.
If you're interested in managing both remote work and in-office work via requests, this can also be achieved via the Time Off module.
Example use cases:
managing head counts for office capacity, e.g. number of desks,
quick estimation of how many people will be in the office or working remotely on a given day via reports,
easier coordination of hybrid teams – useful for company events or team projects.
To configure remote/in-office work requests in Calamari, follow the instructions below:
Go to Configuration → Absence types and create two absence types, e.g., named “Working remotely” and "Working at the office".
Define both as Remote work.
Set the entitlement to Unlimited.
You can enable automatic approval for both request types. To do this, go to Configuration → Approval Flows, select the approval process, and click Add alternative process.
Optionally, you can set a notification after final approval for selected people, roles, or teams.
Don't forget to save changes.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the right configuration — drop us a line via chat or by sending a message to [email protected]
We're happy to help!