When an approver is away: on vacation, on sick leave, or on business travel, time-off requests can get stuck, delaying employees' plans.
Adding a backup approver ensures the approval flow continues smoothly, maintains consistent response times, and prevents HR from having to intervene manually.
It’s especially useful in larger teams or during peak vacation seasons, when approval bottlenecks are more likely.
Common scenarios where a backup approver is useful:
Manager goes on vacation - approvals don’t pile up while they’re away.
Unexpected sick leave - a substitute can be assigned at the last minute to keep the process running.
Business trip / delegation – when the manager is out of the office or working in a different time zone, a backup approver can respond to requests more quickly.
What is the benefit of adding a substitute to the flow?
If you click the button "Substitute approval," the deputy will be able to approve requests during the manager's absence. All approvers (e.g., direct managers) can be backed up by a "substitute person" during their absence as requested in Calamari.
What should I do to have a backup approver?
A manager needs to choose "substitute" on the Apply screen when requesting time off.
The substitute employee will receive notification and be able to approve on behalf of the approver during the approver's absence, as requested in Calamari.
Important! In the configuration of the absence types "Fields & visibility," the Administrator should set up "Substitute" as Optional or Required:
What exactly can a backup approver do?
A backup approver temporarily takes over the responsibilities of the main approver.
During the selected date range, the substitute can:
review and approve time-off requests,
reject requests,
leave comments visible to the requester,
keep the approval workflow moving without interruption.
After the absence ends, Calamari automatically returns all responsibilities to the main approver.
Preventing substitutes from requesting time off during their assignments
To stop the reporter from requesting time off while they are assigned as a substitute, add a restriction in the restrictions tab.
Configuration → Absence Types → Select absence type → Edit → Restrictions tab → Add restriction "The reporter cannot request an absence during a period when they are assigned as a substitute" → Save.
After adding this restriction, the employee will not be able to request time off on any day they are assigned as a substitute. This prevents conflicts when someone is unavailable while they're supposed to cover another person's approvals.
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