Leave of Absence

Manage staff leave requests, approvals, active LOA roles, and expiry.

1 - Introduction

LOA means Leave of Absence. It lets staff request a temporary inactivity exemption while they are unavailable.

CADLY tracks LOA requests with pending, accepted, active, denied, ended, and canceled states. Approved requests activate automatically when their start time arrives, and active LOAs end automatically when their duration expires.

Use LOA when staff should not be penalized for missing shifts, waves, or activity expectations. It gives leadership a clear record of who is unavailable, when they are expected back, and who approved the request.

LOA is not meant to replace resignations or permanent inactivity. If someone is gone indefinitely, handle that through your staff policy and remove roles separately.

1.1 - Table of Contents

Section What it covers

Request Flow How staff submit and manage LOA

Management Flow Accepting, denying, ending, and canceling

Settings LOA settings reference

Troubleshooting Common LOA problems

1.2 - Links to Related Documents

2 - LOA Request Flow

Staff submit LOA requests from the LOA panel. The form collects a reason, duration in days, and either an immediate start on approval or a planned start date.

CADLY validates each request. A user cannot have another pending, accepted, or active LOA, and requests must stay within the allowed duration range.

Immediate requests are best for emergencies or sudden unavailability. Planned requests are best for vacations, exams, travel, or known schedule conflicts. Managers should check both the reason and timing before approving.

When reason-required is enabled, the request should include enough context for staff leadership to make a decision. It does not need sensitive personal detail; a short operational explanation is usually enough.

type: flow
title: LOA request lifecycle
meta: Staff absence workflow
status: Review required
steps:
- Staff submits request | The member chooses start date, end date, and reason.
- Reviewer approves or denies | Managers review the request and leave an optional note.
- Active LOA is applied | CADLY applies the configured LOA role during the approved date range.

2.1 - Request Fields

Field Purpose

Reason Explains why the member needs leave.

Duration Number of days the LOA should last.

Request type Immediate starts when accepted; planned starts on a future date.

Planned start Timestamp used for scheduled LOA activation.

3 - Approval and Active LOA

Managers use the LOA page to accept, deny, end, or cancel requests. Accepting a request either makes it active immediately or sets it to accepted until the planned start time.

When an LOA becomes active, CADLY can assign the configured LOA role. When it expires or ends, CADLY removes that role.

The LOA role is optional but useful. It can hide staff from pings, mark them in rosters, or exclude them from manual checks. If you use it, make sure staff understand that the role indicates temporary leave, not punishment.

You can configure up to 3 LOA roles. CADLY applies all selected roles when an LOA becomes active and removes them again when it ends.

Denial and cancellation notes should be clear because they are part of the request history. Use notes to explain missing information, policy conflicts, or why a request was canceled.

3.1 - Status Lifecycle

Status Meaning

pending Submitted and awaiting management action.

accepted Approved but not active yet because the start date is in the future.

active Currently exempting the staff member.

denied Rejected by management.

ended Completed naturally or manually ended.

canceled Canceled by the user or management.

4 - Settings / Configuration

4.1 - LOA Module

type: setting
title: LOA module settings
meta: Settings > Leave of Absence
status: Enabled
items:
- Minimum Length | 1 day
- Maximum Length | 30 days
- Cooldown | 7 days
- Reason Required | On

Enable LOA

Turns LOA requests and the LOA page on or off. Default: on | Requires: none

Allow Future Requests

Allows requests that start in the future instead of immediately on acceptance. Default: on | Requires: none

Max Future Days

Maximum number of days in advance an LOA can start. Default: 30 | Requires: none

Minimum Length

Minimum LOA duration in days. Default: 1 | Requires: none

Maximum Length

Maximum LOA duration in days. Default: 14 days | Requires: none

If your policy allows longer leave, split it into multiple approved requests or extend the request when the first period ends.

Cooldown

Days between LOA requests. Set to 0 for no cooldown. Default: 0 | Requires: none

Reason Required

Requires members to provide a reason for the LOA. Default: on | Requires: none

4.2 - Channels and Roles

LOA Logging

Channel for LOA requests, approvals, denials, cancellations, activations, and endings. Default: none | Requires: none

Use a private management channel if LOA reasons may contain personal information. Public LOA logs should avoid sensitive notes.

LOA Roles

Optional Discord role set assigned while a user's LOA is active. CADLY supports up to 3 roles here. Default: none | Requires: none

4.3 - Message Templates

Submitted Message

DM sent after a user submits an LOA request. Default: CADLY default submitted template | Requires: none

Approved Message

DM sent after approval. Default: CADLY default approved template | Requires: none

Denied Message

DM sent after denial. Default: CADLY default denied template | Requires: none

Canceled Message

DM sent after cancellation. Default: CADLY default canceled template | Requires: none

5 - Troubleshooting Common Issues

5.1 - LOA Does Not Activate

Check that the request was accepted and that its planned start time has passed. The background worker runs once per minute, so activation can lag briefly.

5.2 - LOA Role Is Missing

Confirm LOA Role is configured and the CADLY bot role is above it. If the role was deleted, pick a new role.

5.3 - A User Cannot Submit LOA

They may already have a pending, accepted, or active request. Close or cancel the existing request first.

6 - Getting Support and Resources

If you need help, several resources are available:

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