The Leave module can be configured to send automatic notifications to communicate information about leave requests. Notifications are set up to trigger based on the actions taken when requesting, approving, or rejecting leave. If notifications are required as part of the leave request process, the relevant notifications must be configured.
The Notifications maintenance item is located in Leave Module > Maintenance > Notifications.
Notification types
There are two basic types of notifications: scheduled notifications and immediate notifications.
Scheduled notifications
Scheduled notifications are sent at specific times. The following message types are available:
Reminder - sent to leave approvers as a reminder to approve leave requests by a certain time or date.
Escalation - sent to an alternative approver if the usual approver has not approved or rejected a leave request within a specific amount of time after it was submitted.
Scheduled notifications can be configured to reoccur until the corresponding leave request is approved or rejected.
Immediate notifications
Immediate notifications are sent as soon as a specific event occurs. The following message types are available:
Submitted - sent to the approver when a leave initiator submits a leave request.
Rejected - sent to the initiator when an approver rejects a leave request.
Approved - sent to the initiator when an approver approves a submitted leave request.
Recalled - sent to the approver when a leave request that was awaiting their approval has been recalled by the initiator.
Notification triggers
A notification trigger determines the type of event that causes a notification to be sent. The triggers available depend on whether the notification is scheduled or immediate.
Scheduled notification triggers
Reminder - for the approver, the trigger is relative to the date and time the leave request was submitted.
Escalation - the notification is triggered when a certain number of hours or days have elapsed since a leave request was submitted. The notification is sent to the leave administrator.
Immediate notification triggers
Submitted - triggered when a leave initiator submits a leave request for approval. The notification is sent to the owner of the candidate that has requested the leave.
Rejected - triggered when an approver rejects a submitted leave request. The notification is sent to the leave initiator.
Approved - triggered when an approver approves a leave request. The notification is sent to the leave initiator.
Recalled - triggered when a leave initiator recalls a leave request. The notification is sent to the owner of the candidate that has requested the leave.
For a detailed breakdown of each notification trigger and its corresponding delivery method, see the table below.
Message frequency
When creating a scheduled notification, you must specify delivery frequency parameters. These consist of a mandatory delay frequency and an optional reoccurrence frequency.
The delay frequency determines when the notification is first sent.
The reoccurrence frequency determines whether, and how often, the notification is resent.
Both delay and reoccurrence frequencies can be defined in hours or days. The delay frequency can be a negative value.
Reminder notifications
For reminder notifications where the recipient is a leave request approver, the delay frequency is relative to the date the request was submitted. For example, if a request is submitted on 18 July 2010 and the delay frequency is set to -2 days, a reminder will be sent to the approver on 20 July 2010.
Escalation notifications
For escalation notifications, the delay frequency is relative to the time and date the leave request was submitted. For example, if a request is submitted at 10:00 am on 18 July 2010 and the delay frequency is set to 1 day, an escalation notification will be sent to the leave administrator if the request has not been approved or rejected by 10:00 am on 19 July 2010.
Reoccurrence frequency
The reoccurrence frequency for reminder and escalation notifications is defined relative to the last instance of the notification being sent. For example, if the reoccurrence frequency for an escalation notification is set to 2 hours and the first notification is sent at 10:00 am, another will be sent at 12:00 pm and will continue to be resent every two hours until the corresponding leave request is approved or rejected.
Delivery methods
A notification can be delivered to the relevant leave request participant via one or more of the following methods. A corresponding notification template must be selected for each delivery method chosen when creating a new notification.
Email — sends the notification as an email message to the email address of the participant.
SMS — sends the notification as an SMS message to the mobile telephone number of the participant.
Grouping
Grouping intervals prevent recipients from being inundated with a large number of individual notifications. When grouping is enabled, all notifications triggered within a given period of time are grouped into a single notification, delivered at the end of that interval.
For example, a leave approver may be responsible for approving leave for a large number of payees. Without grouping, a separate notification would be sent each time a payee submits a request. Grouping consolidates these into a single notification per interval.
Group intervals can be set at 3, 6, 12, or 24 hours. For example, if the interval is set to 6 hours, notifications are delivered at the following times each day:
00:00
06:00
12:00
18:00
In this example, all notifications triggered between 00:00 and 06:00 are grouped into a single notification and sent at 06:00. All notifications triggered between 06:00 and 12:00 are grouped and sent at 12:00, and so on. This means a recipient receives a maximum of four notifications on any given day.
📌Note: For scheduled notifications, you must still define the delivery frequency even when grouping intervals are in use. This is because the delivery frequency triggers the generation of the notification - grouping only controls when it is delivered.