The Cancel Approved Leave feature allows authorized users to cancel a leave request that has already been approved. This is useful when an approved leave needs to be reversed due to a mistake, schedule change, employee request, or business requirement.
When an approved leave is cancelled, the system updates the leave status to Cancelled and reverses the related leave balance adjustments according to company rules.
Who Can Cancel an Approved Leave? #
- The Cancel Leave action depends on the Approval Flow configuration.
- Employee can cancel an approved leave only if they are eligible through the approval flow assigned to that leave request.
- If a user is not part of the approval flow approver step, the Cancel Leave option will not be available to them.
- Subscriber Admin can cancel any approved leave request.
Where to Find the Cancel Leave Option #
You can cancel an approved leave from:
- Dashboard → Leave → Approve Route
- Open the action menu for an approved leave request. If the leave is eligible and you have permission, the Cancel Leave option will appear.
- The Cancel Leave option appears only for leave requests with Approved status. Pending, rejected, or already cancelled leaves cannot be cancelled.
How to Cancel an Approved Leave #
- Go to Dashboard → Leave → Approve Route.
- Find the approved leave request you want to cancel.
- Click the action menu.
- Select Cancel Leave.
- A confirmation modal will appear.
- Click Yes, Cancel Leave to confirm.
To close the modal without cancelling, click No, Keep Leave or the close icon.
What Happens After Cancellation? #
After a leave is cancelled successfully:
- The leave status changes from Approved to Cancelled.
- The employee’s leave balance is restored based on the cancelled leave hours.
- Used leave hours are reversed.
- Unpaid leave hours are reversed if applicable.
- Backdated leave hours are reversed if applicable.
- Lieu leave hours are restored if the cancelled leave used Lieu Leave.
- The system records who cancelled the leave and when it was cancelled.
- The cancelled leave remains visible as history.
Payroll Restriction #
- Approved leave cannot be cancelled if payroll has already been processed for the leave period.
- If payroll has already been processed, the system blocks the cancellation and keeps the leave status as Approved. No leave balance changes are applied.
Notifications and Emails #
When an approved leave is cancelled:
- The employee receives an in-app notification.
- Previous approvers receive in-app notifications.
- The employee may receive an email notification if email is enabled.
- Approvers may also receive an email notification if email is enabled.
- The notification or email includes important information such as the cancellation status, leave type, leave period, and who cancelled the leave.
Summary #
The Cancel Approved Leave feature helps organizations safely reverse approved leave when needed. It restores leave balances, keeps cancellation history, notifies relevant users, and prevents cancellation when payroll has already been processed. This ensures leave records remain accurate, traceable, and compliant with company policy.