Approval chains and one approvals inbox
Every HR request, from a day's leave to the full and final, goes through its approval chain and waits in one Approvals inbox. Levels, approvers, reminders, escalation and stand-ins are settings you control, per Entity and kind of request.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Leave is approved on WhatsApp, loans by email and payroll on paper, so nobody can say what is still waiting.
- A manager goes on leave and every request of the team stops with them.
- A request waits for a week and nobody above the approver knows.
- The rules of who approves what live in one person's head and change when that person leaves.
How it works
- Each kind of request has a chain per Entity, made the first time it is needed from the request's own steps. For a loan, for example: the manager, then HR, then accounts.
- Keep it, or press Use the recommended levels on the Entity's HR Approvals tab. For example: the reporting manager, then the department head, for travel, expense claims and resignations.
- An employee sends a request. The approvers of the first level are told and find it in Employees > Approvals on the web and in My approvals in the app.
- Any one approver of the level presses Approve, or Reject with the reason. The next level is asked, and after the last one the request does its part. Leave is booked, a loan is sanctioned, a payroll run is approved.
- A request that waits is reminded after 2 days and escalated to the approvers' managers after 5. An approver on approved leave has their requests decided by the colleague they chose.
Everything it does
What goes through approval: every plan
- Leave, comp-off claims, attendance requests (correction, on duty, work from home, permission, overtime, shift swap), restricted holidays
- The phone an employee asks to mark attendance from
- Promotions and transfers
From Growth
- Resignations and the full and final settlement
- Loans and advances, and changes to a loan (pause, top-up, foreclosure, waiver and others)
- Expense claims and asset requests
- Payroll runs, the release of held salaries and wage runs
- Increment cycles, bonus, salary revision plans and the verification of tax proofs
In Scale
- Travel, training requests, appraisal goals, goals (OKR), improvement plans, skill requests and probation reviews
- Flexible benefit declarations and benefit bills
- Manpower requisitions, the manpower plan, supplementary manpower requests and hiring freeze exceptions
- Offers, the package of a hiring drive, college drive offers, joining date requests and referral bonuses
- Interview panel substitutes, consent to an internal move, changes to the do-not-hire list, agency bills and approvals asked by a workflow rule
Who approves with no set-up
- Each chain starts with the request's own steps: leave follows its policy (none, manager, HR, or manager then HR)
- Comp-off, restricted holidays, training and appraisal goals: the reporting manager or HR
- Full and final: HR, then accounts; increments and bonus: HR, then top management
- Approved at Once to start with: payroll runs, referral bonuses, interview substitutes and do-not-hire changes
- Use the recommended levels: for example manager then department head for resignations, travel and expenses; manager then finance for loans. You fill in the named approvers
Who can approve a level
- The request's usual approvers, each step in turn, or one named step
- The reporting manager, the manager's manager or the department head of the employee
- Everyone with an HR role, everyone in a group, named users, or a person on the request
- Any one approver of a level decides; for two signatures, add two levels
- If a level has nobody: the request cannot be sent (the start), or the level is skipped. Or the usual approvers decide, or the next manager up decides
Rules
- The person a request is about never decides it, also as a delegate or after escalation
- Requester May Approve: on in the chains made by themselves, so HR who raised a request for someone can decide it at their level. Off in the recommended levels
- Only For: a second chain for some requests only, such as one leave type or an amount
- Approved at Once: requests of that kind are approved when sent
- A reason is needed to reject; a payroll run is sent back with what must be corrected
The inbox, reminders and stand-ins
- One list of every HR request waiting for you, with the employee, the kind, the level and how long it has waited
- Remind Approvers After: 2 days, then again every 2 days; 0 for none
- Escalate After: 5 days; then the managers of the approvers can decide too, marked escalated; 0 for never
- Approvals Go To While I Am on Leave: each approver names a colleague in their own preferences
- Approval Delegations: HR sets an approver, a delegate, from and to dates and a reason, for any absence
- Approvals Waiting: HR sees every request that waits, with whom, since when, and whether it was reminded or escalated
Who uses it
EmployeeSends requests, follows the level they wait at, and reads the reason when one is rejected.
ManagerApproves the team's leave, attendance, loans, travel and resignations from the inbox or the app, and names a stand-in before going on leave.
HR administratorSets the levels and approvers per Entity, the reminder and escalation days, and delegations; watches Approvals Waiting.
Accounts and payrollApprove the full and final, loans and payroll runs at their level of the chain.
Where you use it
- Web: Employees > Approvals (the inbox), Employees > Configuration > Approval Chains and Approval Delegations, Employees > Reporting > Approvals Waiting
- Web: the Entity's HR Approvals tab, with Approval chains and Use the recommended levels
- Web: Approvals > Requests (To Approve, My Requests) lists HR requests next to those of your other SmartMy products
- The SmartMy HRMS app: My approvals, with every request that waits for you, and team lists with Waiting for me. (Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
What you control
Settings
- If a level has nobody: cannot be sent (the start), skip, usual approvers, or the next manager up
- Requester May Approve, Only For conditions and Approved at Once per chain
- Remind Approvers After (days): 2
- Escalate After (days): 5
- A stand-in while on leave, per approver; delegations for any dates, by HR
Notifications
- HR Request to Approve (level): to the approvers of the level the request reached. As a phone notification or by email, and in the app inbox
- Approval Waiting: the reminder to approvers after the reminder days
- Approval Escalated: to the managers of the approvers after the escalation days
- Each area also tells the employee the decision, for example Leave Decided or Loan Decided
Works with
SmartMy ProjectsWeekly timesheets are approved through the same approval engine, and approvers see them in Approvals next to HR requests.
Questions
What happens when a manager is on leave?
If the manager named a stand-in in their preferences, the stand-in decides while the leave is approved. HR can also add a delegation for any dates. After 5 days a waiting request goes up to the approver's manager as well.Can we have different approvers for large loans?
Yes. Add a chain for loans with Only For set to an amount or a loan type, and give it more levels. Smaller loans keep the general chain.Can someone approve their own leave?
No. The person a request is about never decides it, also not as a delegate or after an escalation.Do we have to set up chains before we start?
No. Each kind gets a chain from its own steps the first time it is needed. Press Use the recommended levels when you want the manager and department head levels instead.Can managers approve on the phone?
Yes, in My approvals in the SmartMy HRMS app, with the reason for a rejection. The app is built and being tested; it is not in the app stores yet.Related features
LEAVELeave types, credits, rules, year end and maternitySet up any leave type with its own credits and rules, and let the system keep every balance. Requests are checked against the policy when they are sent, approved through your chain, and closed at year end by carry forward, encashment or lapse.PAYROLLPayroll runs, approval and lockRun payroll per Entity and pay period straight from the attendance record, with joiners, leavers and mid-month revisions worked out. Approvers review it on one screen, salaries can be held and released, and a paid payroll is locked and reopened only with a reason.EXITResignation, exit interviews and clearanceAn employee resigns, or HR records a termination, retirement or other separation. The notice comes from your policy, the manager and HR approve, every department clears the leaver, and the exit interview is on record.EXITFull and final settlementOne settlement brings together what you owe the leaver and what they owe you. It covers held salary, leave encashment, notice pay or recovery, gratuity, loans, clearance dues and the final TDS. HR approves, then accounts, then payroll marks it paid.ACROSS SMARTMY HRMSNotificationsSmartMy HRMS tells each person what needs them: a request to approve, a decision, a payslip, a holiday declared today, an exit task, an interview. More than 200 events, each with its own recipients and channels, by email and in the app inbox, with a log of every message.ENGAGEMENT, GOALS AND HR TOOLSWorkflow rules without codeTell the HRMS what to do when a record is added, gets a value or a date comes, and it matches your filter. It can set a field, make a to-do, write a note, tell someone or ask for an approval, and every run is logged.
See your own month run in it.
Tell us how many people you have, how you take attendance and how your salary is structured. We will show you SmartMy HRMS set up that way.