Common Leave Request Errors and How to Fix Them

Modified on Thu, 17 Jul at 5:49 PM

This guide covers common errors that prevent successful leave request submissions and how to resolve them. With these quick checks and solutions, you’ll be able to support employees efficiently and keep things running smoothly.

Common Errors in Leave Request:

Insufficient Available Leave Balance
Schedule not set for start/end date
System Security - not permitted to make changes
Inaccurate Leave Duration
Missing Data - Leave Duration
Short Notice Prompt
Unplanned Leave Error

Summary

1. Insufficient Available Leave Balance

Scenario: An employee tries to apply Annual Leave but sees this error pop-up:

"You do not have enough leave balance to apply for this leave."

Possible Cause: The requested leave duration exceeds the employee’s current available leave entitlement.

Solution:

Review the employee's entitlement and adjust if needed. Refer:

Or you can advise the employee to apply fewer days based on their available balance.

2. Schedule not set for start/end date

Scenario: A red alert appears when the employee picks leave dates:

"Schedule not set for start/end date"

Possible cause #1	Possible cause #2
Shift not added. The employee's duty roster does not have a shift set for the affected date(s).	Schedule is not assigned to the employee. Without a work schedule, the system cannot apply shifts.
Solution	Solution
Review the employee's schedule and assign missing the shift: Assigning Shift in Duty Roster	Assign a schedule using one of the following methods: Assigning Schedule by Individual Batch Assign Work Schedule

To prevent this error from happening:

Set a default shift in Schedule Settings for rotation-type setups.
Ensure supervisors update rosters in advance for duty-based scheduling.

3. System Security - not permitted to make changes

Scenario: When user clicks Request > Leave, a pop-up appears:

"System Security - You are not permitted to make changes on your request, please check with your admin on this matter if this is an error."

Possible cause: The employee's user role doesn't have Edit permission for leave requests. Without this access, Worksy system prevents them from submitting leave.

Solution: Update access rights for the user role. Refer to this article: Employee Not Permitted to Make Changes on Leave Request

4. Inaccurate Leave Duration

Scenario: When staff applies leave from 15 Sept to 17 Sept, the system only shows 2.0 days instead of 3.0 days.

Possible cause: 16 September is a holiday in Malaysia (Hari Malaysia) and leave type is set to exclude holiday from leave taken, so it’s excluded from leave taken calculation.

Solution: Check leave type settings, adjust the holiday entitlement, and batch process attendance. Head over to this article for detailed steps: Leave Duration Not Accurate

5. Missing Data - Leave Duration

Scenario: This happens regardless of how many days are selected even for a 1-day leave. A pop-up appears:

"Missing Data! Leave Duration must be less than or equal to 0.0 days".

Possible cause: The error occurs because the requested leave duration (1 day) exceeds the Maximum Days Allowed setting (0 days). The system won’t allow the request to proceed if it goes over the limit.

"Missing Data! Leave Duration must be greater than or equal to 1.0 days".

Possible cause: The error occurs because the requested leave duration (0.5 day) is less than the Minimum Days Allowed setting (1 day). The system won’t allow the request to proceed if it doesn’t meet the minimum requirement.

Solution: Adjust Employee Self Service Policy by referring Step 5a & 5b in: Setting up Leave Type.

6. Short Notice Prompt

Scenario: An employee had to apply for leave on short notice. Then, a pop-up appears:

“It seems like you are applying leave on short notice. Therefore, the leave you are applying for now will be regarded as unplanned leave. Would you still like to proceed?”

Possible Cause:

The future leave request is less than minimum days in advance required
The backdated leave is within the maximum allowable backdated period

In the example above, the system requires at least 3 days’ advance notice for future leave and allows up to 3 days for backdated leave. With the above 2 cases, the system will prompt this error — provided that unplanned leave is allowed for the leave type.

Solution: Adjust Employee Self Service Policy by referring Step 5c & 5d in: Setting up Leave Type.

7. Unplanned Leave Error

Scenario: An employee had to apply for leave on short notice. Then, a pop-up appears

"You not allowed to take Unplanned Leave"

Possible Cause: The leave type does not allow unplanned leave.

Solution: Enable Unplanned Leave and adjust the Maximum Days for Backdated Leave in the Leave Type settings. Refer to: How to solve "Unplanned Leave Error"

Summary

Error Message	Possible Cause	Solution
"You do not have enough leave balance to apply for this leave."	Insufficient available leave balance	Review the employee's entitlement and adjust if needed. Refer: Viewing Individual Leave Entitlement & History How do I correct my employee's leave balance? Or advise the employee to apply fewer days.
"Schedule not set for start/end date"	1. No shift added in duty roster 2. No work schedule assigned	Review the employee's schedule and assign missing the shift: Assigning Shift in Duty Roster Assign a schedule using one of the following methods: Assigning Schedule by Individual Batch Assign Work Schedule
"System Security - You are not permitted to make changes on your request"	User role doesn't have Edit permission for leave requests.	Update access rights for the user role. Refer to this article: Employee Not Permitted to Make Changes on Leave Request
"Missing Data! Leave Duration must be ≤ X days"	Leave request doesn't meet minimum or exceeds maximum days allowed in the Leave Type setting.	Adjust Employee Self Service Policy by referring Step 5a & 5b in: Setting up Leave Type.
"Missing Data! Leave Duration must be ≥ X days"
“It seems like you are applying leave on short notice..."	Leave applied on short notice or leave date is earlier than backdated range.	Adjust Employee Self Service Policy by referring Step 5c & 5d in: Setting up Leave Type.
"You are not allowed to take Unplanned Leave"	Leave type doesn’t allow unplanned leave, or backdated request exceeds allowable range.	Enable Unplanned Leave and adjust the Maximum Days for Backdated Leave in the Leave Type settings. Refer to: How to solve "Unplanned Leave Error"

We hope this article helps clarify the issues. It will be updated from time to time to reflect the latest changes. If you require additional assistance, do not hesitate to contact our support team.