Leave tracking

Leave is the absence record most likely to be wrong and the hardest to put right afterwards. An agreement made in a corridor is never written down, a request sits in an inbox for a fortnight, and by the time the balance looks wrong the person has already been paid from it. This workflow holds every request in one place with the policy that applies to that person, the dates requested, and the balance before approval. A request that breaks the policy comes back with the rule that blocked it and the route to appeal, rather than a silent refusal to decode. The manager is asked to confirm cover, and a confirmed absence is put on the team calendar so the gap is visible early. When somebody returns, the date is recorded, the balance is recalculated against the policy, and a long absence opens a conversation about a phased return. A human still approves or declines, applies discretion where the written policy is unfair, and handles anything involving a long-term condition. The workflow keeps the record and the calendar honest; it does not decide who deserves time off.