---
title: Send your first leave request
description: Where to start it, which rules are enforced on submit, and what happens to your balance
order: 3
---

Booking time off as the employee, not the admin - from the form to the balance change
once the request is decided.

## Start the request

Open **Leave → My leave** at `https://app.squadbear.com/requests`, visible to every role,
and choose **Request time off**. Your balance-tracked leave types sit above the list, up
to three chips.

## Pick a type and dates

Choose a leave type; the picker appends the days you have left. Pick a start date -
leaving the end date blank books that single day. On a single day a **Duration** control
appears where the policy allows more than one mode - **Full day** and **Half day** on a
half-day increment, plus **Custom hours** on an hourly one. A longer range books whole
days. **Add context** holds an optional **Note to approver** and an attachment - PDF, JPG
or PNG up to 20 MB - visible only to you, admins, and your approvers.

## What is enforced on submit

The form previews the working-day count and the balance after approval; the policy rules
are enforced on submit and returned as a list. For the default Vacation policy they are:

- **2 days' notice** - book at least two days out, or it's rejected.
- **15 days max per request** - split anything longer.
- **A replacement** - Vacation requires a name in the **Cover / replacement** field;
  submitting without one is refused.
- **Available balance** - each year the request touches is checked on its own.

A leave type you aren't enrolled in doesn't appear in the picker and is refused with
`not_eligible` through the API. Of the seeded policies only Unpaid leave enrolls new
hires automatically.

## How your days get counted

Each day is checked against your work schedule and your holiday calendar - both under the
policy's control, and both on for the seeded policies, so non-working days and public
holidays aren't charged. See [How leave works in SquadBear](/docs/leave/concepts/) for the
full model.

## Who approves it, and what happens to your balance

Submitting reserves the days immediately; the **Balance after approval** figure already
shows it. Vacation routes to the **Manager** field on your profile, not to the manager
role; requests over **5 days** add an admin step. Your manager sees it in **Inbox** and
on **Leave → Approvals**. Approved reserved days become used days; rejected ones are
released. A **pending** request can be edited or cancelled; an edit restarts the approval
chain. An **approved** one can be cancelled whole or from a date, leaving earlier days
approved. A rejected request is final.

## Sick leave

Sick leave auto-approves the instant you submit it - no manager step - and isn't
balance-tracked. It requires no notice and no replacement, has no per-request maximum,
and accepts start dates up to **7 days** in the past.

## Worked example

Aleksandra takes the last week of July - Monday 27 to Friday 31, five working days, no
holiday in the way. She opens **My leave**, picks **Vacation**, sets the dates, and names
a colleague under **Cover / replacement**. The form reads 5 working days and a positive
balance after approval. Her manager sees it in **Inbox** that day and approves, turning
the 5 reserved days into used days - no admin step at 5 days.

> [!AGENT]
> Request next Friday off as vacation, and tell me what my balance would look like afterward.

## Related

- [How leave works in SquadBear](/docs/leave/concepts/)
- [Invite your team to SquadBear](/docs/getting-started/invite-your-team/)
- [How leave approvals work](/docs/leave/approvals/)