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Access & approvals

Approval workflows

Decide who approves leave, payroll, loans, onboarding and other requests, and in what order.

Many requests in KalHR can require approval before they take effect: leave, payroll runs, loans, employee onboarding, probation, terminations and attendance exceptions. An approval workflow says who approves, and in what order.

Approval workflowsApproval workflows

Where each workflow is set up

ProcessWhere
Leave requestsLeave → Settings → Approvals
Payroll runsPayroll → Settings → Approvals
Probation, termination and onboardingPeople → Settings, under Approvals
Attendance exceptionsAttendance → Settings → Exception approvals
LoansMore → Loans → Settings
Every workflow in one listMore → Approvals → Workflows

Set up a workflow

Each process has a default workflow, which applies to everyone, and optional exception workflows for groups that need a different approver chain.

  1. Open the process's approval settings (see the table above).
  2. Select Set Up Default Workflow.
  3. Add the approvers with + Add Approver, in the order they should approve.
  4. Select Publish. It takes effect for new requests straight away.
  5. If a company, department or group of employees needs different approvers, select Add under Exception Workflows and set it up the same way. Everyone not covered by an exception keeps the default.

To change a workflow, select Edit, make your changes and publish again. Archive retires an exception workflow.

Payroll needs a workflow

Until a payroll approval workflow is published, payroll runs are approved automatically. Set one up before your first payroll if your organisation needs a second pair of eyes.

Act on requests

  1. Open More → Approvals → Requests. Filter by status: Pending, Approved, Rejected or Cancelled.
  2. Open a request to see its details and where it is in the approval chain.
  3. Select Approve or Decline. When you decline, say why.

The next approver can't act until you have, so check this page regularly.

Last updated October 7, 2026

Still need help?

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