Create departments and assign a manager

Group people into departments, set a manager as default approver, and cap how many can be off at once.

Updated June 2026

Quick answer

Departments group your team, give each a manager who becomes the default approver, and let you cap how many people can be off at once. Set them up under Settings, Departments.
Find it under Settings › Departments

Open Departments
Go to Settings › Departments to see your existing departments.
The Departments settings listing the existing departments
Your departments, with a New department button.
Add a department
Choose New department. Set a Name, pick a Manager (default approver for this department), and set Max people off at once if you want a cover limit. Pick a colour and click Save.
The New department form showing Name, Manager and Max people off at once
Name it, choose a manager and a capacity limit.
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The manager is the default approver

Requests from people in a department go to its manager, unless a person has their own approver set on their record. See Set who approves leave.

Capacity control

Max people off at once warns when a booking would take a department below cover, so clashes are caught before approval. Admins can override when needed.

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