I am looking for some guidance. I want to create a workflow on Monday to approve vacation requests of our employees using two levels of approvals.
Step 1: Employee requests vacation days using a monday form
Step 2: Once submitted, the request gets logged into the open requests queue for the designated approver to approve/reject the vacation.
Step 3. Once approved, the vacation request needs to go to another layer of approval. If rejected, the requester is notified via email.
Step 4: After the second layer of approval, the requester will be notified that the vacation days have been approved. If the second layer rejects, the requester will also be notified of the rejection.
I can’t use any app beyond basic monday.com capabilities because of enterprise restrictions. Can anyone suggest how I implement the second layer of approval? I already have a process for the first layer of approval using Monday boards.
Hey @mondayz - this is a common ask and something we have built out numerous times (each one is always a little different). While I do not know how you have your board(s) setup, this can be managed through a few Status columns and people columns.
I would have one main Status column (Not Selected, Approved, Rejected). Then a second status column to manage the levels of approvals (Not Actioned, 1st Level Approved, 2nd Level Approved, Rejected). Lets call this column “Approval Status”
Additionally, three people columns, one for the Employee (submitter) and two for the Approvers (1st Level Approver, 2nd Level Approver).
Then a series of automations:
When form submitted, notify 1st Level Approver (lets the first approver know they have something to do)
When Status changes to Approved, and only if Approval Status is “Not Actioned”, set Approval Status to “1st Level Approved” and set Status to “Not Selected”
When Approval Status changes to “1st Level Approved” Notify 2nd Level Approver
When Status Changes to Approved, and only if Approval Status is “1st Level Approved”, set Approval Status to “2nd Level Approved”
When Approval Status changes to “2nd Level Approved”, Notify Employee (“Your vacation has been approved”)
When Status changed to Rejected, And only if Approval Status is “Not Actioned” Notify Employee (“You vacation has been rejected by [1st level approver]”) AND set Approval Status to Rejected
When Status changed to Rejected, And only if Approval Status is “1st Level Approved” Notify Employee (“You vacation has been rejected by [2nd level approver]”) AND set Approval Status to Rejected
This of course can be extended further to add rejection reasons, counts against total allotted vacation days, what’s been used, etc…
Hope this helps, and feel free to reach out anytime!
Mark