# Staff Absence Explanation **URL:** \ **Category:** Teachers\ **Created:** [March 2, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436 "2022-03-02T23:17:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/dataengr)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/1 "2022-03-02T23:17:44Z")
Hello Gibbon Community, Please i’d like a brief intro on how the staff absence works. I was hoping that once the teacher submits the staff absence form, the one in charge would accept or deny the absence. Atleast that’s my understanding. But dont know my way around it. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![sandra](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/user_avatar/ask.gibbonedu.org/sandra/32/5_2.png) [@sandra](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/sandra)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 5:07am UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/2 "2022-03-03T05:07:55Z")
Hi dataengr, Yes, that’s essentially how it works. Types of abenseces can be customized as to whether they require prior approval, such as in some schools Personal Days would require approval, but Sick Days would not. Be sure to check out the docs here and give a shout with any questions: [https://docs.gibbonedu.org/administrators/people/staff-absences/](https://docs.gibbonedu.org/administrators/people/staff-absences/) ---
**Author:** ![dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/dataengr)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2022, 12:33pm UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/3 "2022-03-04T12:33:47Z")
Hello @ross, i checked the link and followed the docs but i am unable to approve the staff absence request. It doesnt show under People-\>Staff-\>Approve Staff Absences. The Approve Staff Absences page has no data even though i have requested for staff absence. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![sandra](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/user_avatar/ask.gibbonedu.org/sandra/32/5_2.png) [@sandra](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/sandra)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/4 "2022-03-09T00:25:06Z")
Hi dataengr, In User Admin \> Staff Settings can you check that Absence Approvers have been setup with at least one user? This determines who can approve an absence, and then when the absence is submitted, a specific user is selected. Only that user will be able to see and approve absences that are attached to them. ---
**Author:** ![dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/dataengr)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 7:25am UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/5 "2022-03-09T07:25:35Z")
Hello @ross, I apologise for the late response. I assigned a user as an Absence Approver just like you stated. But it still wouldn’t show up. So i went to the database (gibbonStaffAbsence) and it appears that all the absence request status was set to Approved. ---
**Author:** ![dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/dataengr)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 7:32am UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/6 "2022-03-09T07:32:06Z")
edited: Hello @ross, I apologise for the late response. I assigned a user as an Absence Approver just like you stated. But it still wouldn’t show up. So i checked the database (gibbonStaffAbsence) and it appears that all the absence request status was set to Approved. On the other hand, the gibbonPersonIdApproval field is null, so i edited the table with a custom gibbonPersonId and it showed up. So i guess Gibbon is unable to include AbsenceApprover as part of the payload. thanks. ---
**Author:** ![sandra](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/user_avatar/ask.gibbonedu.org/sandra/32/5_2.png) [@sandra](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/sandra)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/7 "2022-03-14T02:05:19Z")
Hmm, that is unusual. Are you able to check that the type of absence that was submitted was one that required approval? As a note, changing any of these settings after the absence was created will not backdate the changes, so perhaps try creating a new absence with a type that requires approval and a selected approver. Hope this helps! ---
**Author:** ![dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@dataengr](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/dataengr)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 7:06am UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/8 "2022-03-14T07:06:59Z")
> Hmm, that is unusual. Are you able to check that the type of absence that was submitted was one that required approval? As a note, changing any of these settings after the absence was created will not backdate the changes, so perhaps try creating a new absence with a type that requires approval and a selected approver. Hope this helps! This was the solution. All the absence categories didnt require approval by default. So i had to change on of them to require approval and it works. Thanks for the help. ---
**Author:** ![sandra](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/user_avatar/ask.gibbonedu.org/sandra/32/5_2.png) [@sandra](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/u/sandra)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://ask.gibbonedu.org/t/staff-absence-explanation/3436/9 "2022-03-15T01:17:04Z")
Great to hear that worked!