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How to add a replacement when placing a Manager on Leave

  • February 27, 2026
  • 13 replies
  • 280 views
Andreia Miranda
Bobber

When a manager is going on leave and needs to hand over responsibilities like tasks, flows, direct reports, or surveys, you can assign a replacement directly through the Leave flow to make sure everything stays covered.

This helps maintain continuity without manually reassigning work across the system.

 

To set this up, start by placing the manager on leave as you normally would:

- Go to the Manager profile

- Select Actions > Change Work Status > Place on Leave

- Choose the relevant leave type and dates

- During the leave setup, you’ll see the option to assign a replacement.

- In the Replacement section, select the employee who should cover for the manager.

 

Bob will allow you to choose which responsibilities should be handed over, such as:

- Direct reports

- Tasks and approvals

- Performance and surveys

- Your Voice tasks

 

Once the leave is approved, the selected replacement automatically takes over the chosen responsibilities.


Important notes:

  1. The replacement applies from the start date of the Leave and beyond. This makes it ideal for parental leave, sabbaticals, or any planned absence.

  2. This feature is only available for Leave flows. If you place a Manager on Leave via Time Off, you won't be able to select replacements.

 

 

Andy M.

13 replies

L

Thank  you for this.  I am curious why it’s not possible to also assign replacements in an Internal Change Flow.  When someone is promoted or moves departments they also require a reassignment of tasks and staff.  It doesn’t appear to be possible in the People Data Updates flow.  😔

    Andreia Miranda
    Bobber

    Thank  you for this.  I am curious why it’s not possible to also assign replacements in an Internal Change Flow.  When someone is promoted or moves departments they also require a reassignment of tasks and staff.  It doesn’t appear to be possible in the People Data Updates flow.  😔

     

    Hi ​@Leslie Gillespie !  That’s a great question 🤗

    At the moment, this feature is available for Termination and Leave flows only. People Update Flows are designed specifically to update employee data, without changing or impacting an employee’s Lifecycle Status, which is why this option is not currently supported there.

    That said, it’s a very valid feedback and definitely something we can consider for future development. I’d recommend sharing this with your CSM or opening a support ticket so we can capture your specific use case and submit it as Product Feedback on your behalf.

    Andy M.
      D

      ​@Andreia Miranda 

      Thank you very much for the information.

      If an employee who needs to sign a document is absent, this option unfortunately won’t work. Are there any alternatives?

      Andreia Miranda
      Bobber

      ​@Andreia Miranda 

      Thank you very much for the information.

      If an employee who needs to sign a document is absent, this option unfortunately won’t work. Are there any alternatives?

      Hi ​@Djoyce van der Burch 🤗

       

      Yes, you are correct, this is a known limitation within the current functionality. If a document has already been requested and one of the signers or requesters is placed on leave or marked as terminated, the request would need to be manually cancelled and then re-sent with the updated replacement.

       

      This is something that is already on our roadmap for improvement. If you would like to share your feedback or highlight the impact this has on your process, you can reach out to your CSM or the Support team so we can include it.

       

      I hope this helps!

      Andy M.
      Christian Smith

      Hello, do you know if we can activate this also when someone is on timeoff?

      Andreia Miranda
      Bobber

      Hello, do you know if we can activate this also when someone is on timeoff?

      Hi Christian ✋

       

      At the moment, this functionality is available when changing the employee Lifecycle status, for Termination and Leave flows specifically. If an employee is placed on Time Off without changing their Lifecycle status, the option to select task/duties replacement is not supported.

       

      On a positive side, happy to confirm this is already on our roadmap and being considered for future development 😄

      Andy M.
        M

        Hi, I have not figured out yet if returning a manager from leave would restore the initial reporting lines automatically or this should be done manually. Would appreciate advise on this process.

        Thank you!

        Jasmine Hepherd
        Bobber

        ​@Andreia Miranda 

        Andreia Miranda
        Bobber

        Hi, I have not figured out yet if returning a manager from leave would restore the initial reporting lines automatically or this should be done manually. Would appreciate advise on this process.

        Thank you!

        Hi Marina!

         

        That is a valid question! 🙂

         

        While it is possible to assign a replacement manager when placing a manager on leave, the original reporting lines and responsibilities are not automatically reassigned back once the manager returns from leave.

        At the moment, this is a known limitation, and we already have Product Feedback submitted regarding this behavior.

         

        If you’d like, you can connect with your CSM to follow up on the request or add your feedback to the existing Product Feedback submission. If you don’t have a CSM, you can contact our support team and we will be able to submit your feedback as well.

         

        For now, once the manager returns from leave, the reassignment of direct reports and approval workflows/chains would need to be handled manually.

         

        I hope this helps!

        Andy M.
          M

          Thank you ​@Andreia Miranda! all clear. will give my feedback to our CSM

            C

            As above with the know limitation.  We have tried this functionality and unfortunately have had to park it.  The system does not automatically revert direct reports back to their original manager from their covering manager upon the original managers return.  With 1700 team members It is a lot to maintain and the work at the end simply doesn’t justify the process at this time.  A remedy to this would be greatly appreciated. 😊

              Andreia Miranda
              Bobber

              As above with the know limitation.  We have tried this functionality and unfortunately have had to park it.  The system does not automatically revert direct reports back to their original manager from their covering manager upon the original managers return.  With 1700 team members It is a lot to maintain and the work at the end simply doesn’t justify the process at this time.  A remedy to this would be greatly appreciated. 😊

              Hi Catherine,

               

              I completely understand how the current limitation can become challenging when managing over 1,700 users in the system.

               

              At the moment, the best available workaround for using this feature would be to bulk reassign direct reports through the Directory. In any case, this still involves some manual effort on your side.

               

               

              This is definitely valuable feedback to share with your CSM as well. The more customer use cases and operational challenges we can collect, the better it helps our Product team evaluate and improve the solution in future developments 🤗

              Andy M.
              A

              This is genuinely disappointing. This limitation was never disclosed upfront and it’s not mentioned in none of the guides or training materials. We only discovered it the hard way — after building our process around this functionality and placing several people on leave. Now we're finding that org chart and reporting lines are all messed up, and we have to restore them manually. 

              It would really help if we were given a clear picture of what the tool can and can't do, instead of only highlighting the strengths. Not mentioning downsides that aren't obvious can cause real, significant damage.

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