For interpreters🗓️ Your Work

Request leave or time off

Block out unavailable dates, contractors do it instantly; W-2 staff submit leave for approval.

How you block time depends on your employment type. Contractors add self-service time-off blocks that take effect immediately. W-2 staff submit leave (PTO) requests that a manager approves.

Watch the walkthrough

0:44

Regular hours you can't work, and one-off dates. · Open in a new tab

Step by step

  1. 1Contractors: open "Availability" in the sidebar and use the time-off section. Enter a start and end date/time plus an optional reason, then click "Add Time Off", it blocks scheduling right away.
  2. 2If the time off lands on jobs you already hold, OneTerp lists them before saving. Tick any you want to drop: each one reopens for the agency to refill, and they're told it was for time off. For a recurring job, only the dates inside your time off are dropped, and you keep the rest of the series. A job too close to its start to drop shows the agency's notice period instead, so contact them directly.
  3. 3Anything you keep, the agency is told about, and the job is flagged on their dispatch board so they can sort it out with you.
  4. 4To remove a contractor block, click "Remove" next to the entry.
  5. 5W-2 staff: click "Staff HQ" in the sidebar and choose "Leave / Time Off", then choose the leave type plus the paid and full/partial-day options.
  6. 6To spread the time off across more than one leave type, for example 1 hour of Vacation and 2 hours of Personal, click "+ Use another leave type too" under the PTO hours, then pick the type and its hours. Leave the first box blank to put the rest of the hours on the main type.
  7. 7Enter your dates (and times for partial days) and a reason, then click "Submit request".
  8. 8Watch for a conflict warning if the time overlaps an existing job, it warns but does not block you.
  9. 9To cancel a staff request that is still pending, withdraw it from the same page.
  10. 10To change a request that is still pending, click "Edit" on it, adjust the dates, times or pay, and click "Save changes". It stays pending with the new details.
  11. 11To change leave that is already approved (and hasn't ended), click "Request change", make your changes, and click "Send change for approval". Your leave stays exactly as it was approved until a manager approves the change. The balance preview counts the hours your approved leave already holds, so it shows where you will really end up.

Tips

  • Contractor time-off needs no approval; W-2 leave does, a manager approves or denies it.
  • Time off and agency meetings that have already finished move into collapsed "Previous time off" and "Previous agency meetings" sections, so the page shows what is still ahead of you.
  • A start that falls after the end is rejected when you save. A backwards range used to look fine and then block nothing at all, so double-check the dates if you get that warning.
  • For W-2 staff, Leave / Time Off in Staff HQ shows a balance card for each leave type your agency tracks, plus your request history. An estimated hours total and the balance appear as you fill out the form.
  • Each balance card also says how it grows: when your next hours land (for example "+80 hrs on Jul 1, 2027") or how fast you earn them (for example "Earns 1 hr per 30 worked").
  • For tracked leave types, hours are deducted from your balance when the manager approves the request. If your balance doesn't cover the request, approval is blocked unless your agency allows that type to go negative.
  • Some leave types (like unpaid leave) may not track a balance at all; those work like a simple approve-or-deny request.
  • If you are not W-2 staff, you won't have Leave / Time Off. Use the time-off section on Availability instead.
  • Time off in the next two weeks shows on Up next on your Home page, and a job that overlaps it is flagged there as a conflict so you can sort it out early.
  • While a change is waiting, an amber "Change waiting for approval" box shows the new dates. Click "Withdraw change" if you no longer want it; your approved leave is untouched.
  • You cannot switch the main leave type while editing. To use a different type, withdraw the request and file a new one.
  • A request that uses several leave types is one request, shown as, for example, "Vacation + Personal". Approving it takes the hours from each balance, and cancelling it gives each balance its hours back.
  • You get a notification when your change is approved or denied. A manager can also edit your leave directly, and you get a notification when they do.
  • Your leave request list has tabs: Active, Pending, Approved, Rejected, Cancelled and All. It opens on Active, which shows everything except cancelled requests. Opening one request from a notification shows the All tab, so it is always there.
  • If your agency's leave year starts on January 1, leave you book for next year comes out of next year's hours, not this year's. Your balance card shows this year and next year on separate lines, with the hours already booked and pending for each.

Related articles

Still need help?

If this article didn't solve it, submit a ticket and the OneTerp team will follow up.

Contact support
← Back to Help Center