The short answer
Leave software for Spanish SMEs centralises the request, each person’s remaining balance, the team calendar and who approves. The employee asks from the web or phone and sees what is left; the manager applies policies per company or site, without a parallel spreadsheet or WhatsApp thread.
This article is the product and the “leave-management software” query. How you keep a shift covered when absences overlap is in the team shifts-and-leave guide.
History stays available for HR, payroll and the agency. A request is not decided in a loose email.
What should leave-management software do?
It has to solve four things in one place: ask, see the balance, see who else is off that week, and leave a trail of the decision. A shared calendar with no balance and no approval is only a photo of the month.
- Request from web or mobile, without opening a group to ask “can I take the long weekend?”.
- A live balance: the person sees what is left before they ask, not after an argument.
- A team calendar, so the overlap is visible before anyone approves.
- Policies configurable per company or site. The agreement and the pact are set by the company; the software applies the rules you configure, it does not read the gazette for you.
- An approval flow with history: who said yes or no, and when.
- It does not replace clock-in. Approved leave is not the daily working-time record under article 34.9.
How does the employee see their leave balance?
If the balance lives in the supervisor’s spreadsheet, every request starts with “how many days do I have left?”. The software works when that figure is visible to the person asking and the person approving.
- The employee checks the balance when they request. They do not wait for HR to count by hand.
- The manager sees the same number. Two different balances (the spreadsheet and the chat) are the source of most August rows.
- The balance depends on what you configured (contract, site, policy). Do not assume the tool “calculates the collective agreement” on its own.
- When the day is approved, the balance moves. When it is rejected, it does not. The status (pending, approved, rejected) has to be visible.
Who approves leave, and against which rules?
The tool does not decide. The manager or HR decides, with the policies you set per company or site. The value is that the decision does not disappear in a thread.
- A pending queue: approve or reject, with a comment and a trail of who decided.
- The employee is notified when there is a decision. They do not find out on Friday because “it never appeared in the group”.
- You can approve a clean month in bulk, or one by one when there is an overlap.
- The payroll firm and payroll see the history. They do not chase a different leave spreadsheet in every client.
How do you stop two people taking the same week?
The shared calendar shows the team’s absences before anyone presses yes. That is leave management. Covering the shift that is then empty is a different conversation: it is in the team shifts-and-leave guide.
Team calendar
You see who already has those long weekends. The overlap stops being a Monday surprise.
Policy per site
A shop can limit overlaps differently from the office. The rule is configured; it is not improvised in August.
It is not the rota
Seeing two absences overlap does not assign the replacement. For rotation and swaps, use the shifts module.
Are leave and absences the same thing?
No. Leave is rest days with a balance. Absences cover sick leave, permits and whatever types the company defines, with an attachment when the type requires it. They live in the same module; they are not the same screen.
- Leave: request, balance, calendar and policies.
- Absences: configurable types, proof if needed, pending / approved / rejected.
- Both go through approval. Neither is “fixed” in a loose email.
- Neither replaces the daily start-and-end record. An approved leave day is not a clock-in.
FAQ
What does leave software do that a shared calendar does not?
A visible balance, a request with a status, and a trail of who approved. A calendar without that is a photo. It does not say how many days are left or who said yes.
Does the employee see their balance?
Yes — that is the minimum. If only HR sees it, you are still on the supervisor’s spreadsheet model.
Can we set different rules per site?
Yes. Policies are configured per company or site. The software does not interpret the collective agreement for you.
Do sick days sit in the same place?
In the same module, under absences: types, attachments and history. Do not mix sick leave with the leave balance.
Does it work if I am a payroll firm?
Yes, as one standard for several clients. The history stays; you do not chase a different sheet in every company.
What does it cost and how do we try it?
Vacly Time starts at €8.89 per employee per month, VAT included. 15-day trial, no card required. You can start with clock-in and open leave when you need it.
How Vacly leave handles this
[Vacly Time leave](/producto/tiempo/vacaciones) puts requests, balance, the team calendar and policies per company or site in one place. Employees request from web or mobile and see what is left. Approval goes through validations, with history for HR, payroll and the agency. It is not the operational guide to shift overlaps; it is where the balance lives. From €8.89 per employee per month, VAT included.