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Time Off in Requests in AlayaCare

Sample Integration: Managing Time Off Requests in AlayaCare
March 9, 2020 by
Time Off in Requests in AlayaCare
Rubi Works LLC, Luka Bajic

Time-off requests live outside the clinical workflow.

AlayaCare handles scheduling, documentation, and clinical workflows exceptionally well. Time-off requests fall outside that primary clinical workflow — they're an HR and scheduling coordination function that most agencies end up managing through a separate process: employees email their manager, text the scheduler, fill out a Google Form, or write on a paper sheet stuck to the office fridge. The request bounces around until someone enters it — or forgets to — in AlayaCare's schedule.

The problem isn't complicated, but the consequences add up: missed vacation requests, shifts accidentally assigned to someone who's out, double-booking the same coverage on two different tools, and zero audit trail when HR asks "who approved this?"

Real cost

Agencies we've audited were losing 2-4 hours per week of coordinator time just reconciling time-off requests across email, texts, and AlayaCare — plus the occasional "we forgot to block the schedule" scramble that cost real billable visits.

The fix — a workflow that bridges the form to AlayaCare.

Rubi's time-off solution wires together three existing tools your agency probably already has: a simple form (Microsoft Forms, Cognito Forms, or similar), Microsoft Approvals for the manager-review step, and a Rubi integration that writes the approved request into AlayaCare's schedule automatically.

Employee fills out a form. Manager taps Approve. Schedule blocks itself. Nobody touches AlayaCare manually.
Rubi Works — Time-off workflow
sequenceDiagram participant EMP as Employee participant FORM as Request Form participant APPR as MS Approvals participant MGR as Manager participant INT as Rubi Integration participant AC as AlayaCare EMP->>FORM: Submit time-off request FORM->>APPR: Create approval item APPR->>MGR: Notify for review alt Approved MGR->>APPR: Approve APPR->>INT: Webhook: approved INT->>AC: Block schedule INT->>EMP: Notify approved else Denied MGR->>APPR: Deny with reason APPR->>INT: Webhook: denied INT->>EMP: Notify with reason end
Fig 01 · Time-off request approval flow

What the workflow does.

  • Structured form submission — employee chooses dates, reason, and any required documentation (medical note, proof of travel). Data is validated at entry, not after.
  • Routed to the right approver — the request goes to the employee's manager of record (pulled from the AlayaCare hierarchy), not a generic inbox.
  • One-tap approval — managers approve from Teams mobile, email, or desktop without logging into another system.
  • Automatic AlayaCare scheduling — approved requests block the employee's availability for the requested dates so the scheduler can't accidentally assign them.
  • Denial with reason — denied requests bounce back to the employee with the reason, not just a silent "no."
  • Audit trail — every request, approval, denial, and schedule update is logged with who-did-what-when. Easy HR inquiry.

Why this architecture works.

Leverages existing tools If you're already on Microsoft 365, you already have Forms and Approvals. No new per-seat licenses. We just wire them to AlayaCare.
Mobile-first for field staff Employees submit requests from their phone. Managers approve from their phone. No desktop-only workflows that strand field workers.
Fast to deploy Typical deployment is 1-2 weeks because the hard parts (form, approval routing) already exist as SaaS. We build the AlayaCare write-back.
Works for any time-off type Vacation, sick leave, bereavement, jury duty, unpaid. Each type can have its own form rules, document requirements, and approval chains.

Frequently asked questions.

What if we use Google Workspace instead of Microsoft 365?

Same pattern works with Google Forms + a light approval layer (native Google Forms notifications, or a third-party approval add-on). We adapt to whichever ecosystem you already run.

Can we require supporting documentation?

Yes — the form can require a file upload (doctor's note, obituary, legal document) and only submit if the file is attached. The document gets stored alongside the request for audit.

What about partial-day or hourly time off?

Supported. The form captures start and end timestamps, and the AlayaCare write-back applies the block at hour-level granularity for shifts that overlap the requested window.

Let's put this to work for your team.

Book a 30-minute call. We'll walk through your current stack and show you exactly how we'd approach your situation.