You can access the Absences & Appointments page via the menu item of the same name in the main menu. Here, employees record and manage their absences directly in the calendar – from simple planning to approval requests.
Calendar View
The current month is shown by default. Use the arrow icons or the calendar icon to navigate to a different period; the view can be switched between Month, Week, and Day.
On the left, all reasons for absence are listed in their configured color, along with the holiday calendars. A colored circle means the entry is visible; an empty circle hides it. Click on the name to show or hide individual reasons for absence or holiday calendars as needed.
Below the reason-for-absence list, the calendar shows at a glance:
Annual Leave for the current fiscal year, including planned absences and residual holiday
Annual Leave for the following year
Current overtime balance (visible depending on settings)
Planned absences requiring approval and the status of a pending request
In the calendar you see absence requests from the previous month onwards. For a larger period, go to Reports > My Reports > Absence Requests. The number of days (with date) and the current request status are displayed:
Requested – white
Approved – green
Rejected – red
Withdrawn – white with greyed-out text
Under Planned Absences you see the planned (not yet requested) absences for the current year. Only planned absences from months that have not yet been closed are taken into account. Planned absences in a closed month are ignored – delete such entries, as they will no longer be processed.
Administrators and Department Managers can approve or delete absences directly from this view. The relevant employee is automatically informed by email upon approval.
Recording Absences
Creating an Absence
Click on a date in the calendar and select New Absence, or click + Absence in the toolbar. The form contains the following fields:
Period: From and to date. If the period spans more than two months, a confirmation prompt appears.
Reason for absence: Pre-filled with the last used reason for absence. Only reasons for absence for which “Every employee may record themselves” is activated are available for selection.
Absence duration: Full day, 50 % of Regular Working Hours, or Time (with from/to time and optional time zone). The options available depend on the configuration of the respective reason for absence.
Remark: Optional free text for personal notes or comments to the supervisor.
Additionally, a second reason for absence per day can be entered – e.g., half day’s leave and half day’s flextime. No absences can be entered on Saturdays, Sundays, or public holidays.
Reasons for absence that require approval are highlighted with a colored border in the form. Once a request has been submitted, the calendar entry is displayed hatched – it only appears in the full absence color after approval.
To save without a request, click Save. For a reason for absence requiring approval, Save and submit also appears, which saves the absence and starts the approval process (see next section).
Note: Administrators and Department Managers additionally see the Approved checkbox. This allows an absence requiring approval to be marked as approved directly when creating it, without having to submit a separate request. Depending on the authorization level, employees may also approve their own absences.
Requesting and Approving Absences
Via Save and submit, the request form opens. There you can:
Select absences: All pending absences requiring approval are available for selection. Past absences are pre-selected.
Remark: Free text that appears in the request email (default text is configurable in the basic settings).
Attachment: Optional file attachments for the email (e.g., medical certificate or confirmation).
Depending on the settings in the basic settings, To, CC, and BCC of the request email are also visible and editable. Then click Send.
Note: An absence request can only be approved, rejected, or withdrawn as a whole. If only individual absences from a request are to be approved, the request must first be withdrawn (by the employee) or rejected (by an administrator) and a new request submitted with the desired absences.
Administrators and Department Managers open a pending request by clicking on the hatched entry in the calendar and opening the edit link. The following actions are available:
Approve: The entry is displayed in full (no longer hatched); the employee receives a notification email.
Reject: The request is rejected; the employee can submit a new request.
Withdraw request: The employee can withdraw a request that has not yet been decided.
An optional remark can be added for each status change, which appears in the notification email.
An overview of all requests can be found under Reports > My Reports > Absence Requests (own) or under Reports > Employees > Absence Requests (all employees; for administrators and controllers only).
Editing and Deleting an Absence
Click on an entry in the calendar to open it. Period, reason for absence, absence duration, and remark can be changed; via Delete, the entry is removed up to and including the to-date.
Entries in closed months are read-only. If only part of the period falls within a closed month, a notice appears; the locked part can be separated using the Split period function.
Splitting a Period
For a multi-day entry, the scissors icon Split period appears in the edit form. This splits the period into individual days – useful if you want to delete just one day or enter a different reason for absence for one day.
If the Month-End Closing lock falls within the period, the absence is split exactly at the lock boundary into two parts (not into individual days).
Calendar Sharing
Calendar sharing is used to map deputy arrangements or team views – for example, an assistant can view and manage the absences of management.
Viewing Shared Calendars
Under Shared in the left panel, all employees whose calendars have been shared with you are listed. Click on a name or the circle to show or hide that employee’s entries. To change the display color, hover over the name and click the pencil icon.
Note: Calendars of departed employees without a future employment period are no longer shown in the sharing list.
Managing Shares
Click on Settings to go to your profile in the Calendar section. There you manage existing shares and find instructions for integrating your ZEP calendar into external calendar clients such as Outlook or iOS.
Calendar Settings
Right-click on a reason for absence or calendar in the left legend and select Settings to customize color and visibility individually.
Note: A changed time zone only takes effect after logging out of and back into ZEP.
Central Recording by Administrators
Administrators and Department Managers can enter absences directly for other employees. Access is via Employees > [Employee Name] > Administration > Calendar.
The interface is identical to the personal calendar page. Unlike self-recording, central recording makes all reasons for absence available for selection – regardless of whether “Every employee may record themselves” is activated for the respective reason for absence.