# Approve extra hours

Ask for a manager's approval of extra hours, read the extra hours of an attendance, then approve or refuse them from the Management list, one by one or several at a time.

When an attendance goes beyond what the employee's rules expect, the app computes its extra hours as soon as the attendance is saved. They are either approved at once, or they wait for a manager. Only approved hours count as **Validated Extra Hours**, the figure the reports and the time off bridge use.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- The setting needs the **Administrator** access right on **Attendances** and the right to manage the settings of the database.
- **Officer: Manage all attendances** approves the extra hours of every employee. **Officer: Manage attendances** approves those of the employees whose **Attendance** approver they are, on the employee's **Settings** tab.
- Extra hours come from the employee's ruleset: [Set up overtime rules](set-up-overtime-rules).

## Ask for a manager's approval {#setting}

1. Open **Attendances/Configuration/Settings**.
2. In **Extra Hours**, set **Extra Hours Validation** to **Approved by Manager** and click **Save**.

![Extra Hours Validation set to Approved by Manager and saved.](https://jaah.app/web/image/14521-3eb75f64/attendance-approve-extra-hours-validation_setting-en.png)

With **Automatically Approved**, the default, extra hours are validated as soon as they are computed and nobody needs to act. The choice applies to extra hours computed from now on; those already there keep their status.

## Read the extra hours of an attendance {#read}

Here, the demo employee Jessica Johnson worked from 10:00 to 12:00 on Sunday 25 October 2026, a day off. Once the attendance is saved, its form shows:

- the status **To Approve** at the top;
- **Worked Extra Hours**, the extra hours computed, and **Validated Extra Hours**, still 00:00, with two small buttons to approve or refuse them;
- the tab **Overtime Details**: one line per stretch of extra hours, with the **Applied Rules**, the **Extra Hours**, whether they are **Compensable as Time Off**, the **Overtime pay rate** and the status.

![Two hours worked on a Sunday, computed as extra hours that wait for approval.](https://jaah.app/web/image/14525-a922103b/attendance-approve-extra-hours-extra_hours_form-en.png)

## Approve or refuse {#approve}

1. Open **Attendances/Management**. The list shows the closed attendances whose extra hours are **To Approve**, for active employees.
2. Click **Approve** on a row, or **Refuse**.

![Management lists the attendances whose extra hours wait for approval.](https://jaah.app/web/image/14529-e88c6917/attendance-approve-extra-hours-to_approve_list-en.png)

To decide for several attendances at once, tick their rows: **Approve** and **Refuse** appear above the list.

3. An approved row leaves the list. To see it again, open the filters and add **Approved**: its **Validated Extra Hours** now equal the extra hours, and **Refuse** is still offered.

![Approved, the two hours are now validated; Refuse is still offered.](https://jaah.app/web/image/14533-aff762c4/attendance-approve-extra-hours-approved_list-en.png)

Refused extra hours stay on the attendance with the status **Refused** and count for nothing; **Approve** brings them back. The filter **Refused** lists them.

The list of **Attendances/Overview/Dashboard** offers the same choice for ticked rows, as **Approve Extra Hours** and **Refuse Extra Hours**.

## FAQ {#faq}

### Why are extra hours waiting again after a correction? {#again}

Changing the times of an attendance, or regenerating a ruleset, computes the extra hours of that day again; with **Approved by Manager**, they wait for approval again.

### Can I approve only part of the extra hours? {#part}

Approval works on the lines of **Overtime Details**: each line is approved or refused as a whole.

### Where do approved extra hours go? {#where}

They add up in **Validated Extra Hours** in [the reports](read-attendance-reports). Hours from a rule that gives them back as time off can be spent in the Time Off app: [How time off works](/docs/time-off/how-time-off-works).

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/attendance/approve-extra-hours
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Version: Attendances 19.0.2.0
- Verified: 2026-10-28