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Cancel a leave request

Quick answer

  • Open the approved request under your time off requests and click Cancel.
  • Add a comment explaining why, then Submit the cancellation.
  • Requests whose start date is further in the past than your school's cancellation window cannot be cancelled.

You can cancel leave you no longer intend to take, and the days go back to your balance. There is a limit on how far back you can go — old leave is locked so that previous periods cannot be reopened.

  1. Find the request

    Open your time off requests and select the approved request you want to cancel.

    The list of approved time off requests in ESS

  2. Click Cancel

    Click Cancel on the request.

  3. Add a comment

    Depending on the leave type and duration, you may have to record why you are cancelling — for example, No longer taking this leave, please cancel. Your approver receives the comment with the cancellation.

  4. Submit the cancellation

    Click Submit. The cancellation request appears against the original leave and follows the approval workflow.

  5. If the cancellation is refused

    If the leave is too old to cancel, you see a message such as Cancellation is not permitted because this request is 16 days old, and the request stays as it is.

    The window is measured from the start date of the leave, not from the date you submitted it, and the number of days is set by your school. If you need to reverse leave outside the window, contact your HR team.