Holiday and rota

Holiday and rota in one system, not two

The most common planning mistake does not happen while planning, it happens between two programs: the holiday is approved and the rota knows nothing about it. With both in the same system, the approved absence is visible in the plan before anybody fills the shift.

  • Approved holiday blocks the shift, with nobody having to say so
  • Remaining holiday and the expiry date in view, per person
  • One calendar for absence and the plan, on the phone too

Last checked on4. September 2026

What gets lost between two programs

The holiday request runs through a form or a list, and the rota comes about in another file. Between the two stands a person who has to remember. That is exactly where the mistakes arise that get expensive later: the shift filled on the first day of holiday, the holiday approved twice in the same week, the remaining days that lapse in March because nobody saw them.

That is not a problem of care but a problem of structure. Two sources for the same question always drift apart eventually.

What changes when both live together

An approved request is visible in the plan as soon as it is approved. Anyone filling the shift sees the absence in the same place they are planning. The conflict check fires before the plan is published.

And the other direction comes with it: the remaining holiday per person sits where the decision is made, together with the deadline by which it has to be taken. Anyone planning in November sees who still has days to use up before the year ends.

  • Ten absence types are prepared, from holiday to special leave.
  • Approval rules run automatically, with cover.
  • The team calendar shows who is away and when, without anyone having to ask.
  • A warning before remaining holiday expires, thirty days ahead.

Where the limit is

MetronHR does not produce the rota itself. There is no automation that computes a finished plan from demand, qualifications and preferences. Planning is done by hand, and the software checks along: overlaps, approved absences, eleven hours of rest, the daily and weekly maximum, plus the tighter limits for apprentices under 18 and for pregnant employees.

Anyone needing planning automation for complex collective-agreement and qualification rules, in a hospital or an ambulance service for example, will find it with providers specialising in that. For businesses between five and a hundred employees, what is usually missing is the conflict check, not the algorithm.

Frequent questions

What we are asked most often about Holiday and rota.

The absence is visible in the plan, and the conflict check reports the contradiction as soon as somebody schedules that person anyway. Scheduling is not blocked: there are cases where somebody steps in voluntarily, and the software does not decide that in the business's place.

Yes, in the app or in the browser. The request goes to the person responsible, the decision comes back as a notification, and the remaining holiday updates. Team leads can also enter absences for the people who report to them.

The carry-over is calculated by the stored rule; the usual deadline is 31 March. MetronHR warns thirty days before the expiry. Importantly: under the case law of the Federal Labour Court, remaining holiday expires only if the employer has individually asked beforehand and warned about the expiry (Federal Labour Court, 19.02.2019, 9 AZR 541/15).

The team calendar shows the absence, not its reason. Whether an absence appears as holiday or only as "away" depends on the role and on the setting in the business. Reasons for illness appear nowhere.

Not for absence management, which belongs to the Team plan. Shift and duty planning belong to the Professional plan. So anyone wanting both together is looking at 10 € per person a month.

Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.

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