Your worker's time-off or sick-time request: what you can do and who approves it

Last updated: October 6, 2026

Applies to: Staffing Partners whose workers are Ascen employees in the US or Canada. Independent contractors do not accrue paid time off or sick leave, so they have no time-off requests, and workers employed outside the US and Canada follow their in-country process instead.

Summary: Your worker can request time off from their own Ascen portal, and you can also submit a request for them from your account. Either way, Ascen reviews it and approves or rejects it, because we are the worker's employer of record and the decision is about whether the time is paid. You and the worker both receive an email with the decision. Scheduling and covering the shifts stay with you.

Submitting a request for your worker

Workers normally submit their own requests (see How to request time off). If your worker cannot, or asks you to, you can submit it for them:

  1. Open Time Off Requests from the menu and select Create a Time Off Request.

  2. Use Search Contractor to pick the worker.

  3. Choose a Time Off Reason (for example PTO or sick) and a Time Off Subreason. Once you pick a reason, the form shows the worker's balance: hours accrued, used, remaining, and available to use this year.

  4. Add a short Description, then add each day off with the number of hours for that day.

  5. Submit the request.

A few things the form will not accept:

  • A date more than 14 days in the past. For older days, email support@ascen.com with the worker's name, the dates and the hours.

  • A date that already has an approved request, or the same date twice in one request.

  • A worker without a live assignment. Requests can only be made against current work.

If you submit without attaching a document, the request shows Missing supporting documents. That status on its own does not mean the request will be rejected. If something more is needed before a decision, we will ask. When you do attach documents, add them all at once: once a set is attached it cannot be added to or replaced from your side, so email support@ascen.com if you need to send something else.

Who approves it, and what approval means

  • Ascen decides every request. Partners and clients cannot approve or reject time off, whatever their role on the account. Whether the time is paid depends on the leave rules that apply where the worker works, and that sits with us as the employer.

  • You and the worker are both told. When a request is approved or rejected, an email goes to the worker and to you. A rejection includes the reason.

  • Approved time is paid through payroll. Once a request is approved, the hours are included in the worker's next payroll.

  • Approval is about pay, not the schedule. It does not arrange cover for the shifts. The worker should still tell you and their on-site supervisor about days they will not be working, and coverage is for you and your client to arrange.

If a request was rejected

Start with the reason in the email, for example Time Off Request Rejected. A common one is simply a wrong date.

  • The dates or hours were wrong. A request cannot be edited once it has been decided. You or the worker can submit a new request with the correct details, and it will be reviewed in the usual way.

  • You or the worker think the decision is wrong. Email support@ascen.com with the worker's name, the dates, and why. Do not resubmit the same request unchanged.

Changing or cancelling a request

While a request is still Pending or Missing supporting documents, it can be edited: dates, hours, and description. Once it has been approved or rejected it is locked, and only Ascen can remove a request. Email support@ascen.com if a decided request needs to change. If the worker cannot enter their work hours because of a request, see I can't enter my hours because they overlap approved time off.

Checking balances

Besides the balance shown on the request form, the Contractor Accruals report shows PTO and sick leave balances across your workers. See Partner reports: what's available and how to run them. How time is earned is explained for workers in How PTO accrual and balances work and How paid sick leave works.

Before you act on an absence

In many states and cities, paid sick leave is a legal entitlement of employment, and the rules on how it can be used, what a worker can be asked about it, and how an employer may respond all vary by work location. See A worker on your assignment was paid for time they did not work: what paid sick leave is.

If you are thinking about ending an assignment, giving a warning, or taking any other step connected to a worker's absence, contact support@ascen.com before you act, so the employment side is handled correctly. See Who should I contact in the case of employee issues?.

Who to contact

  • Ascen, support@ascen.com: anything about a time-off request or a decision, balances and accruals, older dates the form will not take, and leave rules where your worker works.

  • You and your client: the schedule, and covering the shifts the worker will miss.

Related