Sync absences with Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar

Table of contents:

When to use this feature
How to set up the calendar integration
Configure which absences sync to calendars
How calendar events are created
Edit or disconnect the integration
Important information
 

Automatically block your calendar when absences are approved in Leapsome by integrating with Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 Outlook Calendar. Approved absences will appear as busy events in employees' primary calendars, preventing colleagues from scheduling meetings during time off and reducing scheduling conflicts.

When to use this feature

Use the Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar integration to:

• Automatically block calendar time when absences are approved, showing busy status
• Prevent colleagues from booking meetings during approved time off
• Eliminate manual calendar updates when requesting absences
• Ensure calendar events are always synchronized with Leapsome absence data
• Meet privacy requirements by controlling which absence types sync to calendars

Difference from ICS calendar sync: This integration creates busy events that block your calendar, while the ICS link provides a one-way subscription view of absences. The Google/Outlook integration is the recommended approach for blocking calendar availability.

How to set up the calendar integration

Prerequisites

• You must be a super-admin in both Leapsome and Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
• For Google: Google Workspace domain administrator access
• For Microsoft 365: Azure AD tenant with administrative privileges

Authorize the Google Calendar integration

1. Navigate to 'Settings' > 'Integrations and imports'
2. Click 'Add Calendar' > 'Add Google Calendar'
3. Click 'Authorize' to start the OAuth flow
4. Follow the prompts to grant Leapsome permission to access Google Calendar for your entire domain
5. Once authorized, the integration status will change to 'Active'
6. The 'Absences' checkbox will appear and is checked by default

Authorize the Outlook Calendar integration

1. Navigate to 'Settings' > 'Integrations and imports'
2. Click 'Add Calendar' > 'Add Microsoft 365 Calendar'
3. Click 'Authorize' to start the OAuth flow
4. Follow the prompts to grant Leapsome permission to access Outlook Calendar for your entire domain
5. Once authorized, the integration status will change to 'Active'
6. The 'Absences' checkbox will appear and is checked by default

Please note: The authorization only needs to be completed once for your entire domain. After authorization, all employees' primary calendars will be connected without individual action required.

Configure which absences sync to calendars

Control absence policy sync settings

Once the calendar integration is active, you can control which absence policies sync to calendars:

1. Navigate to 'Absences' > 'Absence policies'
2. Select an absence policy
3. Go to the 'Visibility' tab
4. Look for the 'Sync to Google Calendar' or 'Sync to Microsoft 365 Calendar' checkbox
5. Check or uncheck the box to include or exclude this policy from calendar sync

Default settings:

• Checked by default: All absence policies except those with absence type 'Remote work'
• Unchecked by default: All absence policies with absence type 'Remote work'
• New policies: Automatically included in sync when created

Visibility warnings

When configuring absence policy sync settings, you may see warnings based on your visibility settings:

If 'Who can see that the employee is absent?' does not have 'Everyone' selected:

• Warning: "Absence won't be included in the calendar sync. Please adjust visibility setting."
• The absence will be excluded from the calendar sync regardless of sync checkbox setting

If 'Who can see the type of absence?' does not have 'Everyone' selected:

• Warning: "Absence will be included in the calendar sync but without showing the absence type in the calendar event."
• The calendar event will display as 'Employee name: OOO' instead of showing the specific absence type

How calendar events are created

What syncs to calendars

• Sync scope: All employees in your company
• Approval status: Only approved absences sync to calendars
• Initial sync: Only future absences are included in the first sync
• Target calendar: Synced to each employee's primary calendar

Calendar event details

Event title:

• If visibility setting 'Who can see the type of absence?' has 'Everyone' selected: 'Employee name: Absence type'
• If 'Everyone' is not selected: 'Employee name: OOO'

Event timing:

• Multiple-day absences: Appear as all-day events at the top of the calendar
• One-day absences: Appear as all-day events at the top of the calendar
• Half-day absences:
  • Uses work schedule times if configured (midnight to mid-day or mid-day to midnight)
  • Otherwise defaults to 00:00-12:59 or 13:00-23:59
• Hourly absences: Exact hours are blocked based on the absence duration

Event status:

• Status: Busy (blocks calendar availability)
• Transparency: Opaque
• Visibility: Default (uses the default visibility for events of the calendar)

Event description: Contains a link to the absence in Leapsome

Edit or disconnect the integration

Update calendar sync settings

To change which absence policies sync to calendars:

1. Update the 'Sync to Google Calendar' or 'Sync to Microsoft 365 Calendar' checkbox in the absence policy visibility settings
2. Changes apply immediately to new absences
3. Click 'Update calendar settings' to update or remove existing calendar events to match the new settings

Disconnect the integration

1. Navigate to 'Settings' > 'Integrations and imports'
2. Find the Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 Calendar integration
3. Click 'Disconnect'
4. Confirm in the modal that appears
5. The system will immediately stop creating new calendar events and queue deletions for future-dated events

Please note: If an underlying absence policy is deleted, the system will immediately stop creating new calendar events for that policy and queue deletions for future-dated events.

Important information

Sync timing: Calendar events are created within one minute of absence approval. Changes to absences in Leapsome update the corresponding calendar event automatically.

One-way sync: Changes must be made in Leapsome. If you edit an absence event directly in your calendar, the changes will not sync back to Leapsome. However, you can customize calendar event details in your external calendar without affecting the absence data in Leapsome.

Source of truth: Leapsome is the source of truth for absence data. Always manage absences in Leapsome to ensure accurate calendar synchronization.

Privacy compliance: Control which absence types sync by configuring the sync checkbox for each absence policy, allowing you to meet organizational privacy requirements.