Workflow Template
Flexible Work Request Workflow
Employees submit a flexible working arrangement request specifying the proposed arrangement, start date, business reason, and coverage plan. The manager reviews the impact and, for significant changes, HR also reviews. The manager then decides to approve, approve with changes, or decline. Approved requests are recorded with an arrangement summary and review date and the employee is notified; declined requests are closed out with a reason sent to the employee.
Flexible working requests often stall in email threads with no record of who approved what, or why. This workflow gives employees a structured way to submit an arrangement request with start date, business reason, and coverage plan, then routes it through manager review and, when the change is significant, HR review too. Managers make the final call to approve, approve with changes, or decline, and the outcome is logged with a review date and sent straight to the employee.
Business Outcomes
- Cuts request-to-decision time from weeks to days
- Creates a full audit trail of who reviewed and approved each request
- Removes email back-and-forth between employee, manager, and HR
- Ensures significant changes always get HR sign-off before approval
- Standardises arrangement summaries and review dates across the business
Workflow Steps
Steps
- 1Create Flex Work Request Recordcreate record
Registers the employee's flexible working request.
- 2Set Status: Submittedupdate record
Marks the request as submitted.
- 3Manager Impact Reviewcreate task
Manager reviews the operational impact of the proposed arrangement.
- 4Set Status: Under Manager Reviewupdate record
Updates status once manager review notes are captured.
- 5Is HR Review Required?
Routes significant changes to HR review before the manager decides.
significant_change: "true"→Set Status: Under HR ReviewDefault→Manager Final Decision - 6Set Status: Under HR Reviewupdate record
Marks the request as under HR review.
- 7HR Review of Significant Changecreate task
HR reviews significant changes to working arrangements for policy and compliance impact.
- 8Record HR Review Notesupdate record
Persists HR's review notes to the record.
- 9Manager Final Decisioncreate task
Manager makes the final decision on the flexible work request, incorporating HR feedback if applicable.
- 10Route on Manager Decision
Branches based on whether the request was approved, approved with changes, or declined.
manager_decision: "Approve"→Record Approved Arrangementmanager_decision: "Approve with Changes"→Record Approved Arrangementmanager_decision: "Decline"→Record Declined StatusDefault→End - 11Record Approved Arrangementupdate record
Saves the final arrangement summary, review date, and status on the record.
- 12Notify Employee of Approvalsend email
Emails the employee confirming the approved arrangement and review date.
- 13Record Declined Statusupdate record
Sets the record status to Declined and stores the decline reason.
- 14Notify Employee of Declinesend email
Emails the employee with the reason their request was declined.
Fields
- Employee Name*
- Employee Email*
- Proposed Working Arrangement*
- Proposed Start Date*
- Business Reason for Request*
- How Work Will Be Covered*
- +8 more fields
Forms
Flexible Working Arrangement Request
7 fields
Data Views
Flexible Work Requests
employee_name, proposed_start_date, request_status, review_date
Dashboard Widgets
Recommended integrations
Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.
Send email in the workflow
AWS SES
Similar Categories
FAQs
How do I set up this workflow for my team?
Publish the Flexible Working Arrangement Request template in assess.one and it's live immediately. There's no installation or setup project. You can start accepting employee requests the same day you publish it.
What do I need before I can launch this workflow?
You just need to confirm who your managers and HR reviewers are so you can assign them to the right steps. Everything else, including the request form, review steps, and notifications, comes ready to use in the template.
How long does implementation take?
Publishing takes minutes, not weeks. Once it's live, your team can submit and process real requests straight away, no separate rollout phase needed.
How does the workflow decide if HR review is required?
After the manager's impact review, the workflow includes a decision step asking whether HR review is required based on the significance of the change. If yes, it routes to HR for review and notes before returning to the manager for final decision. If no, it goes straight to the manager's final decision.
Can I customise the approval logic or steps?
Yes. You can edit what counts as a 'significant change,' add extra approval stages, or change who gets notified at each step, all directly inside assess.one. No developer or IT involvement needed.
Who needs access to this workflow?
Employees need access to submit requests, managers need access to review and decide, and HR needs access for the significant-change review step. You control these permissions inside assess.one when you publish the template.
What happens when a manager declines a request?
The workflow records the declined status along with the reason, then automatically notifies the employee. There's no manual step required to close out the request.
What gets recorded when a request is approved?
The workflow captures an arrangement summary and sets a review date, giving you a clear record for future check-ins. The employee is notified of the approval automatically once this is recorded.
Can managers approve with changes rather than a flat yes or no?
Yes, the final decision step supports approve, approve with changes, or decline. This lets managers adjust details like start date or coverage plan before the arrangement is finalised.
Is there an audit trail for compliance purposes?
Yes. Every status change, from submission through manager review, HR review, and final decision, is tracked in assess.one. This gives you a clear record for compliance or policy audits without extra manual documentation.
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