Overview

Review a request by comparing the submitted Reason, values, effective dates, available Justification, files, and impact before recording a decision. Only an approver assigned to the current stage can respond through the normal decision action.

The requester cannot decide their own request.

Access needed

Activity Access needed
Open an active assigned request Assignment to any stage in that request, or current position access
Open a closed request The person who submitted it or someone with current position access; an earlier approver assignment alone is not enough
Approve or deny normally Assignment to the current stage
View protected request information, comments, and files Current Position access and View sensitive workforce data for the complete request
Open a named file labeled All request reviewers Access to review the active request
Review administrative attention, act on behalf, or override Administer active approval requests plus current Position access to the request department; the requester cannot administer their own request

An assigned approver can participate in the request without receiving general access to edit the position.

Open work needing your review

Open the request from:

  • Home.
  • My approvals > Ready now.
  • Administrative approvals > Needs attention when you are an approval administrator investigating unavailable, overdue, or file-blocked work.
  • Administrative approvals > Available when you are ready to record a decision for an approver assigned to the current stage.
  • A request email.

If the work is not listed, check whether another approver already completed the stage, the request closed, your assignment changed, or you are in a different organization.

The approval list updates immediately even when approval email is delayed, combined into a summary, unavailable, or turned off.

Choose approval email

Open Profile > Notifications while you are in the organization. For Requests needing my action, choose Immediately, Daily summary, or In FTE Tree only.

Daily summary combines new assignments and reminders that become due into one email after your selected time in your home time zone. It sends nothing when no assignment or reminder is new or due. The separate Comment digest schedule does not control approval summaries.

These choices change email only. They do not remove an assignment, change a reminder date, or change the request. Always use the approval list to see current work.

Review before deciding

Confirm:

  1. The request type and position.
  2. The selected Reason, which is visible to every current request viewer.
  3. The sensitive Justification, when one was provided and your access permits it.
  4. Every requested value and its effective date.
  5. Operating-budget and proposed impact.
  6. Every file available to you after its safety check finishes.
  7. Earlier stage decisions and request comments.
  8. Whether the request still reflects current approved information.

Do not rely only on an email summary. Open the request to review all submitted information.

Sensitive information and files

Request visibility does not automatically reveal protected information. The selected Reason remains visible with the request shell. FTE Tree shows Justification, exact pay and costs, requested values, comments, decision explanations, and protected files only when your current position access and sensitive data access cover every part of the submitted request. Otherwise, protected information shows Restricted, comments are unavailable, and file names and instructions are not shown. A pay grade name may remain visible while its minimum, midpoint, maximum, and the position’s placement within that range stay restricted.

The ability to record a decision does not add View sensitive workforce data. If protected information is necessary for your decision and you cannot see it, do not approve on incomplete information. Ask an approval administrator to use an authorized person with the required access, or deny the request when the submitted evidence is not sufficient.

Named files show the audience saved when the request was submitted. A file labeled All request reviewers can be opened by anyone who can review the active request. A file labeled Sensitive access required, and every additional file, requires complete current Position access and View sensitive workforce data. When you do not have that access, protected file details remain hidden. See Set up requester files for the administrator-facing audience rules.

Choose a decision

At each active stage, any one assigned approver for the request’s department can decide the stage. When one person acts, the other assigned approvers no longer need to act. There is no setting to require every assigned approver or unanimous agreement.

That approver can choose:

  • Approve: Completes the current stage. If another stage remains, that stage becomes active; approval at the last stage applies the complete request.
  • Deny: Closes the complete request as Denied. The submitted request remains available as read-only history. If the change is still needed, the user enters the current values and creates a separate new request.

Your organization can require comments for approvals, denials, both, or neither. The requirement saved with the submitted request continues to apply even if an administrator changes the setting later. Add a useful explanation whenever it will help the requester understand the decision.

An intermediate approval never applies only part of the requested position information.

Approve a request

  1. Open the assigned request.
  2. Select the decision action.
  3. Review the submitted information again.
  4. Choose Approve.
  5. Add a decision explanation when required or useful.
  6. Confirm.

Calculation updates do not cancel or invalidate a pending request. The submitted field value and Effective date remain the approval decision, and FTE Tree prevents a conflicting change to that field from taking effect before the request is decided.

Approval cannot complete while any submitted file is pending, failed, infected, unsupported, or missing a current safety check. Denial remains available. If corrected evidence is needed later, the requester provides it in a complete new request.

Act on behalf of an approver

Open Administrative approvals > Available, or use Respond for in Needs attention. Select the approver assigned to the current stage whose decision you are recording, then choose Approve or Deny request.

The request records both the assigned approver and the person who acted. The original approver remains part of the request; the action does not replace them or change the saved review path. If their membership and account are still active, they receive a message in FTE Tree identifying the response recorded for them.

The same organization comment setting for the selected outcome applies to direct decisions and decisions recorded for another approver. There is no separate required explanation for acting on another approver’s behalf. Add the business reason that supports the decision whenever the field is optional, and never record a response without authorization from the approver whose decision you are recording.

Record the business explanation needed for the decision. The explanation is protected under the same access rule as the rest of the request.

Recording a decision for another approver does not grant broader position or sensitive data access. Approval remains unavailable until every submitted file passes its security check. Denial remains available when the request should close.

Needs attention highlights approval work that may require an administrator. It does not select a replacement reviewer or change the review stages saved with the request.

Override a request

Open an active request and choose Override request when the organization has authorized an exceptional decision that should skip the remaining review path. Choose Approve request or Deny request and enter the required reason.

The override records the administrator’s own decision rather than a response for one assigned approver. It closes every remaining stage and keeps the administrator, outcome, and reason in the request history. An approve override remains unavailable until every submitted file passes its safety check; a deny override remains available.

Use override for an exceptional administrative decision, not routine approver absence. A requester cannot override their own request. FTE Tree checks access and request status again when the decision is submitted. If your access changed or the request closed after you opened the page, the decision will not go through.

Choose the administrative response

Situation Use
An approver assigned to the current stage has given a decision but cannot enter it Record the response for that exact approver.
A stage has reached its reminder interval Confirm the business decision first. Elapsed time alone is not permission to approve or deny.
A file safety check is still running Wait for it to finish. Open the request for current details.
A file check failed or the submitted evidence is not sufficient Deny the request when it should close. Corrected evidence belongs in a complete new request.
The organization authorizes an exceptional decision that skips all remaining stages Use Override request and record the required reason.

Common questions

Why can I no longer open a request I approved?

An approver assignment provides access while the request is active. After it closes, the requester and people with current position access can still review it, but the earlier assignment by itself does not provide permanent access.

Why can I open a request but not decide it?

You may have position access without being assigned to the current stage, another approver may have completed the stage, or the request may already be closed.

Does every assigned approver need to approve?

No. Any one assigned approver for the request’s department can decide the current stage. After one person acts, the other assigned approvers no longer need to act. FTE Tree does not offer an all-approvers or unanimous approval setting.

Why does information show as Restricted?

Your current Position access and View sensitive workforce data must cover every part of the submitted request. Request assignment or approval-administration access alone does not reveal protected request information.