Correct or close a request

Use this guide when a submitted position request needs correction or should no longer continue. Its proposed values, effective dates, route, reason, files, and calculated impact remain fixed during review, with no Return, Revise, Reopen, or one-click Resubmit action.

Explain the issue, close the active request with the appropriate action, prepare current draft values, and submit a new request when review should begin again. Denial can restore submitted values as a draft starting point, while cancellation and invalidation do not.

Before you begin

The request’s current status and step determine which actions are available.

Know what can and cannot change

While a request is active, you can add appropriate context through Discussion. A comment does not alter the submitted proposal.

You cannot change:

• the request type;
• the position;
• submitted structural values;
• effective dates;
• the approval route;
• the organization-defined Reason;
• Justification;
• submitted files; or
• completed decisions.

This preserves exactly what each reviewer saw and decided.

Cancel an active request

Cancellation is appropriate when the active request should stop without a reviewer making an approval decision.

Choose the cancellation reason that matches what happened:

Add a useful note when it helps later readers understand the next step. A note is always required for Other.

Cancellation:

• changes the request to Cancelled;
• ends all remaining step work;
• preserves the submitted proposal, Discussion, and decisions;
• does not restore the submitted values as editable drafts;
• releases a new-position capacity reservation when applicable; and
• does not undo a separate approved position change that occurred outside the request.

Deny a request

Denial is the review decision that the submitted proposal should not be approved.

An approver assigned to the step that is ready selects Deny request and records a rationale when the decision form requires one. Denial:

• changes the request to Denied;
• closes all remaining step work;
• preserves the complete review record;
• returns submitted values as editable starting values when no newer draft already uses the same field and date;
• releases a new-position capacity reservation when applicable; and
• cannot be reopened or converted into an approval.

Understand invalidation

Invalidated is a final status used when the request can no longer proceed because required position information changed.

Invalidation preserves the request record but does not create an editable version. Review the history and current position, correct the underlying condition where appropriate, and start a new request if the business action is still needed.

Start a corrected request

After denial:

1. Open the current position.
2. Review current approved values, any returned draft values, and any newer draft work that was preserved.
3. Correct or complete the drafts deliberately.
4. Confirm every intended transition and effective date.

After cancellation or invalidation:

1. Open the current position.
2. Review the current approved values.
3. Prepare fresh draft values for every intended transition.

Then complete the new request:

1. Confirm the request type.
2. Choose the organization-defined Reason.
3. Write a current Justification.
4. Upload every required named file again.
5. Review the newly resolved route.
6. Select Request approval.

The new request starts at its first required step. Earlier approvals do not carry forward.

The new request does not automatically copy:

• files;
• Reason or Justification;
• Discussion;
• prior decisions;
• the earlier route; or
• the earlier request number.

Link or mention the earlier request only when your organization’s process calls for it and the new record remains understandable on its own.

If approved position information changed

An authorized change, including an import, can update approved position information while a request remains active. It does not edit the submitted request.

Reviewers see a warning and must review the current approved information before approval. If the submitted proposal needs correction, cancel with Changes required and build a new one from the current approved position. Use denial for a substantive rejection.

The request does not automatically update to match the changed position. Review the current position before preparing a new request.

After approval

An Approved request cannot be cancelled or denied. Its approval decision is complete. Check its application status: a forecast request may still await application of its forecast group, and an applied change may have a future effective date.

If a later business decision changes the approved position again, use the normal position editor and submit a new request where approval is required. Do not treat the completed request as editable.

After approval, review any missing staffing or financial information in Issues. Each issue explains the problem and offers correction links when you have the required access.

Administrative cancellation coverage

An administrator needs the Administer active approval requests and View positions permissions for every affected department on every submitted date, including the source and destination of a transfer. The requester can still cancel their own active request. Cancellation closes the original outright; a new submission receives a new request number, current validation, and a fresh approval route.

After denial, review any returned draft values alongside newer work. An older denied value does not overwrite a newer draft at the same field and date. Confirm the intended values before a new submission. A denied request cannot be reopened; denial is not a temporary return for editing.