---
title: "How do I stop approvers from approving their own leave?"
space: "Frappe HR"
url: "https://docs.frappe.io/hr/leave-management/help-articles/how-do-i-stop-approvers-from-approving-their-own-leave"
updated: "2026-10-23"
---

A manager who has the **Leave Approver** role can approve and submit their own Leave Application. To stop this, turn on **Prevent self-approval for leaves, even if the user has permissions** in **HR Settings**. After that, the leave goes to the manager's own approver.

## Who sees this

You see this when an employee is also a leave approver. For example, a team lead approves leave for their team. The team lead applies for leave, opens the Leave Application, sets **Status** to **Approved,** and clicks **Submit**. Their own manager never sees the request.

![](/files/image8603f7.webp)

## Why this happens

Frappe HR controls the Leave Application with roles. The **Leave Approver**, **HR User** and **HR Manager** roles can change the **Status** of a Leave Application and submit it. A role applies to every Leave Application the user can open, including their own.

The **Leave Approver** field on the Leave Application only says who gets the notification. It does not stop another user with the role from approving.

For example, at Bluepeak Technologies, Arjun Reddy is a Senior Developer. He approves leave for Sneha Iyer in his team, so he has the **Leave Approver** role. His own leave approver is Vikram Desai, the HR Manager. Arjun applies for 2 days of Casual Leave. Because he has the role, he can approve his own request.

## How to fix it

### Step 1: Set the leave approver for each employee

The leave must go to someone else. Set the employee's own approver first.

1. Go to **HR Setup → Employee** and open the employee. In the example, open **Arjun Reddy**.
2. Click the **Attendance & Leaves** tab.
3. In **Leave Approver**, select the user who approves this employee's leave. In the example, select [**vikram.desai@example.com**](mailto:vikram.desai@example.com).
4. Click **Save**.

![](/files/image3e1357.webp)

You can also set leave approvers for a whole department in the **Department** form, in the **Leave Approver** table. The approver on the Employee form wins over the department approver. For all the ways to set an approver, see [Setting Employee Wise Leave Approver](https://docs.frappe.io/hr/leave-management/help-articles/setting-employee-wise-leave-approver).

### Step 2: Turn on the HR Settings option

You need the **HR Manager** or **System Manager** role for this step.

1. Go to **HR Setup → Settings**. The **HR Settings** form opens.
2. Click the **Leaves** tab.
3. Select **Prevent self-approval for leaves even if the user has permissions**.
4. Click **Save**.

![](/files/image83fac9.webp)

The setting applies to all users, including HR Managers and System Managers, for their own leave.

## After applying the fix

When the approver opens their own Leave Application, the **Status** field is read-only. The **Submit** button is not shown. The employee can only **Save** the request.

![](/files/image13bbca.webp)

If the employee changes the status another way, for example through the API or a data import, the system stops it with this message:

![](/files/05-self-approval-error.webp)

## If you use a workflow on Leave Application

If your site has an active **Workflow** for **Leave Application**, the system ignores the HR Settings option. The workflow controls who can approve. Do this in the workflow instead:

1. Search for **Workflow** in the search bar and open the workflow for **Leave Application**.
2. In the **Transitions** table, open each row that approves or rejects the leave.
3. Clear **Allow Self Approval**.
4. Click **Save**.

**Allow Self Approval** off means that the user who created the document cannot do that transition.

Other leave documents, for example, **Compensatory Leave Request**, do not use the HR Settings option. To stop self-approval on them, use a workflow with **Allow Self Approval** cleared.

## Related

- [Setting Employee Wise Leave Approver](https://docs.frappe.io/hr/leave-management/help-articles/setting-employee-wise-leave-approver)
- [Leave Application](https://docs.frappe.io/hr/leave-application)
- [HR Settings](https://docs.frappe.io/hr/hr-settings)
- [Workflows](https://docs.frappe.io/erpnext/user/manual/en/workflows)
- [Compensatory Leave Request](https://docs.frappe.io/hr/compensatory-leave-request)