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Product / HR & Attendance

Cleaning staff attendance software for holiday, sickness and leave

Operatives request leave and clock in for their shift from the phone. Admins approve requests on the web or mobile, and the moment it’s approved it’s live on the schedule, so you physically can’t book someone who’s off. Approved hours and absence flow straight into cleaning company payroll software, ready for the next payroll run.

Request Holiday
Heidi Carter
Start date
Mon, 27 Apr 2026
End date
Fri, 01 May 2026
Notes
Family week away
Working days 5.0 days
Submit Request
1–tap approval
Requested holidays
2 pending
Heidi Carter
27 Apr – 1 May · 5.0 days
Approve
Casey Reid
12 May · 1.0 day
Review
01 · MOBILE REQUEST

Request leave from your pocket

Every operative has the Xota app. Two taps to raise a holiday request, with a start date, end date and optional note. Xota calculates working days automatically (weekends skipped) and the status shows as Requested until an admin acts on it.

  • Simple form of start, end and notes, nothing else to fill in
  • Working days calculated automatically, weekends skipped
  • Edit or cancel a request before it’s approved
  • Status updates push live, so there’s no chasing the office
Request Holiday
Heidi Carter
Start date
Mon, 27 Apr 2026
End date
Fri, 01 May 2026
Notes
Family week away
Working days
5.0 days
Remaining
18.0 days
Submit Request
02 · ONE-TAP APPROVAL

Admins approve on desktop or mobile

Every new request lands in the Requested queue. Click a row to approve or reject. Balance deducts automatically on approval. Admins on the road can approve from the mobile app with the same single tap.

  • Three tabs: Requested · Approved · Rejected
  • Approving auto-deducts from the team member’s balance
  • Overlap warnings if someone else is already off on the same dates
  • Admin mobile app mirrors the approval flow, so no desktop is needed
The operative sees “Approved” on their phone in real time.
Absences Type: All
+ Add absence
Requested (3)
Approved (14)
Rejected (0)
Team member Type Dates Days
HC Heidi Carter
Holiday
27 Apr – 1 May
5.0d
Approve
CR Casey Reid
Holiday
12 May
1.0d
Review
MC Maya Collins
Holiday
28 Apr – 29 Apr
2.0d
Review
Overlap: Heidi (27 Apr – 1 May) and Maya (28–29 Apr) both requested time off the same week.
03 · ALLOWANCE

Everyone knows what’s left

Balance is live on every screen. Operatives see Remaining · Used · Total the moment they open the app. Admins see the same figure on every team member row in HR. Every approval deducts, every rejection returns it.

  • Track in days or hours (per team member)
  • Full ledger of every debit and credit, with date and description
  • Admin can add manual credits for TOIL or extra days
  • Year-view history grouped by month
My Leave
2026
18.0
days remaining
7.0
Used
25.0
Total
Recent
Holiday
27 Apr – 1 May · 5.0d
Requested
Sickness
08 Apr · 1.0d
Sick
Holiday
15–19 Feb · 5.0d
Approved
04 · SICKNESS & OTHER

Sickness logged the moment someone calls in

Three absence types: Holiday, Sickness, Other. Sickness auto-approves, so there’s no back-and-forth when the work needs reassigning. Admins can backdate entries and add notes. Everything flows through the same approval queue.

  • Sickness is instantly on the calendar, no approval needed
  • Backdate sickness for the day of the call, not when you got to admin
  • Paid / unpaid flag for each entry
  • Other covers bereavement, compassionate leave, appointments
Add absence
Team member
Jordan Patel
Type
Holiday
Sickness
Other
Start date
Mon, 13 Apr
End date
Mon, 13 Apr
Notes
Called in at 7am, covering at Harbour Clinic
Auto-approved (sickness)
05 · ON THE SCHEDULE

Every absence lands on the same canvas as bookings

The moment an absence is approved, it’s rendered on the Schedule calendar alongside bookings, travel time and bank holidays. You physically can’t double-book someone who’s off. Overlaps trigger a warning before you approve.

No separate HR tool. No missed overlap. Absence lives where the work does.
Week 18
27 Apr – 1 May
Team
MonApr 27
TueApr 28
WedApr 29
ThuApr 30
H
Heidi
Operative
Holiday Approved
Holiday Approved
Holiday Approved
Holiday Approved
M
Maya
Operative
08:00–10:00 Cityline HQ General
Holiday Approved
Holiday Approved
09:00–11:30 Weston Hall General
J
Jordan
Operative
Sick Called in 7am
10:30–12:00 Cityline HQ Compliance
13:00–15:00 Riverside Compliance
2 team members off Tue and Wed, so consider rescheduling Maya’s Riverside booking.

Working-day maths, done

Xota skips weekends automatically when counting days taken. A Friday-to-Monday break is 2 working days, not 4.

Overlap warnings

Approving holiday? Xota flags anyone else off the same days so you don’t end up with half a team missing.

Manual balance credits

Add or remove days for any team member: TOIL, carry-over or a one-off bonus. Every adjustment stays on the ledger.

HR that closes the loop

Mobile-first request

Two taps from the home screen. No email, no forms, no paper.

One-tap approval

Approve from web or mobile. Balance deducts automatically.

On the schedule canvas

Approved absence renders inline. You can’t book someone who’s off.

Explore the rest of Xota

Cleaning staff HR & attendance FAQs

Straight answers to the questions UK cleaning businesses ask about holiday, absence and clocking in.

What is cleaning staff attendance software?

Cleaning staff attendance software tracks when cleaners start and finish work, alongside their holiday and sickness, so admins are not reconstructing hours from memory or a paper sign-in sheet. Xota's cleaning staff attendance software captures clock-ins on the mobile app and holiday and absence approvals on the web or mobile, then feeds all of it straight into built-in payroll calculation.

How do holiday entitlements and policies work?

Every team member has a holiday entitlement tracked in days or hours, with a full ledger of every debit and credit. Xota calculates working days automatically, skipping weekends, so a request never needs manual maths. Balances update live for both the operative and the admin the moment a request is approved or rejected.

How do cleaners clock in and out on site?

Cleaners use the Xota mobile app to clock in and out against their booking on site, alongside their checklist and photo proof of work. There is no separate timesheet to fill in afterwards because the clocked time is attached to the booking it belongs to.

How does absence and travel time feed into payroll?

Approved absence and travel time sit on the same schedule as bookings, so Xota pulls them into the payroll run automatically alongside worked hours, with the correct hourly rate resolved per person. Payroll runs and entries are calculated and viewed in-app. There is no CSV or accounting export.

How does Xota handle bank holidays and the working week?

UK bank holidays import automatically from gov.uk onto the schedule, so admins do not have to add them by hand each year. Working days are calculated from each cleaner's working week, skipping weekends by default, so holiday and absence deductions are always accurate.

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