Hi everyone
I’m trying to set up an automated workflow for employee time off requests. My goal is to have employees submit leave requests through a form, automatically update our shared calendar, and send notifications to our team Slack channel.
Here’s what I need help with:
- Which form platform works best for automatically creating calendar events in Google Calendar when someone submits time off?
- What’s the best way to link Google Calendar updates to post messages in a specific Slack channel? Right now our leave events only show in the Google Calendar app without any Slack integration.
- Can I accomplish this workflow using Zapier’s free plan or do I need a paid subscription?
I want the Slack notifications to go out regularly during weekdays to keep everyone informed about upcoming absences. Any suggestions or experience with similar setups would be really helpful.
zapier’s solid for this, just watch those task limits. i switched to microsoft forms over google forms - works just as well and often faster. pro tip: set up proper date formatting so your slack messages don’t look like garbage. also, add an approval step before hitting the calendar. otherwise fake requests go straight through.
I’ve been using a similar system for around eight months, and it’s been very effective. I recommend using TypeForm or JotForm because both integrate well with Zapier and allow for easy customization of leave types. Once the field mapping is done, connecting to Google Calendar is straightforward. For Slack, I suggest creating a specific channel for leave notifications and using Zapier to send a message whenever new calendar events are created. Just be aware that formatting the Slack message can be tricky to ensure all details are clear. Regarding the free plan, it’s quite limited—only 100 tasks per month and two-step workflows, whereas you’ll need at least three steps for this setup. I upgraded to the Starter plan, which works perfectly for our 25-person team.
We did something similar last year with Google Forms and Zapier. Google Forms is free and connects easily to Google Calendar through Zapier triggers. For Slack, you’ll need a multi-step zap - create the calendar event first, then use that data to format a Slack message with the employee’s name, dates, and leave type. Pro tip: add a filter step to avoid duplicate notifications when events get updated instead of created. The free Zapier plan won’t cut it since you need at least three steps. We’re on the Professional plan and it handles our 40-person team just fine. The automated daily digest has been a game-changer for managers.