The absence has already been used in a closed payslip and cannot be changed

Symptom

You want to change an absence that is already approved, revert it or delete it, and fiscaldoo refuses. The absence went into a validated or paid payslip, so it has already had an effect on the salary.

Message

Seen on the 2026 absences of Empresa Demonstração, Lda, with the payslips for those months already paid.

When saving a change (for example in Proof delivered on) or clicking Back to approval, with the HR manager profile:

“The absence of “Gabriela Sousa Reis” was used in a closed payslip and cannot be changed. What happened: what was paid is corrected, never erased. How to fix it: register the correct absence and let the corrective payslip carry the difference.”

In Actions › Delete, with the Payroll Administrator profile:

“The absence of “Fábio Nuno Carvalho” (17/08/2026 to 28/08/2026) is classified or approved and cannot be deleted. What happened: an absence that took effect is corrected, never erased. How to fix it: refuse it first (if no payslip used it) or register the correct absence.”

When clicking Fix again, with a correction already open:

“This absence already has a correction under way. How to fix it: continue that one or refuse it.”

The Payroll Administrator gets the same message when changing Proof delivered on. When changing the Proof reference, or on an absence that has already started without a closed payslip, they get another one, because the step does not belong to their profile: “You need the manager profile to change or validate an absence that has already started.” The correction starts with the HR manager.

Verified causes

• The absence went into a closed payslip. When a payslip is validated, the absences it used are marked as Blocked. From then on, the data that determines the salary (the type, the dates and the proof, among others) cannot change. The HR manager can still write the Proof reference, because it does not change any amount.
• An approved absence cannot be deleted, even without a payslip. If no payslip used it, the HR manager clicks Back to approval and then Refuse. On a blocked absence, Refuse does not appear and Back to approval gives the first message above.
• There is only one open correction at a time. Until the correction is approved or refused, Fix refuses to create another.

Pending validation on screen: holidays with the holiday allowance already paid in a closed payslip, because the demo has no holidays in that state.

What to check

1. In People › Leave and absences › Absence requests, or in Payroll › Prepare › Absences and attendance › Absences, open the absence. In the Portuguese law: communication, proof and effect tab, see whether Blocked is ticked.
2. See whether the Fix button exists. It only appears on an absence in Approved and blocked, for someone who is HR manager or Payroll Administrator. In this version, on an illness or accident absence, the Payroll Administrator's Fix may respond “This absence type cannot have free text…”, even with no text written: ask the HR manager for the correction.
3. If the message mentions a correction under way, look in the list for another absence of the same employee and the same dates, still in To Approve or Second Approval.

How to fix it

1. HR manager: on the original absence, click Fix. A new absence opens in To Approve, with the same data and the Corrects field pointing to the original. The warning “An employee already has an absence booked that overlaps this period…” is normal at this stage: the original only goes once the correction is validated.
2. Change what is wrong (the dates, the type or the proof) and save. If you choose Authorised or approved by the employer, also fill in Decision or law. Without it, Approve responds “Letters k) and l) of art. 249.º/2 are open…”.
3. Click Approve. The correction moves to Second Approval.
4. Payroll Administrator: open the correction in Payroll › Prepare › Absences and attendance › Absences and click Validate.
5. If fiscaldoo warns that there is a difference, open the corrective payslip from the correction's Corrective payslips field (the HR manager does not see this field), check the amount and validate it (Correct a payroll run).

To give up on a correction under way, open it and click Refuse. After that, the original's Fix button can be used again.

Expected result

• The correction is Approved and the original absence becomes Refused, with the note “Corrected by the absence…” in the history.

• If the correction changes what was paid, a warning appears and a corrective payslip is created in Draft. In the example, Diogo Ferreira Lopes's sick leave from 15/06/2026 to 26/06/2026 was shortened to 19/06/2026:

  “Absence in a month already paid. The absence of “Diogo Ferreira Lopes” has days in a month already paid (June 2026) and that payslip is closed: it is not changed. What happened: the difference was written in the corrective payslip Diogo Ferreira Lopes (01/06/2026 — 30/06/2026), in draft. How to fix it: open it from the absence's “Corrective payslips” field, check the amount and validate it, so that the difference is paid or deducted.”

• If the correction does not change what was paid, there is no warning and no corrective payslip. That is what happened when correcting an absence while keeping the same data, and when changing a one-day Unjustified absence to Authorised or approved by the employer without deciding the pay.

• The original payslip stays as it was (The payslip is already validated and cannot be changed).

When to contact support

• The absence has no closed payslip in that period and it still says it was used in one.
• Blocked is ticked, the absence is Approved and Fix does not appear for the HR manager.
• The correction was validated, changed what should be paid and no warning or corrective payslip appeared.

Information to send

• The employee, the time type, the dates and the state of the absence.
• The full text of the message, copied from the screen.
• The month of the payslip that used the absence and the state of that payslip.
• The profile you logged in with.