This article addresses the most frequently asked questions about the direct calendar integration.

Can I sync all employees' absences to a single shared company calendar?

No. The direct calendar integration sends each employee's time off to their own personal calendar only. If you want a single calendar showing everyone's absences, including a shared Microsoft Exchange calendar, use an iCal subscription link instead.

Does the direct calendar integration or iCal calendar subscription support two-way sync between Personio and an external calendar?

No. Neither option provides bidirectional synchronization.

• The iCal calendar subscription: data flows one way — out of Personio into your external calendar. Changes made directly in your external calendar don't sync back into Personio.
• Direct calendar integration (Google Calendar, Microsoft Calendar, and Microsoft Exchange): time off approved in Personio goes into each employee's personal calendar automatically. Edits made directly in the external calendar don't update Personio.

For a two-way sync, you need a custom integration built on the public API. Your API credentials must include write access for the relevant data type in order to write data into Personio.

Do public holidays sync to Microsoft Calendar or Google Calendar through the direct calendar integration?

No. The direct calendar integration only syncs employees' approved time off. It doesn't sync public holidays, regardless of which bank holiday calendar you assign to a workplace in Personio. To see public holidays in Outlook or Google Calendar, add one of the standard holiday calendars available directly in those apps. 

Why was a synced absence event in my calendar overwritten or updated unexpectedly?

Personio doesn't run a scheduled recurring sync that continuously pushes all absences to the calendar. Instead, it sends an update to the connected calendar only when a specific absence is created, edited, or deleted in Personio. If a synced calendar entry was overwritten or changed, check whether the corresponding absence was changed in Personio around the same time.

How does the direct calendar integration handle full-day absences?

Absences set as full-day in Personio sync to the employee's calendar as full-day events. The employee's calendar shows as busy during the absence, so others cannot book time with them. Approved absences appear under the label Absent in the employee's calendar, with the display language following the employee's own Personio language settings.

Does the direct calendar integration set up an out-of-office email reply?

The integration marks the employee as busy in their calendar. It doesn't configure an automatic out-of-office email reply. Employees need to set up their out-of-office responder manually in Outlook or Google Calendar.

What happens to existing calendar events during the absence?

The direct calendar integration adds the absence event alongside any events already in the calendar for that period. It doesn't overwrite or delete existing events, and it doesn't automatically prevent double-bookings.

How does the direct calendar integration identify which employee calendar to sync to?

The direct calendar integration matches each Personio employee profile to a calendar using the email address in the employee's Personio profile. This email needs to match the account authorized to receive the integration. If the email address in Personio doesn't match the authorized calendar account, the sync doesn't work for that employee.

Which absence types does the direct calendar integration sync?

The direct calendar integration only syncs absence types measured in full days. Absences categorized as Mobile working aren't part of the sync, even if recorded as full-day entries.

Is any absence information kept private or withheld from the calendar by the direct calendar integration?

The direct calendar integration sends only the event block to Google or Microsoft. It doesn't share time off comments. For Google Calendar, event visibility follows your calendar's default privacy settings: if the calendar is private, synced events are private; if public, events are public. The direct calendar integration does not mark absence details as private in Microsoft Calendar.

Does the direct calendar integration sync time off recorded before it was activated?

No. The direct calendar integration only syncs time off created after you activate it. It doesn't retroactively sync time off recorded before activation. To add past absences to the calendar, employees need to enter them manually in their external calendar.