How to Get Employee Leave Data from Employment Hero API

Introduction

This article is part of a broader series covering the Employment Hero API in depth. In this guide, we focus specifically on how to retrieve employee leave data using the Employment Hero API.

If you're building HR, payroll, or workforce management workflows, leave data is a core dataset. This walkthrough covers the complete process, from authentication to fetching leave data for a single employee or across the organization.

For a comprehensive deep dive into authentication, rate limits, and other use cases, refer to the complete HRIS API guide.
https://www.getknit.dev/blog/employmentHero-guide

Pre-requisites

Before you begin, make sure the following are in place:

• Register your application on the Employment Hero Developer Portal to obtain OAuth 2.0 credentials (client ID and client secret).
• Ensure you have the necessary scopes configured for accessing employee leave data.
• Set up a secure server to handle OAuth 2.0 redirection and token storage.

Without proper OAuth configuration and scopes, your integration will fail—so get this foundation right.

API Endpoints

You will work with the following endpoints:

• Authorization Endpoint
  https://oauth.employmenthero.com/oauth2/authorize
• Access Token Endpoint
  https://oauth.employmenthero.com/oauth2/token
• Employee Leave Data Endpoint
  https://api.employmenthero.com/api/v1/employees/{employee_id}/leave
• All Employees Leave Data Endpoint
  https://api.employmenthero.com/api/v1/employees/leave

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Obtain Authorization Code

Redirect the user to the authorization URL to grant access.

import requests

client_id = 'your_client_id'
redirect_uri = 'https://yourapp.com/callback'

auth_url = f'https://oauth.employmenthero.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id={client_id}&redirect_uri={redirect_uri}&response_type=code'

response = requests.get(auth_url)
print(response.url)  # Direct user to this URL for authorization

The user logs in and approves access. You will receive an authorization code via your configured redirect URI.

Step 2: Exchange Authorization Code for Access Token

Use the authorization code to request an access token.

import requests

client_id = 'your_client_id'
client_secret = 'your_client_secret'
redirect_uri = 'https://yourapp.com/callback'
code = 'authorization_code_from_previous_step'

token_url = 'https://oauth.employmenthero.com/oauth2/token'

data = {
    'grant_type': 'authorization_code',
    'code': code,
    'redirect_uri': redirect_uri,
    'client_id': client_id,
    'client_secret': client_secret
}

response = requests.post(token_url, data=data)
access_token = response.json().get('access_token')

Store the access token securely. You’ll use it for all subsequent API calls.

Step 3: Fetch Employee Leave Data

To retrieve leave data for a specific employee:

import requests

headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}'}
employee_id = 'specific_employee_id'

leave_url = f'https://api.employmenthero.com/api/v1/employees/{employee_id}/leave'

response = requests.get(leave_url, headers=headers)
employee_leave_data = response.json()

This endpoint returns leave records for the specified employee.

Step 4: Fetch All Employees Leave Data

To retrieve leave data for all employees:

import requests

headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {access_token}'}

leave_url = 'https://api.employmenthero.com/api/v1/employees/leave'

response = requests.get(leave_url, headers=headers)
all_employees_leave_data = response.json()

This is useful for reporting, dashboards, payroll sync, or compliance workflows.

Common Pitfalls

Most integration failures aren’t technical, they’re configuration issues. Watch out for these:

1. Not registering the application correctly on the Developer Portal.
2. Incorrectly configured redirect URIs.
3. Using expired access tokens without refreshing them.
4. Insufficient scopes for accessing leave data.
5. Not handling OAuth 2.0 errors properly.
6. Ignoring rate limits imposed by the API.
7. Storing sensitive credentials insecurely.

If your calls fail, start by checking scopes and token validity before debugging code.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I refresh an expired access token?

Use the refresh token to request a new access token from the token endpoint.

2. What scopes are required for accessing leave data?

Ensure your application has the necessary scopes configured during registration.

3. Can I access leave data for all employees at once?

Yes. Use the endpoint for all employees leave data.

4. How often can I call the API?

Refer to the official API documentation for rate limits and ensure your application adheres to them.

5. What happens if the user denies permission?

The authorization process fails, and you will not receive an authorization code.

6. Is the access token reusable?

Yes, until it expires. After expiry, you must refresh it.

7. Can I update leave data using this API?

This guide focuses on reading leave data. Refer to the official API documentation for update capabilities.

Knit for Employment Hero API Integration

If you want faster deployment and less integration overhead, Knit API provides a streamlined alternative.

With a single integration to Knit, you can abstract away authentication, authorization, token management, and ongoing API maintenance. This reduces engineering effort and accelerates time to production while ensuring a stable and reliable connection to the Employment Hero API.