When you enter an absence, you can also select a substitute. You cannot select multiple substitutes here; you can only choose one.
There are two reasons for this. First, very few companies need to select multiple substitutes. Second, allowing multiple substitutes would make Timebutler much more complex: there are many settings related to substitutes, for example confirmation by the substitute, manager approval only after the substitute has confirmed, and others. With multiple substitutes, approval workflows would become more complicated, and individual substitutes could intentionally or unintentionally delay or block approval, thereby gaining indirect decision-making authority.
Another issue would be the display in various views. For example, the list view also shows the substitute and the status of the substitute’s confirmation. With multiple substitutes, the list views would become cluttered and fragmented.
You have the following option instead:
When you enter an absence, select the primary substitute in the designated field. Then simply add any additional substitutes as a note in the Notes field. When colleagues check the absence, they can see who else is acting as a substitute.
In addition, the Limits feature often helps:
You can configure that a certain number of employees must always be present in specific departments or user groups (or company-wide). Timebutler then ensures that not too many employees take vacation at the same time. For example, you can define that at least two employees from the “Sales” department must always be present.
You can set up limits by signing in to Timebutler as an admin and clicking Settings > Limitations at the bottom left.