> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.distro.so/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.distro.so/settings/workspace-settings/vacation.md).
# Vacation
Vacation and distribution settings allow you to easily control how leads are distributed across your workspace and team members.
## How does Distro handle vacations?
Distro detects time away from the member’s primary Google Calendar. Mark time away as **All day** and **Busy**, then review **Detected vacations** in member preferences. Automatic Outlook vacation detection is not supported.
Detection looks for long, uninterrupted busy periods and groups adjacent days, including Friday-to-Monday periods. Check the detected dates before relying on assignment removal; a normal partial-day calendar block is not a vacation setting. See [Mark your calendar](/settings/workspace-settings/vacation/mark-calendar.md).
With vacation calibration enabled, detected vacation periods can remove a team member from round-robin assignment so eligible teammates receive the meetings.
Open **Settings → Vacation**. **Distribution rules** can remove people from assignments, while **Ownership rules** can send meetings to a designated covering colleague. Configure each section and click **Save**.
## Distribution Rules
Turn on **Vacation calibration** to remove users from meeting assignments during vacation. The switch is also labelled **Remove members from assignments**.
### **Vacation Buffer**
Use **Before vacation starts** and **After vacation ends** to extend the period when members are removed from distribution. The after value adds days after the end date.
Let's say Emma has a vacation from March 10th to March 20th, and the vacation buffer is set to 2 days before and 1 day after.
* Emma will stop receiving leads on March 8th (2 days before vacation starts)
* The exclusion continues through March 21st (1 day after vacation ends). Emma can receive assignments again after that period.
#### **Key Points**
1. **Zero Buffer**: If set to "0", the vacation date range is excluded, including its first and last days.
2. **Buffer Longer than Vacation**: If the **After vacation ends** value is greater than the difference between the detected start and end dates, that vacation period is skipped by this check. Check **Detected vacations** and avoid an after-buffer longer than the detected period.
3. **Different Before/After Settings**: You can set different numbers for the before and after buffers.
4. **Partial Days**: The system only considers full days for vacation and buffer calculations.
## Ownership Rule
Turn on **Cover for colleagues on vacation** if you want to re-route meeting assignments to a designated colleague during their vacation.
### Cover for colleagues on vacation buffer
{% hint style="danger" %}
Distro will never update lead/contact owner in the CRM when cover for colleagues is triggered.
{% endhint %}
Set **Before vacation starts** and **After vacation ends** in the ownership section to extend colleague coverage around the vacation. As with distribution, an after-buffer longer than the difference between the detected start and end dates causes that period to be skipped by this check.
## Choose a covering colleague
Members can choose **Assigned colleague** in **Settings → Profile**.
Admins can open **Settings → Members → Manage User Preferences** and use **Covering colleague**, then **Save coverage**. See [Member availability](/settings/workspace-settings/members/managing-member-availability.md).
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