@JC create a custom record to hold the PTO dates - make the employee as the parent record, set approver/supervisor automatically from the employee record. Have a simple workflow for the approval process. Once approved use another workflow to create event or calendar entry for that employee as time off. Now you may need to add a custom field in the employee record to hold the PTO allotment ( can be a custom list or record) - same thing for sick days or other types of time off (many way to achieve that) . This value will be checking or validation point for the employee time - you can track usage. Wish I had time I could mimic the time off process of any HRIS in Netsuite (without the suitepeople). Just a few pointers for now, hit me up if you need some help.