Schools out and summer is in full swing! That’s great news if you work in the academic sector, but what about the rest of us?

Vacation leave requests for the months of July through September increase significantly – simply because it’s summer!

So how can you manage the influx of requests without impacting business operations?

We have listed 5 of our top tips on how to manage annual leave requests:-

#1 Have a clear Vacation Leave Procedure

Consider drawing up a Vacation Leave Policy if you haven’t got one already. A procedure will clearly set out the rules for all to abide by.

The document should cover;

• How many days employees are entitled to, as per employment law, and if you choose to pay for additional days as an enhanced employee benefit (not a requirement);
• The process of requesting vacation leave and any notice they are required to give;
• Restrictions on when leave can be taken and the restriction on the maximum amount of leave that can be taken at one, if any.
• The number of employees that can be out of office from the same department.

#2 Plan Ahead

Generally, employees will have an idea of the days they would like to apply for. Ask employees of their intentions in advance. Have your Payroll or HR team send out an email at the beginning of the year to remind everyone to have some sort of leave plan, and follow up by sending a reminder every quarter. This method will also ensure that your staff utilises all their vacation leave by the end of the year.  It is also a good idea to insist that your staff give a minimum period of notice when requesting time off, especially if it is over a certain number of day; this will enable you to find suitable cover.

#3 Keeping Track

Whilst this might seem like a tedious and time-consuming task, if you are serious about managing leave fairly, you will need to track leave requests and look for patterns. Through this exercise you might realise that a particular staff member always gets a particular holiday or school holiday period off; you will need to be mindful to make other requests at that time a priority the following year.

Alternatively, you may decide to create a rotating schedule for each department – rotating time off for employees is a fair way to manage requests, especially when it comes to holidays like Christmas or even long weekends.

#4 Let employees work at home

This obviously depends on the business and the kind of work the employee is expected to do. If your staff only requires an internet connection to complete their tasks, then letting them work at home during the holidays can be a productive way to get things done without having to bring in a replacement or reject someone’s leave request.

#5 Consider going on shutdown

If you receive plenty of leave requests for a particular holiday such as ‘Santa Maria’ in August, why not consider closing the office for a day so that everyone can enjoy a long weekend? If you do opt to go on shutdown, be sure to inform your clients ahead of time to avoid any disappointments.