34% of workers who have been employed for a year get between 10 and 14 paid vacation days per year. Most employees who work longer than a year get more paid vacation days. There is also the question of unpaid vacation days that employees may need.
The problem with employee time off is that it can make it difficult for a company to function. But these vacation days are important for employees to rest and recuperate. So, how can you successfully manage employee vacation days?
How can you balance time-off requests while still keeping a business afloat? Keep reading and learn more about your options below.
Determine How Far in Advance the Vacation Days Should Be Requested
It can be difficult to manage employees who want to take time off without giving you a heads-up. You will then have to make sure that everything is sorted out by the time the employee takes their vacation days. This can be detrimental to the business if an employee takes some time off at the wrong time or too suddenly.
You might need that employee’s services to help the business through a busy time. This is why you should make it clear that employees need to request vacation days in advance. This will make vacation management much easier.
Instead of managing payroll and everything else at the last minute, you’ll have more time to prepare. You can then think ahead and consider how these vacation days will affect the usual work process. Make it clear that employees should request vacation days a certain amount of time in advance.
The Details
A week ahead of time might be all you need to get everything prepared. If things are more complicated, you might request several weeks in advance. Or you might only need your employees to alert you a few days ahead of time.
This timeframe might also change depending on how many vacation days the employee is taking. If the worker wants to take a vacation for two weeks, you might want more of a heads-up. But if the employee only wants to take a day or two off, you might not need much of a warning.
Consider how these vacation days would affect the business. How will you manage everything while the employee is gone? Contemplating these factors will help you better manage your employees and business.
Determine Time Frames Where Employees Cannot Take Time Off
You could run into some trouble if your employees take time off whenever they feel like it. Suppose summer is the busiest time of the year for your business. You need all hands on deck during this time to keep up with your clients.
If some of your employees decide to take time off during this time, your business could be in big trouble. It might become impossible to keep up with your clients during this busy time. This could be seriously detrimental to your business.
This is why it is important to determine time frames where employees cannot take time off. Time-off requests in the middle of the busy season would not be great for your business. While employees might not like being limited this way, this limited time frame doesn’t have to be very long.
You might extend it to a month or two.
What You Need to Know
Once the busiest part of the year is over, your employees will be free to take all the vacation time they want again. Creating a clear time-off policy is also important.
If your workers are confused about when they can take their vacation days, a time-off policy will clear it up. There might be certain weeks throughout the year when it would be inefficient to have workers take vacation days. There might also be certain weeks or months when it would be ideal for workers to take some time off.
A great time for workers to take some time off would be during the slower months of business. This ensures that their vacation days won’t interfere too much with how the business functions. You will also have plenty of time to keep track of their vacation days, whether they’re paid or not, and so on.
Get PTO Time Tracking Software
Paid-time-off (PTO) software is one of the best things you can use for vacation management. Suppose an employee is taking a week off. You can use this software to keep track of exactly how long the employee is gone and how much they are being paid.
This software will also help prevent you from accidentally overpaying an employee. The software will keep track of earnings over several weeks, months, or years. The software can also automate tasks for you so you won’t have to do all the heavy lifting.
PTO software can also be adjusted depending on the seniority of an employee. Suppose a worker has been working at the company for 10 years. They’re going to get more paid vacation time compared to a person who has been working there for a year.
The software can figure this out for you so that you won’t have to think too hard about it.
All About Managing Vacation Days
Vacation days are important for employees, but they can be a hassle for a business to deal with. Getting a heads-up regarding vacation time can make the process easier. You may also want to determine timeframes where employees can’t take time off.
PTO time tracking software is the most efficient option. To learn more about how it works, check out our options.
