The end of the year is approaching. Do any of these questions resonate? Do you have staff in a desperate mad rush to use up their annual leave? Have you had to insist people use up holiday? Have you ended up allowing a large number of employees to carry holiday over to next year? Do you worry that you probably shouldn’t be doing that? Has this had an impact on staffing levels at a busy time for the company? Do you wish you could not permit holiday to be taken at certain times of the year?
Perhaps you find yourself with the opposite problem. You want to implement a shut down over the Christmas period but employees don’t have enough holiday left to take the time off? Do you find yourself with more staff at work than you need over a quiet period?
If the answer is yes to any of these, we’d suggest you start 2019 afresh with an Annual Leave policy. The sensible Leave Policy sets out:
- How and when people can book holiday;
- When people can’t book holiday;
- How many people can take holiday at any one time;
- What days should be reserved for a business shut down;
- How are Bank Holidays managed and accounted for; and
- How much holiday entitlement employees have.
Add to this a Holiday Booking Form that requires management authorisation for any holiday requests and a recording system to keep track of holiday bookings and next year you needn’t find yourself facing the same situation!
Read more. cHRistmas Survival Guide #3 – The day after the Christmas Party
For more about HR issues at this time of year in a small or medium-size company, contact us. [email protected] or call 0845 463 9365.