Are You Handling Employee Time Off All Wrong?

If you’re responsible for a number of employees, one thing you’ll need to deal with regularly is time off. Employees are entitled to a certain number of days off each year. However, many CEOs and bosses don’t realize that they are handling it all wrong. There are a number of different things you can to do make things suit your business and keep your employees happy. Read on to figure out what you can change and do better:

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Ignoring Time Off Requests

Answering time off requests in the most timely manner is really important. Keeping employees engaged and satisfied is a must if you want them to be happy at work and get things done as efficiently as possible. If you ignore their time off requests, you’re going to make them anxious.

Being fair in the way you approach this situation is a must. Promoting employee happiness in your business should be a huge priority for you, and handling these situations properly is going to help that. It’s been proven in recent years that employees who are encouraged to take off all of their vacation time are happier!

Creating Fair Policies

As you must be fair about time off to keep your employees happy, you need to make sure you have a fair policy in place. Ensure you have clearly defined rules when it comes to your employees putting in paid time off requests, as well as how much notice they must give you. Be as transparent as possible about these policies so that there are no crossed wires. By using a system that helps with paid time off tracking you won’t have to spend any more time or resources than you need to keeping track of those who are off.

Allowing Shift Trades

Allowing shift trades is a good option in your business if other members of staff will effectively be able to cover another member’s shift. Just make it clear that these trades must be approved by management first, and can only happen between those who do the same job.

Emergency Absences

Occasionally, you will likely get emergency absences from employees. This may mean having an employee request a day off with little notice. Depending on how severe the reason is, you should be fair when you consider granting the request. Bear in mind that if this is important to the employee and you do not grant it, chances are they may take a sick day instead.

If you feel there’s no way you can allow that staff member time off on that particular day, it’ll help to give a full explanation to them. You may even be able to come up with a suitable arrangement.

Part Time Workers

There are certain times of year businesses receive more time off requests than others. It can be a good idea to have a list of trusted part time workers, and perhaps even contractors you can use to fill in if needs be. This allows you to grant time off without having to put your business on hold due to being short staffed.

Are you handling time off all wrong? Remember, treating your employees fairly is key!