Employee leave schedule (or vacation planning) refers to the organization of annual leave and vacation so that a company’s normal activities can continue despite a reduction in its workforce.
How to Plan an Employee Leave Schedule?
Planning employee leave requires a minimum of organization, so as not to compromise normal company activities. There are a number of different ways of managing leave, depending on the nature of the business.
For example, some companies suspend operations for a predetermined period, during which all employees take PTO at the same time. This approach, which eases the planning of long projects at the expense of employee flexibility, is typical of the construction industry.
Other organizations adopt the opposite approach of rotational leave, where each employee benefits from a separate vacation period. In this way, the company’s activities are maintained, but several aspects need to be taken into account in the planning, including :
- The order of departures: according to seniority, the tasks to be performed, each employee’s responsibilities, family situation, etc.
- Statutory deadlines for informing employees of their leave dates.
- The maximum number of paid leaves an employee can take.
- The number of replacements, if necessary.
Why Is It Necessary to Plan Employee Leave?
Every company needs to plan its employees’ leave to ensure that operations can continue without interruption or disruption. It’s also essential that employees take their annual leave in order to rest and stay motivated at work.
What Method Should Be Used to Plan Employee Leave?
Managers can choose to manage their employees’ leave requests manually, using an Excel document, or to use schedule management software to automate certain related tasks.
When a manager manages leave manually, they must:
- Receive requests (paper form, email, text, telephone message, etc.)
- Prioritize requests
- Approve requests
- Record leaves in schedules, so that they are not forgotten
- Communicate decisions (approval, refusal, conditions) to the employees concerned
Managing employee leave with schedule management software is more like this:
- Employees make their leave requests directly in the application
- The manager approves or rejects the request
- Employees receive automatic notification of the decision
- Leaves are displayed directly in the work schedule
