The summer months mean many things, but they also mean that many of your employees are going to want to take time off, perhaps at the same time. This could be due to school holidays, the better weather, or simply because people would rather be off work when the sun is shining than when it is snowing. Regardless, it can pose a problem for employers who are trying to be fair and avoid office conflicts and issues between staff members.
Your staff will all have a set amount of holiday time they can take across the year, but there is nothing to stop you, as an employer, stipulating that only a certain amount of it can be taken during the peak holiday time. This is a good option to ensure that you have enough staff at their office desks at any one time, to ensure service needs are covered. You will have less staff sat around the collaborative office desks, because there is always going to be one or two members of staff away on annual leave, but the numbers will be high enough to ensure business can operate.
The most important thing is fairness. Just because one member of staff has a child and another doesn’t, does this mean they should be given preference over summer holidays? You can look at it from either side, but you have to be impartial and say whoever puts it in first, gets it. That is the only way to ensure that those in their office chairs are happy and don’t feel alienated. We all know that is a fast track towards low morale.
- Operate a ‘first come, first served’ process with holiday requests
- Allow only a certain number of employees within the office to be away at any one time, to ensure staffing levels
- Encourage staff to arrange between themselves to ensure everyone gets at least one amount of time they want
- You may stipulate that only a certain amount of annual leave entitlement can be taken during the peak summer months
Can you think of any other ways to ensure staffing levels are met during summer holiday time?