Your Guide to Time Off Management: Why It's Important and 3 Tips to Manage Employee Time Off Effectively

Time off management got you down? Without a proper system in place, employee time off requests can quickly become a burden. Mismanagement of PTO requests may even be detrimental to your business continuity and operational needs.

In this blog post we'll cover why employee time off management is important and three tips you can use to become a time off management superstar. Let's get started!

Why Time Off Management Is Essential

First things first: why does time off management deserve your attention? Shouldn't your HR department discover ways to keep employees in the office more? In a word: no. This is true for multiple reasons.

One, the modern employee appreciates job perks (like paid vacation and personal time) just as much as the wage they earn. A sure fire way to scare off the best talent is to handle leave requests poorly. Constantly denying days off and favoring certain employee PTO requests over others is a disaster waiting to happen for your company culture and employee satisfaction.

Plus, the research shows that time off actually improves employee productivity and morale. When your team is well-rested and happy at work — two things a vacation or annual leave is known to produce — they'll be much more likely to work harder, be more creative, and get more done. Effective time off management can also help prevent employee burnout, which is crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive workforce.

3 Tips to Become a Time Off Management Superstar

Quality time off policies will help you attract and retain talent, and improve the performance of each of your company's employees. But managing time off isn't always easy. These three tips will help you manage employee time-off requests like a rockstar.

1. Prioritize Employee Time Off

In order to properly manage employee time off requests, you have to first make time off management a priority. Track employees' working hours by using an employee hour calculator and make sure they're getting enough time off. This may seem obvious — and it is — but, unfortunately, many companies still neglect to do it. Don't be one of those companies.

Be more like Moz, who not only gives its employees three weeks of paid vacation every year, but also $3,000 to spend on airfare, hotels, and other vacation related expenses. We're guessing their employee retention and satisfaction rates are through the roof with a policy like that!

Or take Spotify, the music streaming behemoth from Sweden. They allow their employees to switch out traditional vacation days for others of their own choosing. For example, an employee who decides to work on Christmas could trade that traditional day off for a day off in July instead.

Now your company doesn't need to implement these same policies. If your business is unable to pay employees to vacation, don't worry. The point is that both Moz and Spotify understand the value of letting their employees take time off and have developed policies and systems to manage PTO requests effectively.

Your company should prioritize employee time off, too, as part of your overall workforce management strategy. This includes considering various types of leave such as parental leave, military leave, jury duty, and bereavement leave.

Easily manage and track all PTO, vacation, and leave requests from one system.

Book Your Free Demo

2. Set Clear Rules and Boundaries

Each of your employees should know and understand, preferably from the first day they start working for your business, what your company policies are regarding vacation time and requesting time off. Here are a few guidelines to follow when creating time off policies:

Time Off Allowance

First, it needs to be abundantly clear how much time off each employee is allowed to take, whether that time is paid or unpaid, and how often your team can submit requests. Giving your workers two weeks off every year isn't a clear policy.

Giving them two weeks of paid time off that they can use any time of the year except for March (because that's when your business is busiest) is very clear. This should be part of your leave management system and clearly stated in the employee handbook. Make sure to include information about the accrual process, overtime pay, and how to handle unplanned time off.

The Request Process

Employees also need to know how to submit time off requests. We recommend having one standard procedure that each member of your team must use for requesting off. Then stick to it! Don't waver or make exceptions. Make it known that if an employee wants time off, they need to submit their PTO requests in a specific way.

The procedure you choose — paper slips, digital forms, time off app, etc. — is completely up to you. Just choose a system that compliments your workflow and roll with it. This will help streamline your time off approval process. Consider using a request form template to standardize the process.

Your Policy on Deadlines

Finally, you need to implement some kind of deadline for time off requests to be submitted. You can't have employees informing you the day before they leave for Aruba that they'll be gone for the next week and can you please approve the requested time off because they already bought the cheap plane tickets and packed their suitcase?"

Make it a policy that employees must give you at least two weeks notice — barring any emergency leave — for time off to be approved. This will help you maintain proper staffing levels and implement coverage strategies when necessary. Be sure to consider peak periods, such as the holiday season, and establish blackout periods if needed.

3. Use the Right Time Off Management Tool

As we mentioned before, proper time off management, while essential, isn't always easy. That's why we recommend you use a software tool to help you streamline the process and keep every request, approval and accrual in line.

There are many options on the market including Time-Off Tracking by HR Cloud. This HR software allows employees to self-service their own vacation requests and report sick leave from the comfort of their smartphones.

It makes life easier for you too and tracks everything — who's in and who's out, which employees still have leave balance left, when Bob from accounting is finally taking that trip to Hawaii he's been talking about for months — and displays it in easy to consume, visual reports.

Time-Off Tracking by HR Cloud makes PTO tracking a breeze and helps you maintain an efficient time off schedule! It can also help with shift scheduling and attendance tracking, making it a comprehensive time-off management system.

Wrapping Up

Proper time off management is important for workforce planning and maintaining employee morale. By not prioritizing it, you'll find that it's much harder to attract and retain top talent, and you'll drive yourself crazy wondering who's in the office and who's not.

So do yourself a favor and set a clear time off policy that defines how much vacation time each employee gets, when they can take that time, and how time off requests should be submitted. Then stick to that policy. Remember to consider legal requirements and labor laws when creating your policies.

And remember, a time off tracking app like Time-Off Tracking by HR Cloud will streamline this whole process and allow you to focus on more important aspects of workforce management than approving vacation requests for each team member. It's an essential tool for managing PTO effectively and ensuring smooth business operations.

Consider implementing a shared calendar system to help visualize time off schedules and avoid overlapping requests. This can be particularly helpful during busy periods like the holiday season or when managing public holidays.

By following these tips and using the right tools, you'll be well on your way to mastering time off management. This will not only improve employee satisfaction but also help prevent staffing gaps and ensure your business runs smoothly year-round.

Easily Manage all PTO, Vacation, and Leave Requests from One System

Book Your Free Demo