The weather is heating up and more and more staff will be thinking about booking their summer holidays. 

We’ve put together some top tips on how to manage staff summer holidays, so you don’t get caught out and left short-staffed: 

Plan ahead 

Encourage your staff to book their holidays as early as possible, so there isn’t a scramble to book last-minute days off.  

It’s a good idea to implement a minimum notice period for employees to request leave, to prevent you from becoming under-staffed and unable to manage.  

First-come-first-served  

Make sure you have a fair system in place for approving holiday requests. Allocating holiday on a first-come-first-served is an ideal way to manage it and will incentivise staff not to leave their requests to the last minute. 

LeavePlanner makes it quick and easy to instantly request and approve holiday, without the need for spreadsheets or paper forms. Being digital, it is easy to see who requested the dates first, so you can approve holiday requests fairly. 

Set limits 

It’s always best to be transparent. If you have a maximum limit on the number of staff who can be off at the same time, let your staff know in advance so it doesn’t come as a shock or a disappointment. 

With LeavePlanner you can set minimum cover and black out periods to ensure you have the right staffing levels and can maintain an outstanding service throughout the summer. 

Arrange cover  

If you decide to take on temporary staff over the summer, it’s important to ensure a smooth transition, with a good handover, onboarding and training, as well as arrange a full debrief when your employee returns from their holiday. 

LeavePlanner will help you manage shift timetables for cover staff and take the stress out of arranging cover. 

Arrange your free trial today, for easy to use absence management software, call Steve on 01252 636 070 or email support@leaveplanner.com 

Pssst! Check out our new all-in-one system, HR Planner, which incorporates an easy-to-use leave management solution, designed specifically with SMEs in mind.