Vacation time is essential to your staff and the productivity of your team. If you don’t have a PTO policy in place, establishing one will help avoid several problems. What happens when employees want the same time off? How do you decide who can take those days and who needs to work? By choosing arbitrarily, you can sow seeds of dissatisfaction in the workplace, so consider the ways your policy can help the process.

A Vacation Calendar

Your organization is the key to fairness when it comes to determining who gets what vacation days. Keeping a calendar where you can quickly see who has already requested days off can help you make decisions when new requests are made.

Communication About Popular PTO Days

For popular PTO days, such as the winter holidays or spring break, be sure to have a conversation with your team. Let them know they need to make these requests early to secure these days off. To ensure that everyone has a fair show, consider additional policies like those listed below.

An Objective Policy

When many employees want the same dates, you need to have a system to guarantee that the request considerations are fair. It may be first come, first served, or based on seniority. Whatever factor you choose, be consistent about the enforcement.

Employee Negotiations

You can allow your team to negotiate amongst themselves to trade dates if necessary. Be sure to monitor this and keep the discussions fair. If you find that some employees are bullying others into trading vacation dates, you will need to intervene.

Incentives for Changed Dates

Another way to make it fair is to provide incentives for those who are willing to change dates. If a coworker needs time off for a vacation and someone is willing to switch their dates, make it worth their while. Provide them with a bonus or gift card.

Utilize Temporary Staffing

If you work with a staffing agency, your worries about workplace coverage can be set aside. You can bring in short-term workers to cover the vacation dates of your employee, so you never have to worry about the issues of being understaffed. We will place qualified individuals who can keep up with the work while your employees rest and relax away from the office.

Do You Need Employees to Cover PTO Requests in Your Office?

Call Meador Staffing to discuss your short or long term temporary staffing needs.