How to deal with employees off at the same time - a complete guide
If you’ve never had to deal with instances of overlapping time off, you might assume that it’s an easy fix — but the reality is that it’s not always that simple.
Consider these possible scenarios, for example:
- Two employees have requested leave during your busiest period, and they’re both pretty much indispensable
- Three of your customer service team have requested leave on the same day, and it’s when several of the remaining team are not scheduled to work
- Your Chief of Staff has requested time off on the exact same dates you, the CEO, are going on holiday, which would leave an inexperienced manager in charge.
If you’re already scratching your head at these, don’t worry… You’re definitely not alone! The reality of time off requests overlapping is not that simple at all.
People are a small business’ biggest asset and managing leave is a balancing act — you need to keep them happy, while still considering the needs of your customers and your company as a whole.
As a fellow small business, we understand this and want to share with you our tried and tested solutions for successfully managing and preventing overlapping time off.
And the good news is that none of them are rocket science!
Communicate with your team
One of the most simple and effective ways of preventing time off requests overlapping is to speak with your team. Time off is inevitable, so don't pretend it won't happen — be the one to start the conversations.
Regular breaks from work are vital for wellbeing, so you also have a duty of care to talk about taking time off and encourage your team to think of when might be best for them, as well as for your business.
If everyone talks openly about their leave ambitions ahead of time, you can have contingency plans in place to more easily deal with unavoidable overlapping time off, even if that means covering a role yourself.
Plan ahead
Although there will always be times when people need to go on leave unexpectedly, there are a lot of occasions that shouldn’t really take you or your team by surprise — over summer and Christmas are two obvious examples. Planning ahead means you'll be able to successfully manage employees' time off at the same time.
In most instances, your team will also want to be prepared (going on holiday is not the most relaxing experience if you know there will be a load of loose ends waiting for you on return!), so here are a few ideas of how to help them and you:
- Annual and quarterly holiday check-ins
Put regular team-wide check-ins in the calendar so that you can find out about any upcoming leave anyone’s thinking of taking. These check-ins can be brief, but are likely prompt discussion and collective problem solving.
- Holiday spreadsheet
Where people enter the dates of their preferred holidays on a first come, first serve basis. In order to be effective, the holiday tracker needs to be transparent so everyone can see the dates selected by their colleagues. A spreadsheet like this may also have the positive knock-on effect of encouraging your employees to work out any potential clashes amongst themselves (people can often be flexible by a week or so, and typically those without children will opt for different times of year — September instead of August, for example.)
Asking your team to give you notice of their holidays in advance is a really good way of preventing overlapping time off.
Use time off software
The logical follow on from the manual suggestions above is time off software, as it automates all of the admin associated with holidays and leave, and makes it easy to spot instances of overlapping time off.
Our CharlieHR software, for example, sends an alert when people have submitted time off requests at the same time.
With Charlie, holiday requests go straight to the right people and the company calendar updates automatically. You’ve only got one place to check to know what’s going on with your team, and can easily spot any time off requests overlapping. It’s a super useful tool for small businesses and will help you avoid understaffing.
Have a clear leave policy in place
Dealing with employees' time off at the same time starts with a good annual leave policy — include a section about overlapping time off, so that you and your team can always refer to it.
If you’ve never written an annual leave policy before, or are unsure whether yours contains all the information and clauses it should, check out our guide for small businesses (it comes with a free annual leave policy template) on writing an annual leave policy.
Adopt a fair and transparent approach to avoid conflict
The approach you take to dealing with employees' time off at the same time will make a big difference.
Being fair, transparent and consistent is essential for effectively managing leave, and preventing conflicts around overlapping time off.
So when dealing with any time off requests overlapping:
- Talk with everyone involved
- Draw on any previous, similar instances
- Consider both requests equally
- Look for workarounds and solutions rather than problems.
Here’s an example for you to think about:
Two members of your team have requested overlapping time off in the same week. They’re both heavily involved in an upcoming big event and they’ve requested leave for the week prior to it. They both have important personal reasons for their requests (a family wedding and a close friend’s funeral) and cannot shuffle the dates. What do you do?
One possible solution is to work with them both to bring all the prep for the event forward by a week, so that everything is done before either of them go on leave. This will give you peace of mind, and enable them to deal with important personal life events without worrying about (or resenting) work.
Be flexible
By our very nature, small businesses are flexible, and it’s actually one of our greatest strengths.
Being flexible will help you find solutions to overlapping time off, and will go a long way with your team.
If two people have requested time off at the same time and it’s possible to arrange it, make it happen. It will really make a difference to their life outside of work, and how they feel about you as their employer.
