smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Any line manager will tell you that the balancing of work to cover for holidays is difficult, as the majority of holidays fall during the summer months. As schools are cracking down on term time holidays, parents often need to take their holidays during the school holidays period. Depending on just how many employees take the same time off, it can pose a real problem for employers.

Step one to solving the problem is to ensure that you have clear rules regarding the booking of holidays, and that everyone knows and understands them. State explicitly by department how many people can be granted leave at any one time.

An employer may need to define when holidays must be taken, for example between Christmas and New Year. Or also periods when leave may not be taken, for example it is common in retail to prohibit holidays during October, November, December and covering the January sales period.

Essentially the fairest and simplest way is to operate a first come, first served process. Parents, or indeed any employee, who knows requires holidays during specific periods should bid early, to ensure they get the time off they desire.

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