Summer is generally one of those times in the business
calendar when requests for leave escalate. It can be a challenging time for any
business owner and one for which planning ahead is essential so that you can be
sure your operation continues as normal.
Currently, full time employees are entitled to 28 days of
paid leave per year. Many of these employees will expect to be able to take
their leave during the key holiday seasons – namely summer and Christmas – and
in order to maintain high levels of staff morale, many business owners try to
make provision to allow as many requests as possible to be honoured, often by
shouldering the burden themselves.
However, this is not always going to be practical. It is
therefore essential to plan ahead and develop policies on when leave can be
taken that are fair to staff and at the same time maintain customer relations
and turnover. Avoiding last minute emergencies is a key objective and the
following advice should prove helpful in doing just that.
Identify Peaks and Troughs
The first thing to do is be clear on when your business
tends to experience its busiest periods, and when it is generally quieter. Once
you have identified your peaks and troughs you can set your leave policies
around them. It may be that you have a policy that leave cannot be taken at
certain times, unless there are extenuating circumstances. You may also wish to
introduce a shutdown period during any particularly quiet interludes.
Plan for Seasonal Fluctuations
If your business experiences high demand during certain
periods of the year, you may find it works better for you to employ a small
core of staff on a permanent basis, and then take on short-term temporary
workers to help you cope during the higher demand periods. Don’t forget though
that agency workers are entitled to certain rights, including equal pay that
falls in line with permanent employees, once they’ve been with you for 12 weeks
or more.
Cross Train to be Ready for the Unexpected
There is nothing like being prepared, and having
multi-skilled staff on your team is an excellent way to be ready to tackle any
‘emergency’ situation. Say for example your business experiences an unexpected
boom period, and this coincides with a time when you have agreed to a number of
leave requests. If you have cross-trained and cross-skilled your workforce,
then anyone will be able to step in to help as required.
If you are thinking about how you will cope this summer as
the many requests start to come in for leave, why not speak to your bookkeepers? They’ll be able to
help you plan ahead based on historical peaks and troughs, and will also assist
with cashflow forecasts so you can work out how taking on any additional temporary
labour will affect your bottom line.
