Written by Paula Santonocito
This article originally appeared in the Thomson Reuters publication HRWire and is reprinted/posted here with permission.
The holiday season is a time of merriment for some people, but for HR it means fielding conflicts related to vacation time, holiday parties, and more.
Who’s off first
Vacation scheduling can be problematic during any holiday season. Nevertheless, this year, as companies attempt to conduct business with fewer workers while revving up for economic recovery, attention to staffing requirements becomes even more critical.
“The solution is in the planning, and even so, in documenting the policy regarding time off,” says Mike Dougal, director of HR consulting for HRN Management Group, a full-service human resource consulting firm.
He tells HRWire that although it seems perhaps overkill to have a policy that dictates who qualifies for time off and when, and spells out how that time gets requested and allocated, it is essential.
“About the time you don’t document, that’s when confusion happens,” Dougal says.
An HR department that doesn’t document also runs the risk of allegations, even if they are only of a he-said she-said nature.
A vacation or time-off policy should state the manner in which requests will be honored, in whatever order the employer determines, Dougal says. It should also indicate that all requests are subject to approval.
