Scheduling PTO during the holidays can create confusion for both employee and employer due to conflicts with business needs and employees wanting to be off for the holidays. From being consistent and transparent to introducing a "floating" holiday, companies have many routes to take to avoid confusion between them and the team.
Employers may need a few more tips to work with due to size of team or needing everyone during the holidays because of business around that time. Here, 11 Forbes Human Resources Council members share more tips to help control this.
Forbes Human Resources Council members share tips to develop a suitable PTO system for employees during the holidays.
Photos Courtesy Of The Individual Members1. Stay Consistent And Transparent
Consistency and transparency are crucial components of a proper PTO development program. The number one complaint from employees regarding PTO is that the program can appear "unfair" during the holiday season. It is important to ensure that the CEO and key managers approve PTO fairly. - Patricia Sharkey, Sharkey HR Consulting, LLC
2. Have Employees Use A Shared Calendar
We encourage our employees to use a shared calendar when setting their time off and to do it as soon as possible. It is always at the manager's discretion, to ensure we have coverage. We also try to be fair and rotate the holidays that people have off. We normally slow down during the holidays, so coverage isn't as vital as it is during the summer, meaning more people can take time off. - Erin ImHof, CertiK
3. Offer Remote Work Days
Incorporate remote work days into your PTO. As the holiday season approaches, many employees may want to extend their travel by working remotely around their vacation. To accommodate, consider offering built-in remote work days to give employees flexibility. Make sure you also have an automated system for these remote work requests, which will allow for streamlined processes and improved workflow. - Shawn Farshchi, Topia
4. Introduce The 'Floating' Holiday
One tip is to introduce "floating" holidays where employees can decide when and how they can utilize these floating holidays. These can be used for birthdays, anniversaries and or religious holidays. They can even be used for social causes and days that they can relate to. - Omar Alhadi, Adobe Care and Wellness
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5. Establish Flexible Policies
Not all employees celebrate the same holidays, much less live in the same time zones. Rather than making public holidays the backbone of a PTO strategy, companies can establish flexible policies that account for region-specific holidays and provide “floating” holiday time. Providing flexible PTO isn’t disruptive, it’s beneficial and inclusive for all employees, regardless of how or when they use it. - Leah Sutton, Elastic
6. Find Out Your Business Needs During The Holidays
Start by establishing your business needs during the holidays. In some cases, the period between Christmas and New Year’s may be slow enough that businesses can shut down with essential employees on call for urgent matters. If not, communicate to employees that not all PTO requests will be accepted. Drawing straws or staggering PTO can also make the system feel fair to employees. - Niki Jorgensen, Insperity
7. Discuss Policies With Employees Early
Communicate early and often about your policies such as blackout periods, incentives, roll-over limitations and more. In addition, set PTO request deadlines that give you enough time to understand how absences may impact service delivery and can proactively resolve conflicts. These communications will help to prevent surprises later. - Lisa Shuster, iHire
8. Look Into Hiring A Global Team
One of the benefits of having a global team is the flexible support structure it offers. For example, teams who are away during the U.S. holiday season can rely on support from teams in other countries. Utilizing an employer of record not only supports this workload flexibility but helps organizations avoid blackout dates for PTO and lets employees fully disconnect from the office while on vacation. - Rick Hammell, Atlas
9. Create A Flexible Culture
Companies need to be more focused on diversity and inclusion making flexibility vital. Replace rigid holiday calendars with a proportionate number of "floating" holidays. Allow employees to observe holidays they deem important and work on those they don't. Doing so will provide better overall coverage, lessen business disruptions and create an attractive and more inclusive environment. - JacLyn Pagnotta, Allied Partners
10. Increase Hours Allowed For Next Year
In order to discourage employees from hoarding PTO and leaving the company short-handed during the holidays, one solution is for employers to increase the number of hours they allow to be carried over to next year or for which employees can be paid out. Another more extreme solution is to “assign” PTO days to employees, requiring them to take time off to ensure they don’t all do it simultaneously. - John Feldmann, Insperity
11. Make Expectations Clear For Coverage
From the offset, create clear expectations about coverage. For example, perhaps it's okay for all team members to have down time between Christmas and New Year, or if not, maybe each team needs a coverage plan? And maybe team members alternate between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Making sure all teams are aware of expectations, approval processes and timelines is critical to avoid disruption. - Chatelle Lynch, McAfee
