STAFF HOLIDAYS CAN CRIPPLE YOUR BUSINESS

Nyssa Gower
July 5, 2021

STAFF HOLIDAYS AND YOUR BUSINESS

Staff holidays Are you tracking how staff holidays are accruing in your business? What would you do if they all wanted to take leave at the same time? Will you need replacement staff to cover them in their absence? Can you afford it? Do you have a leave policy in place that has been clearly communicated with every staff member?

We look at ways to monitor, manage and budget for your employees to go on holidays, or provide for long service leave.

Monitor

Being in business, you will have accounting software such as Xero or MYOB. This tracks your employees leave balances constantly. Reports are accessible at anytime to show you what your employee’s type of leave, number of hours and the value of leave owing to them.

Awards change frequently, and it is important that you are paying your employees right, not only their wages and overtime, but also their super and leave. It is worth contacting a professional HR company to ensure you are meeting the current awards for your employees to prevent being reported to Fair Work by a disgruntled employee.

Manage

Make sure your staff are:

· Aware of your leave policy

· Taking their annual leave each year, not ‘banking it up’

· Staggering their leave, so you’re not short staffed

· Planning for long service leave

· Requesting/recording their leave through one simple system (i.e. if you’re using Xero, they can submit all their

requests in the same program)

Budget

As an employer:

· Review and monitor leave requests on a regular basis – at least monthly

· Have a clear leave policy in place – and signed by employees

· If staff are taking sick leave as soon as it’s accrued, do you need to review staff morale?

· Know that you can enforce certain leave (i.e. Christmas closure)

· Know that you can block off when you need staff most (i.e. peak seasons)

· Budget financially for staff leave

If you wish to put some systems in place, or understand your leave entitlement obligations, talk to your accountant or HR provider

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