Employee Leave Requests: Your Top 10 Questions Answered

As a company that cares about the well-being of its employees, of course you want to create a corporate culture that encourages people to take the time to recharge their batteries. But not every time off request will keep your business running smoothly and fair to other members of your team. Far from boosting team morale, being too flippant in the way time off is requested can be a faux pas for everyone.

No matter the size of your team or the industry you operate in, a seamless leave management system is essential. Here's how to create, implement, and adhere to a time off request policy that will help you retain top talent and keep your team happy and motivated.

What is a leave request?

A leave request is when employees request permission to be away from work for a certain amount of time, paid or unpaid.

Managers or business owners can approve or deny the request based on company time off policy, taking into account the availability of the rest of the team.

What is a leave policy?

A leave policy is a written directive on your rules and regulations regarding time off.

This is your management approach to approving or denying employee requests, including how to handle last minute leave requests.

Paid leave policy

PTO, also known as paid time off or personal time off, is when employees can take time off work while receiving pay. Paid time off gives your employees the flexibility to take some personal time if they're sick, want to go on vacation, or just need a day off. A paid vacation policy is usually limited to a set number of PTO hours each calendar year, which may or may not carry over to the following year if not used.

Leave without pay policy

Leave without pay, or UTO, is time away from work without being paid. An employee may opt for this type of leave due to illness, family or personal obligations, or to take a particularly rewarding vacation. Some companies may choose to only allow unpaid time off, while others allow their employees to request unpaid time off after they exhaust their number of paid time off requests.

Unlimited leave policy

An increasingly popular approach is an unlimited paid vacation policy. The worker can request as many personal days as he wishes, as long as he is doing his job. Unlimited time off policies work best for results-driven organizations like startups, where flexible scheduling is easily manageable.

Floating holidays

Some companies offer their employees floating holidays, that is, days off that can be taken, provided proper notice is given, at any time of the year. Unlike paid vacation days, these types of vacation requests do not carry over to the next calendar year if unused, and there is no increase in the allotment over the years.

What is a leave request policy?

A leave request policy is usually the section of your employee handbook that tells your employees exactly how to submit a request for paid or unpaid leave.

An effective policy should review your company's rules in detail. It will often include:

How many days of unpaid or paid leave are allowed and how often How far in advance requests should be submitted Any specific instances or times of the year when employees are not allowed to request time off What is your process for overlapping leave requests Whether employees are asked to swap shifts or help find someone to cover their work in their absence How and where employees should submit their requests

With clear rules and consistent enforcement, you can...