Does the thought of all those overlapping summer leave requests give you a feeling of dread?
You’re not alone
I hear it all the time from business owners. Most don’t have a process in place for deciding who gets approved and who doesn’t, which causes anxiety and confusion.
The last thing you want to do is make a decision that’s hard to defend later but causes resentment because some team members feel that they’ve been treated unfairly.
Let’s look at what you can do when multiple holiday requests come in at the same time.
Know the law
You’re allowed to refuse a holiday request as long as you give the employee notice. The notice you give has to be at least as long as the leave they requested. So, if someone asks for 5 days off, you need to give them 5 days’ notice that it’s been refused.
You can also set rules in your policy about when leave can and can’t be taken and you can require a minimum notice period for requests.
What you can’t do is refuse requests in a way that discriminates, for example by always prioritising parents during school holidays and refusing everyone else.
Set clear policy rules
Define notice periods for holiday requests, set out how clashes will be resolved and communicate this to the whole team before summer hits.
Use a proper booking system
Emails and verbal requests get lost. A simple HR software system lets you see who is off, who has requested what, where clashes exist and what each person’s remaining balance looks like, all in one place.
Make decisions quickly
Sitting on a request for 2 weeks while you figure it out frustrates everyone and makes planning harder for the employee.
Plan ahead for busy periods
Encourage the team to submit summer requests early. The earlier requests come in, the easier clashes are to manage.
Spread leave across the team
If one person has banked 3 weeks for August and everyone else has taken theirs steadily throughout the year, that creates pressure you could have managed sooner. Also, plan properly so the people still working during someone else’s holiday aren’t left to pick up the slack with no plan in place.
Know when to say no
Business needs come first but explain the reason clearly. A short explanation goes a long way.
Pick a system and stick to it
You might decide on:
- First come, first served is the simplest and easiest to defend. Whoever requests first gets priority.
- Rotation works well when the same people always miss out. If someone lost out on their preferred week last summer, they get priority this year.
Whatever you choose, you need a legitimate reason for refusing a request that’s applied consistently, not used selectively.
Always document the decision and the reason behind it.
HR software makes this all easier
Managing holiday requests manually works until it doesn’t. And for most small businesses, it stops working around June.
HR software will:
- Give you visibility over who is off, who has requested leave and where clashes sit, all in real time
- Create a digital trail that shows decisions were made consistently. Employees can check their own balance, submit requests and see team availability without chasing you for answers
- Flag patterns you might not spot yourself, like one team being short-staffed every August
We can review your annual leave policy, help you to set up or optimise HR software to handle requests properly and advise on specific clashes or disputes before they escalate.
If summer leave planning already feels chaotic, HR software can take the pain away. Get in touch and we’ll show you how.