Know how much holiday to give your staff

It is beneficial to both your business and your staff if you manage holiday entitlement correctly.

Disagreements over holidays and holiday pay are common if entitlements are not clearly agreed upon and set out in writing. These disagreements could lead to a deterioration in your relationship with your staff and possible complaints to industrial tribunals.

In addition, almost all workers above school leaving age are entitled to statutory paid holiday entitlement, so you should be aware of what this means for your business and manage how it is worked out for each worker.

Advantages of managing staff holiday entitlement

Effectively managing staff holiday entitlement can bring several business benefits:

• Staff who are able to take regular holidays can feel more valued and become more motivated about their work which helps them to perform more effectively.
• Having a break from the workplace ensures staff are less prone to accidents and less likely to suffer from stress because they have regular opportunities to rest.
• Having an annual leave policy and including paid holiday entitlement in employees' employment contracts ensures the rules and processes are clear to everyone. This will help you to take a consistent approach to annual leave across the business so that employees feel they have been treated fairly.
• Having a policy and appropriate procedures in place also minimises the opportunity for disputes. A worker is more likely to be granted an annual leave request if the appropriate procedure has been followed and they have given you sufficient notice of the leave so you can prepare for the absence.
• You should also experience a decrease in sick leave and staff turnover because staff feel more appreciated overall and are less likely to resort to sick leave when they need to take time off work.