For many, the end of the year and the holiday season can be “the most wonderful time of the year,” but for business leaders and managers, the holiday season can add even more stress to their busy schedules.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS TO HELP MANAGERS GET THROUGH THE HOLIDAY SEASON THIS YEAR:
MANAGING TIME-OFF REQUESTS
It goes without saying, you’re going to be getting many additional time-off requests during the holiday season. Whether that’s because people are wanting to use up all of their vacations before the start of the next year, or because they have to do a lot of traveling for family celebrations, it can start to create a backlog for the manager needing to process these requests.
Some tips to help manage these requests:
Make sure you have clear policies for employees around asking off with plenty of time in advance. Reach out to your employees before the season starts to reiterate those policies. Communication is key and it will help prevent you from getting all these requests at once.
PAID HOLIDAYS
Certain employees might have different requirements regarding how they are paid for holidays, and this is outside of any holiday bonus. For example, a non-exempt, hourly employee may be paid extra on top of normal wages for the hours they are working, while exempt employees will receive their base salary.
Handling Holiday Pay
In most states, there is no requirement to pay non-exempt employees extra for working a holiday. But, make sure you have an understanding of your state’s laws and federal FLSA guidelines on what’s permitted around holiday pay. Communicate what’s expected of your employees and what you plan to do and make sure there’s an overall understanding.
CONFIRMING YOUR HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
This is a task you should take on at the end of every year. The policy around holiday schedules should be clearly outlined in an employee handbook and should be updated periodically.
Setting your holiday schedule:
Use this season to look at the following year’s holidays and set your schedule. This means that during this holiday season you would confirm your schedule for next year. The holidays are an extremely busy time and your employees will want to plan around them accordingly, so this sets that schedule far in advance while it’s still fresh on your mind. Crossing this task off your list now will help set you up next year with no need to worry.
A trusted HR partner can help you handle these end-of-year challenges and any other challenges that might also arise at the start of the next year. Here are some HR tasks you can handle now to start the next year off right!
