More and more organizations are choosing to use a vacation manager. This software allows to dematerialize and simplify the Human Resources processes. Beyond the obvious time savings that a digital and automated tool allows, it also offers better visibility into equipment planning in real-time.
In addition, in this period of health crisis where teleworking has become widespread, companies have had to reorganize and find new HR solutions to replace others that have become obsolete in this new work context.
What a good vacation manager should have
When it comes to choosing a vacation and absence manager, the most important thing is to make sure that they comply with regulations and legal agreements. The tool must imperatively be able to address the different types of days (holidays, paid leave, sick leave, etc.) so Human Resources managers must be able to easily configure it.
To optimize staff time and productivity, the tool should automate the request and validation process. Also, it should be able to integrate with payroll software.
WorkMeter’s time control software, has an API that makes this type of integration possible. It offers a complete vacation manager that allows you to easily manage:
- Vacation request
- Permits and cancellations
- Work calendar
- Notifications and approval system
Types of day
Those responsible for Human Resources can enter the types of days, or types of absences, available according to the company agreement: vacations, teleworking, permits, holidays, leaves, etc.
Each type of day may have an annual limit, this will depend on the organization’s policies, for example, 30 calendar days of vacation per year.
Work calendar
The application allows you to create as many calendars as necessary and assign them to the corresponding people or teams. Very useful when the organization has offices located in different provinces, whose holidays may vary.
Requests
Employees can request vacations from their calendar and their validation will be subject to the approval of their direct manager or go through the Human Resources department.
They can check, at any time, if their requests are being reviewed, if they have been accepted or rejected, as well as check the balance of their vacations.
In cases of sick leave, employees can attach, directly to the platform, the receipt so that Human Resources has it.
Planning
Managers can view a vacation calendar for all the members of their team to know, at all times, what are the available resources and easily manage requests.
Day record
Since 2019, companies are required by law to keep a daily hourly control of their workers.
How to improve vacation management
Now that we have seen what a good vacation manager should have, let’s see how to optimize management in the organization.
One of the most important needs of employees is the right to a rest period. It is essential to continue performing. However, not all companies know how to manage vacations well and avoid possible conflicts in the workforce. We present some keys to achieve it.
Define a clear vacation policy
Collective agreements are usually a good starting point for defining and managing a company’s vacation policy.
However, there are some aspects regulated by the Workers’ Statute, which must be respected, although the organization always has the power to improve them. These aspects are:
- Right to a minimum of 30 calendar days of vacation per year (22 working days).
- Right of the employee to know his vacation period at least two months in advance.
- Prohibition of financial compensation for unused vacations.
- Possibility of dividing annual vacations into parts, as long as one of them lasts at least two consecutive weeks.
When managing the vacation policy, you must define how many workers can be on vacation simultaneously. It is very important so that the organization does not run out of resources and can guarantee its proper functioning. It is also important so that employees who are working do not suffer from an overload of work.
Once this criterion has been defined, and to avoid any conflict, the organization must also specify a maximum time in advance for vacation requests.
The vacation policy must establish the order of priorities in the management of vacation requests. The adjudication system can be by order of request, by seniority, by age, or by family situations. In any case, a fair and balanced system should be chosen.
Finally, the vacation policy must determine an unambiguous system for the approval of requests and vacation planning. In order for it to work correctly and be easy to use, we recommend that you do not involve too many users in the approval flows. The choice of a vacation manager, or vacation software, will be key in this regard.
Promote transparency and communication
The rules must be clear and fair to all staff. The organization must communicate to all workers about the policies established for vacation control.
If the organization has an intranet or an employee portal, it should be published in this space so that it can be consulted by employees and managers. To do this, we recommend:
- Take the time to explain to employees how it works
- Informs employees of how many vacation days they have and the agreement applied in their organization (calendar days versus working days)
- Be sure to always communicate any changes to the policy
Using the appropriate tools is essential to manage absences and vacation planning correctly.
Excel templates are already outdated. They require continuous maintenance by Human Resources, which sees its administrative tasks increase. Depending on where they are stored, conflicting copies can be created that will only make management more difficult. The approval flow is very slow and subject to oversights or errors.
The best way to manage staff days and vacations is to trust the effectiveness of technology and adopt a vacation manager. Forget manual tasks and processes! Optimizing the labor development of your HR teams.
