Managing staff holidays can be a challenge for employers and HR departments. Handling multiple holiday requests at the same time, and potential disputes if you can’t offer someone the dates they want, may mean that you would rather not encourage staff to take a holiday at all!
But holidays, or just having time off work, are really important. Getting away from work can do wonders for our physical and mental health, so when we return to work we feel energised and focused. It can mean that employees are less prone to accidents and are also less likely to feel stressed. Absenteeism rates can be reduced because staff have a chance to recover from mental or physical fatigue. They’re also more likely to return to work feeling motivated and are therefore more productive too.
Managing staff holiday entitlement
Encouraging employees to take their holiday entitlement and have a break, is an important part of any employee health and wellness strategy. As well as the physical and mental health benefits, and the increased productively levels, promoting holiday entitlement is good for employee engagement too.Staff feel more valued when their employer actively encourages them to use their holiday entitlement which in turn has a direct impact on retention and morale.
It has a positive effect on workplace culture too and that in turn is good for recruitment; who wouldn’t want to work for an employer who thinks holidays are an important part of working life?
Employee benefits and holidays
While paid statutory leave is a legal requirement, it can also be an employee benefit. Employees are attracted to companies that offer more than their legal entitlement. In fact, many studies show that employees rate ‘more time off’ as one of the most desirable employee benefits.Of course, it’s not always feasible to increase the amount of paid annual leave you offer staff, but there are ways you can help them get more out of their time off.
Employee benefit schemes are a great way to do this. Through a holiday scheme employees can book a break whilst spreading the cost over 12 months via reductions from salary. By doing so it makes taking a holiday more affordable, paying for it easier to manage and no deposit is required.
By offering a holiday scheme, employees are encouraged to use their time off for relaxation and adventure. Whether they want a beach holiday to recharge the batteries, a citybreak to experience something new, or a trip to far flung places, they have lots of options to use their holiday entitlement and return to work reinvigorated!
For the employer, it’s a cost neutral scheme that can also save money if employees pay into the NHS Pension Scheme. Running a holiday scheme doesn’t have to be an administrative headache either. You can add the Vivup Holiday Scheme (run in partnership with Tui) to your Vivup portal and manage all your employee benefits from one place.
Now’s a great time to introduce a holiday scheme and be ready for the holiday rush in January! That’s when many people book their summer holidays, and when employees will really appreciate the savings offered through a scheme (especially after Christmas when budgets can be tight). You can sign up now and start raising awareness with employees, so that they know you’ve got their holiday covered when they’re ready to book it!
To find out more about offering a holiday scheme as an employee benefit click here. Alternatively, get in touch directly to request more information and discuss your requirements.
