In the final quarter of the calendar year, many businesses are also in the last quarter of their holiday year. It’s a crucial time for small business owners to check and ensure their team are on course to take their annual leave entitlement before the end of the holiday year. This a legal requirement, but also promotes a healthy work-life balance and can boost productivity. 

Here are some pointers towards managing annual leave effectively:

Why it matters…

Changes to the Working Time Regulations 1998, effective from 1st January 2024, placed greater responsibility on employers to:

1. Give staff reasonable opportunities to take leave.
2. Encourage employees to use their annual leave.
3. Inform staff that untaken leave will be lost at the end of the leave year (if appropriate).

Failure to meet these obligations could result in untaken leave being carried over, potentially creating staffing challenges ion your next holiday year.

Are there barriers in your business?

If you find your team have a lot of holiday still to take in the year, you need to consider why they’re not using their entitlement.

– Staff shortages: Are employees wary about leaving colleagues short-handed?

– Workload concerns: Do they feel there’s too much work to take time off?

– Company culture: Is there an unspoken perception that taking leave is frowned upon?

If any of the above apply, addressing the concerns is crucial for employee wellbeing, retention, and for the overall health of your business.

Practical steps you can take…

1. Check your teams’ entitlements against the time they’ve taken to date. Review how much leave each employee has had so far and how much still needs to be booked.

2. Send reminders: Issue a business-wide reminder around the importance of taking annual leave and the potential for losing untaken days.

3. Clarify the booking processs: Ensure all staff understand how to request time off and any periods during which they should avoid booking leave.

4. Lead by example: It can be hard to do, but as the business owner, you should visibly take your own leave to set the example.

5. Implement a visible leave planner: Implement a shared calendar or planning tool to make it easy to coordinate time off.

6. Address underlying issues: If you find there are issues that are preventing leave-taking, formulate and communicate your plan to resolve them.

In summary…

Encouraging your team to take their annual leave isn’t just about compliance – it’s about fostering a positive culture where they feel valued and supported. Regular breaks can lead to increased productivity, creativity, and job satisfaction.

As always, if you’re unsure about your obligations around annual leave as a business owner, or don’t currently have a formal annual leave policy in place, we’d definitely recommend speaking to an HR advisor. They’ll make sure you have the correct policies in place, as well as help you implement them in the business.

If you don’t yet have an HR advisor and would like some contact details, let us know! We’re here to help and have a broad range of contacts who’d be happy to do so too.