Day Off

Category: Company

  • Employees’ leave tracking: What experts are saying about it.

    Employees’ leave tracking: What experts are saying about it.

    Managing employee leaves or time off is a crucial activity for the HR management of every company. No matter whether it is a small company or an established one, this is something that needs to be handled very carefully. Nowadays, you can easily do this by using an Employee’s leave tracking app, like Day off. But before investing in such apps or tools, it will be better for you to understand leave-tracking or management and why it is important for a business. Let’s discuss this in detail.

    What do you mean by leave?

    To earn a salary, an employee doesn’t need to work all day.  In simple words, leaves are like off work days, apart from the holidays that employees deserve, as per a leave policy. If you look back around hundred years ago, employees were not given the privilege to take a paid leave. But now, almost all the countries ask the HR managers or management to provide their employees with paid leave as well as paid holidays. In fact, in the United States of America, more than 95 percent of companies offer paid leaves to their employees.

    PTO- Paid time off or leave is a preferred benefit after the healthcare coverage. There are different types of leaves an employee can enjoy. It is the state government’s law that forms different leaves and how many leaves a company can grant per year. While there are earned leaves, in some cases, employees can carry forward the leave balance to the next year.

    However, when it comes to managing and tacking the leaves, most companies are now facing a lot of issues. After all, tracking the leaves of hundreds of employees is very challenging. So, how to do that? This is where the leave management process comes to play.

    What do you mean by leave tacking or management?

    Speaking about leave tracking or management, it is the process of managing employees’ leave based on the current leave policy of the company. This is very important for a business not just for statutory compliance but also for enhanced employees’ productivity and engagement. This process includes different important factors, such as:

    • Routine leaves or vacation administration work
    • Designing effective leave policies considering the nature of employment
    • Implementing the leave policies

    Understanding the cost of poor leave management and tracking

    Even though tracking employees’ leave as well as attendance is one of the major elements of the payroll process, yet most organizations are not taking this seriously.  The process in itself is not time-consuming or challenging, provided the best Leave tracker is deployed to make the process fast and error-free.

    However, when carried out in the wrong way, the effects will be very severe. It can have a direct impact on the continuity of the business. On the other hand, it can have a negative influence on the staff. Leave tracking gone wrong can lead to low employee morale and lack of productivity. And you never want to face such issues. Let’s have a closer look at the issues that can arise due to inappropriate or poor leave tracking.

    • Unavailability of staff

    Resource allocation and planning is an important factors in the process of developing a sustainable business. And leave tracking is a crucial input in this. The HR managers, as well as employers, should have better visibility about the leave eligibility of the employees. Besides, they should know about the outstanding leaves, the status of leaves taken, and employees’ alignment with the company’s leave policy. After analyzing all these things, the projects and roles can be properly staffed. In a company, when employees take too many unplanned leaves or more than the allocated limit, it can lead to a staff shortage issue. Besides, it will be an obstacle to the business community. In this era, where customers need a faster result, the unavailability of required manpower can be a lethal jab to the business. As a result, it will lower the credibility level.

    • Various legal challenges

    The labor laws of different countries have underlined different leave rules for the employees and employers. Well, the rule can vary based on the employment types. No matter what, all employers need to comply with these laws. Nowadays, you can see different types of work arrangements, such as remote workers, part-time employees, full-time employees, contract workers, and more. This has raised the complexity level of leave compliance, and modern-day employers are now facing the risk of non-compliance. The reputation-hit and cost-hit of non-compliance can be very damaging to a business. With a proper leave tracking system, companies can keep them protected from multiple legal challenges.

    • You can’t forget the financial risk.

    A company’s leave policy and labor laws talk about the leaves that can be encashed and how many leaves an employee can carry forward. Well, in some cases, leave encashment can be a financial liability for an organization. Paying the person at a particular time for the leave encashment can directly affect the company’s current year’s profit and loss statement. So, it is important for the HR managers while doing leave management to understand the financial outstanding related to the leave encashment. As a result, this will not affect the cash flow.

    • Employees morale

    Mismanagement of vacations or days off can greatly affect the morale and well-being of the employees. How? Well, the employees who have not taken leaves may deal with the burnt workload as well as stress. The employees who have taken more leaves may showcase a poor employees engagement level. Besides, it suggests that those particular employees have a lower commitment towards their work. This can be a reason for employees’ exit. Besides, taking more than the assigned leaves can develop inter-team conflicts and issues. So, employees and HR managers should understand the purpose of leave utilization in real-time.

    What’s more? As per the experts, they should always discuss leave-related issues without any hesitation. It is a fact that the employees feel happy when they get a leave or time off at the time of need. When they don’t get enough leave, it can lead to demoralization and demotivation. Tracking the utilization, planning leaves or time off in advance, and establishing a good leave policy can help you manage the leaves in a better way. In order to make it a little easier for you, you can use a professional PTO tracker, for example, Day Off.

    How to carry out effective leave tracking and management? Well, don’t worry at all as here are some experts’ tips that you can follow.

    Tips on employees’ leave tracking

    The process of leave tracking can be more complex than you assume. The reason behind this is that the HR managers in the companies are assigned a lot of responsibilities to make sure there is a perfect balance between consistent availability of manpower and employee engagement. But here are some tips that you can follow to make the process easier for you. Have a look.

    1. Use professional leave tracking software and automate the process.

    The process of tracking leaves is very complex and can take a lot of time as well as effort. Besides, if you do it manually, you may encounter some errors. So, what is the best solution for this? It’s time to invest in a good Vacation tracker, like Day Off. Such tools are designed to automate the process. As a result, it will eliminate the possible errors and boost efficiency. On the other hand, a good employee time off tracker can make sure that there are no errors or variations in the payroll. With a few clicks, you can get all the details about the employee’s leave and patterns.

    When you deploy such software, employees will get access to a self-service portal where they can easily request vacation and enjoy the leave benefits. On the other hand, employers can view as well as approve the leave request in real-time. What’s more? The tool can automatically evaluate the leave requests and monitor the request against the remaining leave balance of the employees. The Free time off tracker can also effectively track the approved, unapproved and outstanding leave applications.

    Time off app greatly helps in evaluating the impact of leave and planning the necessary resources for the scheduled projects. As a result, managers or administrators can make effective decisions regarding employees’ leave. Furthermore, the automated leave manager tools allow the HR management to enforce the company’s new leave policy accurately and fairly. Leave application approval and routing process can also be adjusted based on the company’s requirements. The most important thing to consider here is, that managers can now access information in real-time for reporting, analysis, and making financial estimates.

    • Allow the employees to apply for the leaves in advance.

    When the employees don’t plan their leaves in advance, this can create challenges for the employers in managing the resources for the ongoing projects. An Employee leave tracker app can make it a lot easier for the employees to plan in advance and get approvals beforehand. As a result, there will be no nightmare of the unavailability of resources. Even if the employees are taking leave, this will not affect productivity.

    •  Create awareness about the leave policy

    It is quite important for the employees to know about the current leave policy of the company so that they can comply with the policy. Well, it is the responsibility of HR to make sure that the leave policy is readily available to the employees. So that they can go through it before applying for a leave. A PTO tracking software lets you upload and send the leave policy on the platform; Besides, all the information will be saved in the cloud storage, and employees can access it whenever they want.

    • Better integration with the payroll module

    What makes the attendance and leave of the employees a major responsibility of HR is the fact that the payroll of the staff will be greatly affected by the leave tracking data. As every organization wants to make sure that there is no inconsistency in the payroll, the best way is to integrate the Day off app into the payroll system. As a result, there will be a proper data integration between them, and you don’t have to evaluate anything manually.

    • Being empathetic towards your staff

    It is important for employers to understand that sometimes an employee may ask for additional leaves due to any genuine circumstance. Rejecting the leave requests in such a situation can negatively affect the morale of the employees. So, what is the trick? Well, you need to develop the right balance between the interests of the organization as well as the employees. 

    • HR managers should set a realistic return.

    As per the experts, HR managers should always focus on having a realistic return to job expectations. What does that mean? If an employee is taking a week off from his work due to any complicated medical condition, setting up a comfortable or welcoming return environment to work can motivate them, and this will boost their morale.

    • Provide the employees holiday pay when you need them to work

    During the holiday season, the companies deal with two major things, i.e., work becomes very hectic, and it decreases in terms of volume. Well, if your sales are growing during the holidays, then you should offer holiday pay to attract more employees to work during that time. In fact, such incentives will be good for the employees who are looking for different ways to make extra money. Besides, this will motivate the employees not to take more leaves.

    Use the best Employee time off tracker and manage the employees’ leave tracking to keep your business running smoothly. A Free vacation tracker can come with advanced reporting functions. You can use those reports to make an informed business decision. For example, it can assist you in addressing absenteeism issues. Besides, you can study leave-related trends. So, use the best tools, such as Day Off, and enjoy the easiest way of leave management.

  • Legal requirements for PTO and Leave in Canada

    Legal requirements for PTO and Leave in Canada

    Canada has been a favorite among many when it comes to tourism and jobs. Undoubtedly, there are many who are thoroughly accomplished about their jobs in Canada. Still, anyone doing a job is obvious to enquire about the PTO and leave. Most importantly, alongside the day off, people enquire about how many paid leaves or day-offs are allowed for the person.

    From a professional perspective, Canada is indeed a great nation. But,

    it is true at the same time that Canada comes within the list of nations offering a fewer number of paid vacations in a year. In this context,

    role of professional day off app seems relevant to keep track of the leaves for the HR professionals. However, there are many aspects that one must know before working in Canada. The following abstracts throw more light on it.

    When someone becomes eligible for paid vacations

    According to the law, employees working in Canada can enjoy paid vacations of a couple of weeks in one year. However, this is not everything you can get here. Noteworthy here is to mention that this vacation can only be used by an employee post completion of one year in the company. Now, amidst a whole range of work pressure,

    both the HRs and also the employee need to remember the day or date on which his/her first year completes. For all such busy people, taking the help of a professional Leave tracker seems a great idea.

    Special perks for the loyal employees

    Just like every other nation, Canada also provides special perks to those who decide to stay loyal to their employer for long years. Now many would ask how long is long enough to get the perks?

    The answer is six years; those who stick to the job for above six years can enjoy the advantage of an extra week of paid leave,

    along with a couple of weeks already given paid leaves. It means one needs to remain mindful about when the six years of employment are complete. In this context, the role of a professional vacation tracker seems useful for the HR professionals to count the total number of leaves already taken and about the remaining ones.

    Minimum legal requirements regarding day-offs and vacations in Canada

    It is important for the employees to have an idea about the minimum legal needs in Canada for taking leaves. An employee becomes eligible for accumulating vacation entitlement even just after serving five days for the company or the employer. Furthermore,

    the employees become eligible from a legal perspective to enjoy the vacation of 10 days of working each year as far as B.C. is concerned.

    Post completion of employment for five years, the employees become eligible for enjoying 15 days vacation in the B.C. There is an option for an employer to acknowledge more number of vacations,

    but the employer can’t force for anything less, as per the law. Upon being agreed, the commitment of such become compulsory and is enforceable, again as per the law. Being an employer in the B.C, it is essential to make sure that employees are taking the least number of vacations each year.   

    Significance of perfectly defining key terms 

    Most people who have spent few years working for reckoned Canadian companies or employers claim that working here is moreover like being in a relationship. In straight words,

    those who manage to maintain a good relationship with the company or employer can enjoy significant benefits as per the laws.

    At the same time, the rules regarding vacation and leaves seem a bit confusing with growing years. The reason behind this confusion is because most people don’t understand the legal or official terminologies well. ‘Year of employment’ is one such crucial term that one needs to understand is very specific.

    Basically, it indicates the period starting on the day on which an employee gets roped in and the ending 12 straight months from the same. This also may be one calendar year,

    as well as the period of straight 12 straight months as it is decided by the employer as per the norms in relation to the industrial establishments. No matter how advanced PTO tracking software someone uses,

    clarity can never be obtained unless one gets clarity about these terms.

    Importance of employment year

    Coming to the importance of this period or the ‘year of employment,

    ’ it matters as one becomes eligible for the vacation only post completion of one year. Noteworthy here is that one must take the period associated with it into account, rather than just the number of years. Most importantly, the employee needs to have served 12 straight months without having any break. Things get different when one doesn’t attain or takes a break of a month or more.

    This is given so much prominence as the vacation pay is calculated in accordance with the wage one had in between the initial 12 months duration. This is where the role of a professional employee leave tracker app seems significant. In general, this is calculated as 4% of the total earnings in the year of entitlement.

    Moreover, this is also applicable for those employees who become eligible for the paid leave of a couple of years. In other words, this is applicable for those who completed their first year only recently. However, things differ in accordance with the entitlement. For example,

    in those occasions of 3 weeks of entitlement, the payout of vacation, in general, is 6 percent that of the total earning or what the concerned person earns.

    Things to consider when someone resigns but doesn’t get the scope of using the days of vacation

    It is often claimed that the job of HR professionals has become way lot easier in modern times,

    especially after completion of one year. Such claims are basically made keeping the employee time off tracker available in modern times. Well, things are certainly not as straightforward as it seems. There remain additional angles or dimensions to consider.

    For example, an HR professional has to consider things like what if someone resigns. In other words, HR needs to consider if the employee doesn’t even get the scope of using the vacation days. Well, from the perspective of an employee, it is obvious if someone gets worried about losing the vacation days upon changing the job. However, there is absolutely no need for such worries.

    According to the law, it is essential for an employer to pay the vacation amounts he owes for whatever number of years of employment the concerned employee has served.  Additionally,

    the concerned employee also becomes eligible to be paid the vacation pay amounts for the part of ongoing year completed. Yes, HR professionals can certainly find the role of time off app highly significant on such occasions.           

    Various confusions arise regarding the status of employment as well on such occasions. Well, the simplest rule is that when the leave remains integral to the pay, no change in status of employment occurs. In other words, here, the benefits remain associated very much like the employee was part of the organization. It’s the employee who gets earning of the vacation payouts, as well as the duration during the period of leave. For meticulous calculation, HR professionals often take the help of a free vacation tracker for greater convenience.

    Is there any kind of impact of the absence leave upon yearly vacation eligibility?

    It is often enquired whether the absence leaves actually have any sort of effect upon the entitlements of the yearly vacations. This is a critical aspect where one needs to keep the legal aspects in mind as well, along with the details obtained through a free time off tracker. Anyway,

    the HR professionals first of all need to check whether the payment for the leave or for the absence was paid.

    The answer can be anything. In case when ‘yes’ is the answer, it is quite sure that there won’t be any kind of change to the status of employment. In other words,

    the concerned employee can enjoy the whole range of benefits that he/she would have enjoyed while being at work. To be specific, the employee will enjoy the vacation payouts, as well as the time through the course of leave period.

    However, if the answer is no, or when the absence is not paid, the seniority of the concerned employee keeps on accumulating. Most importantly,

    there is not going to be any effect upon the date on that the concerned employee will manage to be eligible to enjoy a boost in wages to around 6 percent. In addition, there remains a vacation of three weeks as well. But, noteworthy here is that the concerned person hasn’t earned any kind of amount for the duration of the absence.

    Keeping this in mind, the payout is going to be calculated explicitly upon the wages gathered during the employment year. However, the vacation time on such occasions doesn’t build up during the time of leave when it is not paid. Rather, it is allowed to be paid proportionally in accordance with the period served during the employment year. Moreover, it’s the duty of the concerned HR management to take all these things into account.  

    Vacation Pay

    Vacation pay is an important aspect for both the employers, as well as employees. To be specific, HR managers often have to remain more careful regarding this. According to the law, paid offs are provided to the salaried employees with complete salary continuation. Noteworthy here is that the salary continuation means that the regular salary remains undisturbed when the employee remains on vacation. Talking about the employees working on a per hour basis can accumulate vacation payout at 4 percent on overall earning. Interestingly, the same grow to 6 percent of overall earning post completion of 5 years.

    Concerns of vacation pay for the employer

    There remain certain aspects those need to be taken into account by the employer as well. To be specific, the employer has the option to select the option of paying employees working on a per-hour basis 4 percent on overall earning on every paycheque. Otherwise, there remains the other option to accumulate 4 percent for them and pay the same out to the employee when they request for the same, which is basically when they go for their vacation period.

    Any kind of accumulated, yet not used, vacations for both the salaried employees and those working on a per-hour basis are essential to be paid when an employee leaves the company, irrespective of the reason. An employee might not be given vacation against the time offs, though, as per the statutory norms.   

    Taking vacation actually matters

    It’s a perception among many employees that not taking a vacation is cool. Basically, they have the perception that the employers feel impressed about the employee on such occasions. Well, this might not be true on all occasions. Overall, it’s true that people need some break from work. The vacation of some days is felt absolutely essential to remain equally enthused about the work or to remain productive all throughout the year. Health experts often rather recommend the same.

    But, not all workplaces are the same. There are strict workplaces where one might be felt like it is not possible to take a break; otherwise, the work will get hampered. Well, bigger challenges often demand smarter solutions. On such occasions, the problems could be addressed with smart organization skills.

    At the same time, taking the help of vacation tracker software can be equally handy as well on such occasions. There are various options one can find as well. However, not all these can be equally reliable. Day off can be a good recommendation in this context for HR professionals looking for something best.

    Conclusion

    All said and done, legal norms in relation to the day off, leaves, or the PTOs in Canada are quite straightforward. However, there are several dimensions to the same as discussed broadly in above abstracts. It is equally important for the employee, as well as the employer, to remain aware of all these, and most importantly, to stick with the same strictly.

  • Preventing 5 Common Employees Vacation Tracking Problems!

    Preventing 5 Common Employees Vacation Tracking Problems!

    When the temperature rises, the vacation conflicts, or vacation loads heat up at the workplace. For HR management, the summer season can be the annual bickering period over prime holiday time slots. This is because too many employees opt for leave at the same time, which generally creates havoc and employees vacation tracking problems.

    Multiple time-off requests and scheduling the leaves can be a massive headache for all HR managers. Even though it may not be a challenging part of the job as you can manage these using PTO tracking software, but this is certainly close to the top of the list. Employees have the right to take leave as they need a break. And for a business, it is important to keep everyone happy without affecting the business task. Well, this can be a herculean task.

    Here one important question arises, that is, how to manage multiple vacation requests fairly when all the employees want their annual leave? What if you want them not to take their vacation during Christmas? And what is the best way to keep a good track of the vacation requests?

    Suppose you want to have a good grip on managing employees’ vacations; you probably must be thinking over multiple questions in your mind. Well, there is nothing to worry about as now you can take the help of advanced technologies to manage such things. For example, a well-designed Time off app. But don’t consider this as the only solution. There are some other factors that you need to keep in mind.

    Keep reading, and you will find different solutions to manage the employee’s vacation and avoid possible conflicts.

    Do employers have to offer paid time off?

    Well, there are no such federal laws that can say employers have to provide paid time off to the employees. But that doesn’t mean that the HR managers should take advantage of it. Remember that each state has its own PTO or employee’s vacation requirements that will determine whether the employers are bound to have a paid-off time or vacation policy or not. So, to prevent any issues in the future, it is important for the HR management of a company to understand the guidelines.

    Even though it is not legally necessary, having a paid leave or vacation policy in place can be a good idea. Offering your staff, the flexibility to take off from work can greatly improve the overall workforce. For instance, offering vacation pay can help you attract as well as retain the best talents. Besides, by offering sick leave, you can keep your workplace healthy.

    But it has been seen that sometimes employees take advantage of it and remain away from work for multiple days. Such things can affect the business’s overall performance. So, the employers should properly track the vacation requests using an Employee time off tracker and take the necessary steps.

    Challenges in vacation or leave management

    Employee engagement, as well as satisfaction, will play a crucial role in ascertaining the success of a company. Out of multiple factors that enhance employee engagement, the comfortable process of applying for leave and getting approval can bring significant results.

    Without proper leave management, a company can be exposed to multiple adverse effects, for example, wrong time calculation, employee mismanagement, and more. But why do such issues arise in this process? Well, here are some reasons to consider.

    1. Knowingly not tracking the leaves or vacations

    It has been seen that many HR managers knowingly decline to track some leave categories. This generally happens from a desire to be accommodating or benevolent. Sometimes, they find themselves in a difficult situation. After all, no one wants to lose the best employees. For instance, they don’t track:

    • Adoption related leaves
    • Pregnancy-related vacations
    • Intermittent leaves
    • Pre-surgery appointments

    As per the experts, by not tracking such leaves, the employees could get marked for an attendance issue. But actually, it is the fault of the employer. So, it is advisable to use a professional leave tracker, such as Day off, and track every type of leave that your employees take.

    Employees were not informed about the leave balance and leave policy.

    It is a fact that the HR management of a company can receive hundreds of queries every week about the leave balance. However, this can consume a lot of time, and HR may not be able to focus on the core tasks.

    Furthermore, employees have to wait for days to know the leave balance and to get access to their attendance details. Not getting timely updates on the latest vacation policy and other compliance problems can create a sense of dissatisfaction among the employees. So, how to deal with such issues? One of the easiest ways to do that is using a professional Vacation tracker. Such tools can automate everything related to the leave policy. For example, the app can send updates about the leaves to the employees. Besides, they can apply for their vacation and track it.

    Line managers are not able to manage the staff leaves.

    Some companies have reported that their line managers generally face difficulties in the process of managing their team members’ leaves. They were not able to:

    • Make an informed decision on whether to accept or reject the leave requests.
    • Get an insight into the team members’ availability in that particular time period.
    • Detect the employees’ leave requests pattern to understand whether the employees are taking advantage of the leave policy or not.

    Is there any solution for this? How can the line managers make an informed decision? Well, a PTO tracker like Day off can be a helpful tool here. It offers a single platform from where you can get all the data about employees’ leave.

    Payroll errors due to multiple undocumented leave transactions

    As per the experts, paid time off can greatly affect the bottom line of a company. Some companies deal with inefficiency to manage the employee’s vacation transactions for every department. LWP- Leave Without Pay can lead to errors in the payroll if you are not tracking it properly. During a study, the expert found that some HR managers were unable to manage the transactional vacation load and lower the manual errors in deciding paid leaves and LWP taken by the staff. That led to a heavy financial burden in attendance, expense, and leave-related transactions.

    HR managers don’t know the time.

    Another situation when the employee vacation tracking can be very problematic is when the HR or employer doesn’t know about the staff’s need for leave until it turns into a huge problem.

    For instance, let’s look at a company (hypothetical) that has its employees in different locations. Samson, who is remote working, is repeatedly absent for backpain. Besides, he has surgery in October and another one in December. The manager then comes to HR and complains about the regular absence and suggests the HR to fire Samson. Well, for this, they will have to start the leaver process again. However, this can be a problematic situation on a different level. This is generally a problem for managers and training supervisors.

    How to deal with the problems related to employees’ vacation tracking?

    1. Keeping track of the employee on leave

    Vacations are important for the staff, and sometimes you can’t even refuse the leave request of an employee. Without proper leave management, it can be very difficult for the managers or HR to cope with the leave request. On the other hand, no one can track the leave for days manually. Besides, if the manpower is more, it can create confusion. In such cases, no matter how big the HR team is, the company should invest in a good employee leave tracker app. Such tools are designed to improve accuracy, and you can easily track all your employees’ holidays without any error.

    Properly define the rules of the vacation or leave requests.

    Clarity and transparency of the leave management process are crucial while dealing with multiple vacation requests. In fact, everyone, starting from management to employees, should understand the rules created to govern the leave requests.

    By keeping the leave process clear and ensuring everyone understands it will help you run your business smoothly. Furthermore, by creating rules for leave requests, you show that you respect the employees. In general, the rules for leave requests should cover:

    • How do leave requests need to be submitted?
    • When can one request a leave?
    • When can’t staff request time off?
    • How far in advance should a leave request be made?
    • Set a deadline for leave requests

    It is a fact that every industry has various high-intensity seasons where too much vacations can bring havoc for the business. For example, in a retail business, the requirement for manpower will increase during the winter holidays.

    So, for those times, the company sets a deadline when the employees can send the leave requests. Besides, you can also set a particular time frame for the request. This will prevent employees from making leave requests. But what to do when there are a lot of time off requests? First of all, you need to use a Free vacation tracker to know how many requests you have received. After that, you can apply two commonly used methods to manage the request. These are:

    Seniority- This can be the perfect method where there are multiple leave requests that, for different reasons, are conflicting as well as valid. It can discourage new staff as they will not get optimal leave requests because they have not been in the company for long enough. So, you should be flexible in this.

    First-come-first-serve- Under this method, the employee who submits the request first will be granted the leave. That’s why you inform the staff about the deadline. You need to be a little flexible about this. Or else some employees may not be able to get leave as they failed to send their leave requests on time.

    Track the previous leave requests

    You should always keep track of the leave requests of your employees. Besides, you should know about when they make the time-off request, the reason, and the actual leave. Well, this may take time; by tracking the requests, you can identify the patterns. Furthermore, you will also have a better reason to reject the request of the employees who are asking for leave too often, showing the same reasons.

    Based on how you are tracking the leave requests, you can even see if there are any staff who actually need time off. Perhaps, they really deserve a leave for a genuine reason. This is where you can use a Free time off tracker. The software can store all the employees’ leave requests on one platform and can show you the report whenever you want.

    You should pay attention to the employees not taking leaves.

    Some employees think that vacation is not a good thing and a good employee doesn’t take time off. Well, in such a situation, the managers should take time to discuss about the importance of leave, even if it is a few days off to relax. For many, time off is one type of loss. But as a leader or employer, you need to be observant of such conditions. If you think some employees are not taking time off, you should discuss about this with them. Tell them about the importance of taking a vacation and also try to know why they are not taking a leave.

    Use an automated system for regulatory compliance.

    Accurate vacation tracking is also crucial to meet multiple regulatory requirements. This is quite important for the companies that follow the Fair Labor Standards Act. Well, any tracking solution, like the Day off app, can make it easy to comply with the internal policies as well as the government regulations.

    Some of the common causes of non-compliance are due to inadequate and inaccurate record keeping.  When you use an automated leave management system to track attendance and time, you can prevent errors. Besides, this will also help you in preventing costly litigation.

    Being able to properly check as well as track attendance data in a centralized system offers great value to your company. Employees will be able to review the hours worked and can also check their remaining sick leave. These features will contribute to the staff members who readily adopt the attendance software.

    On the other hand, employees will appreciate your efforts in making the leave request process easier for them, and they don’t have to contact HR to know about the leave policy.

  • How to manage sick leave abuse in your company?

    How to manage sick leave abuse in your company?

    It has been seen that a lot of companies across the world are now using PTO tracking software to manage the leaves of their employees. Do you know what the major reasons behind this are? Well, as per the experts, sick leave abuse can be a measure reason behind this. However, this can bring huge negative effects to the company and can also affect all the employees’ performance.

    It is a fact that unlike annual leave, sick leave can’t be planned. In some cases, the percentage of employees having vacation days can remain the same, but employees with paid leave can jump. When compared to the number, you will find that the prevalence of sick leave can lower productivity. So, most companies are now looking for different ways to deal with such issues in the most cost-efficient way. For this, some are using the best Time off app like Day off.

    Well-paid sick leaves are a crucial benefit for the employees, including the service workers, part-timers, and more. If the employees don’t get the required sick leave, that can lead to different health issues. Besides, this can also lower productivity as well as morale. Even though companies are trying different ways to improve their performance, for some companies, sick leave abuse has emerged as a major issue. If not managed properly, the companies can suffer from huge losses.

    This is really bad news

    It can be said that sick leave abuse has become an important subject for every company’s HR management. In fact, it a crucial part of all the companies as it demonstrates that the management of the company is compliant about the sick leave abuse policies as well harm. Different studies conducted by various organizations have proved that sick leave abuse can make a company to face around USD 500 and USD 1,000 loss per employee per year. So, the companies should take necessary steps, including using the employee leave tracker app to manage the sick leaves abuse.

    What do you mean by sick leave abuse?

    Speaking about sick leave abuse refers to the employees or staff who violate the company’s attendance policy. In some cases, exploitation of the company’s sick leave policy can range from the employees are not calling or no available for their respective shifts. Besides, it can also include exhausting the available paid sick leave and then requesting more leaves.

    All the employees have a right to render service during their working hours. They are allowed to take leave when they are ill. However, it has been seen that sometimes employees lie about it and claim to be ill to take the leave. Well, this is a breach of contract, and management can take necessary disciplinary action as per the rule. If required, management can also investigate the matter.

    However, this is not a permanent solution, and the HR managers should come up with a solution, like using a Leave tracker and more to manage the abuse.

    The pattern of sick leave abuse

    The pattern of sick leave abuse generally refers to employees who have violated the attendance policy of the company on multiple occasions over a period of time. To discipline the employees with the issues related to attendance, some legal experts have said that the best way to deal with this is to have a well-formulated leave policy that clearly speaks about the company’s standards a well as employees’ requirements.  

    On the other hand, the companies should use a well-developed and professional PTO tracker to keep an eye on the employee’s leave pattern. Besides, it is also important to make sure that repeated sick leave can lead to termination. Some of the examples of violation of the attendance policy may include:

    • Several absences, times coming in late, and early departure counts, all of which exceed the required attendance policy allotment.
    • Failing to obtain a permit from the management for coming in late and leaving early.
    • Failing to submit an advance notice of the employee absence.
    • Inappropriate way of reporting an absence properly.
    • Unbale to submit a medical certification when asked by the HR management.

    It is important to understand why employees are exploiting the company’s leave policy is crucial. Just like the employers study the turnover, the companies should keep an eye on the trends of sick leave abuse.

    Is the leave usage higher under a certain manager or in one department? If the workplace policies or practices are affecting the employees’ absences rate? Do family matters lead to the employee’s time-off?  What can be the issues with this?  Well, let’s discuss this?

    Some major causes of employees’ absenteeism in the workplace

    It is a fact that there is not just one reason behind this. If you study carefully, you will find a lot of reasons. Some of the major reasons are:

    Burnout, stress, and depression

    Different mental health issues, like anxiety, depression, stress, and more, can make the employees to take leave. Relationship issues, financial issues, and heavy work pressure are some major reasons for depression, stress, and burnout. When this happens, the employee may take more leave than the allotted paid leave limit.

    Bullying and harassment

    While many states and cities are taking necessary steps to prevent such issues, still many employees are dealing with such issues. Some laws require companies with more than 15 employees to conduct a one-hour anti-harassment training session. When the employees are harassed and bullied by their employers or co-workers, they are likely to take a sick day.

    Childcare and family obligations

    Sometimes, some employers may want to take an unplanned leave from work to look after their elder family member or a dependent family member. Well, sometimes, an employee can tell a lie and ask for sick leave stating this reason. So, it would help if you were very careful about this.

    Lack of engagement in the workplace

    Disengaged staff is those who are not 100 percent committed to their job, company, or colleagues. Such employees are more likely to miss work because they aren’t motivated to go in.

    So, the reason can be more, but you should try your best to control the unwanted absenteeism and sick leave abuse. For that, you can always use a Free time off tracker and deploy necessary rules. Now, let’s discuss how to manage the sick leaves abuse.

    Discouraging the staff from doing sick leave abuse at the company’s policy level

    Within your employee handbook, ensure that the HR management has deployed a robust sick leave policy. You need to be very specific about how to handle sick leave also what you need from employees. Besides, it is important to regularly remind the employees about the policy in different ways. For this, you can use a Time off app like Day Off.  Besides, you need to prove that the HR department is strictly monitoring sickness absenteeism and discouraging misuse of sick leave.

    Create a sick leave policy based on the company’s requirements

    It is important to discipline all employees with absenteeism problems. Many HR experts have stated that the best way to make it possible that by rolling out a lucid sick leave policy, considering the employee requirements and standards of the company. The policy should mention that if anyone misuses or doesn’t follow the policy can face termination. 

    For example, if the employees want to take sick leave on Monday or Friday or on a working day after or before a public holiday, then you can ask the employees to submit a valid medical certificate. However, the leave policy should be a little flexible.

    Monitor the sick leave carefully

    Ask your employees to properly fill up the sick leave form or application when they are taking a leave. In the future, this will help you to understand whether the employee is following a sick leave pattern. Well, you can now automate the entire process by using a professional Employee time off tracker. The software can record the leaves and create a detailed report on them. It can also help you in getting enough evidence to carry out an investigation on the employee.

    Sometimes communication can be a great solution

    The HR Managers should be proactive when an employee is off sick to deal with abuse situations. It is the duty of the manager to have regular contact with the employee while that particular employee is off sick. This will prove that the company is very attentive when it comes to observing the sickness absence.

    On the other hand, when an employee has been absent, it is important to talk to that employee when he/she back to work. For the employees having genuine reasons to take the leave, this will be an ideal way to check in on how they are doing, and you can show your support for them. If the employee comes to work after a longer period of absence, then you can conduct a return-to-work interview to make sure that the employee is good. Sometimes, instead of using a strict policy, it will be better for you to understand the reasons behind taking sick leaves frequently.

    Instead of punishment, focus on problem-solving

    In some cases, there can be some underlying reasons for employees’ frequent absences. For instance:

    • Does the employee have a workload? Are they heavily micromanaged?
    • Perhaps the role is unclear, so the employees are not feeling motivated.
    • Is workplace harassment or bullying a potential issue?

    So, try to understand that and make sure the employees are not suffering from any stress-related issues.

    Insist on a medical certificate

    Another thing that you can do to control sick leave abuse is to ask for a valid medical certificate from the employee if he/she is absent for more days. Besides, make sure that all the employees know about the aforesaid policy. The medical certificate needs to be obtained from only the registered doctors.

    You should only accept medical certificates that clearly say that the employee has the said health issues and he/she has been examined by a professional health expert. In case the employees fail to submit a valid medical certificate when asked, you should consider this as a disciplinary issue. Based on that, you can take the necessary steps.

    Use a leave management software

    You can also use a Free vacation tracker to understand the leave patterns of your employees. The application will record the data and show you the pattern of taking the leave of a particular employee. This will help you in understanding whether the employee is right about the leave or not. Besides, using the software, the employees can apply for sick leave in advance and can check the remaining sick leave balance. Based on the requirements, you can accept or reject the leave request.

    Measure the absences and investigate MCs

    If you think the employee who frequently remains absent is abusing leave, then you should approach the situation carefully as well as rationally. Before doing any investigation, you need to keep the fact ready. Besides, you need to record the absence regularly, and for that, you can use the Vacation tracker. Recording the absence is crucial for compliance and will help you in understanding where the misuse of sick leave can be made. 

    Some employees can submit a fake medical certificate to take a leave. You need to be very careful about that. How to deal with the fake medical certificate issue? You can contact the doctor who has issued the MC to verify whether it is a genuine certificate or not.

    Bonus can motivate the employees

    The end of the year is the time when most businesses plan their costs. Well, if you forgot to do this for the current year, then you may need to keep that in mind for the next year. It has been proved that a good bonus program for full attendance can keep the employees motivated, and they may not want to take more leave. Besides, it is better to show appreciation to those employees who are performing well.

    So, follow these tips and always use a good Day off app to control the sick leaves in your organization.

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

    What is sick leave abuse?

    Sick leave abuse occurs when employees misuse their paid sick leave, such as taking time off without being ill, failing to notify the employer properly, or submitting false medical documentation.

    How does sick leave abuse affect a company?

    It can reduce productivity, lower team morale, and cost the company financially—sometimes up to $1,000 per employee per year.

    How can companies prevent sick leave abuse?

    By creating clear sick leave policies, using leave management software, requiring medical certificates, and maintaining open communication with employees.

    What tools help manage employee time off effectively?

    Apps like Day Off help track leave, generate reports, and automate approvals. They also integrate with Slack, Teams, and calendars for seamless management.

    Can employees request time off through communication tools like Slack or Teams?

    Yes! With tools like Day Off, employees can request time off, check balances, and managers can approve or reject requests directly from Slack or Microsoft Teams.

    Why is it important to track sick leave patterns?

    Tracking helps identify trends or potential abuse, enabling HR to take proactive steps to support or address issues before they escalate.

    Should companies reward good attendance?

    Yes. Offering bonuses or recognition for consistent attendance can motivate employees and reduce misuse of sick leave.

    Smarter time off tracking starts here.

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  • Legal requirements for working hours, PTO and Leaves in USA

    Legal requirements for working hours, PTO and Leaves in USA

    Starting from the number of working hours to the number of wages, it regulates everything, other than the paid leaves.

    It is here to note that it’s not mandatory for employers to provide paid vacations in the United States to their employees.

    the federal law is quite simple as far as the total number of days that the employers need to offer for vacation,

    be it about paid vacations or unpaid. It’s all about the Fair Labor Standards Act, which has been there since 1938 and is regulating it all.

    State regulations and company norms

    As the US law doesn’t make anything compulsory is not essentially meant that there wouldn’t be any time off for the working hours. Though the federal law is negligent,

    the state law certainly provides scope in order to have negotiation between the employer as well as the employee. In this context, those taking the help of a leave tracker should first check out the state laws.

    Noteworthy here is that every state has its own laws as well as limitations. As per these laws, it provides certain perks for the employees, though it may not acknowledge certain policies. Upon having clarity regarding these policies and guidelines, one can easily get clarity about things.   

    Apart from these, it’s the size of the company or its employee strength that also matters in terms of company policy. It’s this distinction that plays a major role in deciding about the kind of benefits that would be essential to be offered at the workplace.  

    Actual Vacation days

    Paid vacation is considered the foremost advantage that any company can provide. Moreover, the companies take a lot of pride while providing this advantage. This is also the reason that vacation tracker is highly demanded. Though not needed by federal law, the employers,

    in general, offer a minimum of 10 days as paid vacation, hence keeping the employees accomplished.   

    Sick days

    Though vacation leaves often get maximum attention, thus making demand for free vacation tracker,

    but there is another important leave that is the sick leave that must be given equal level emphasis. However, sick leave is explicitly meant for the health aspects of the employees. It can be equally applicable as well when any family member of the employee gets sick,

    though it is primarily given when the child or the spouse of the employee gets sick. In general,

    the employers provide 6 days of leave to the employee, though 9 days of leave can be provided as well.   

    Personal Days

    Norms about personal days are as important as all other aspects discussed above. As per this,

    the employees are given the freedom to make use of their time offs in any mode as they wish for the tasks they think are important. There are no strict restrictions regarding this;

    it can be anything, like a relative getting sick, for any kind of parent meeting, for healthcare appointments, funerals, or if the employee celebrates a national holiday.  

    PTO in terms of merit

    Incredible clarity can indeed be obtained by using PTO tracking software. However, it is more important to have clarity regarding the policies. It is important for employers to understand that the PTO policy can not treat every single employee with an all-inclusive norm. Rather, here meritocracy should be taken into account.

    In other words, there need to be different policies applied for different employees in accordance with the duration of the service and level of accomplishment. All that needs to be ensured is that the causes for taking a vacation are not the outcome of discrimination. Upon meeting well with the norms,

    the companies have the freedom of offering perks of vacations in such a way that it can meet well with their strategy.

    Moreover, upon meeting the federal laws plus state laws, it’s ultimately about making a deal between the employee and the concerned company. As different employers do provide different PTO in accordance with the nature of the job (whether part or full time),

    there is no firm rule that can be taken as a constant. This is where the role of an effective PTO tracker is highly felt.     

    PTO accruals

    As far as the federal level is concerned,

    there is no law that demands employers to offer any kind of vacation. There is no rule regarding time off as well. But, the rules regarding PTOs often do vary from one state to the other. At the same time, states don’t especially demand employers to offer paid vacations to their employees,

    though there are some that handle PTO accruals. Hence, the employers need to meet well with the state regulations prior to fixing their norms regarding PTOs. 

    PTO is, moreover, any kind of paid leave from the working hours that has been earned by the employee but has not been used so far. In case of PTO,

    the combination of vacation, personal leaves, sick leaves, etc., are considered to offer greater flexibility for the employees to use their time other than the work.  

    In accordance with the policy of the employer, the PTOs can differ. But, in general,

    it offers employees a break that can be useful for different purposes, like sick leave, personal holidays, paid holidays, pregnancy leave, etc.

    Eligible employees

    Employers often emphasize a lot towards managing leaves of their employees and thus make use of employee leave tracker app. In this context, the employers those work for 40 working hours in a week and the employees who work below 40 working hours in a week but not under 20 working hours can earn the eligibility of PTO working hours. Similarly,

    the employers those work for less than 20 working hours a week consistently, those who work on-call basis, and the temporary employers don’t fall under this category.

    Calculation of Accrual Rates

    Accruals are about paid hours of around 2,080 working hours in a year, which is about 40 weeks every week. Noteworthy here is that the overtimes don’t fall under this. Fresh employees initiate with PTO accrual advantages on initial day of the job. Also,

    the accrued time rates do differ in accordance with the job type of the employee or the years they have served.   

    The accrual rates often differ in accordance with the employees do earn, i.e., whether on a daily basis, monthly basis, bi-monthly basis, or annually.  Well, one may not necessarily have to remember all these things upon having an Employee time off tracker.

    The account of PTO working hours for every employee has an annual high and any PTO hours can’t be accrued going beyond the highest accruals noted. States those are having compulsory laws for paid sick offs can decide about the way employers calculating accruals.

    Overall annual time off

    In accordance with the duration of service of the employee, the duration can be about 26 days for PTO plans. It also differs in terms of states. For example, the duration of northwestern states is 11 days, which is 8,5 for south states and 9,4 days in case of western states.

    Use of PTO

    Those using Time off app or any kind of PTO tracking app need to remain aware of the rules regarding the use of PTO. The first rule in this regard is that the vacation leaves must be scheduled much prior. However, an employee can make use of the personal and sick off without any kind of prior notice. One can use PTO in increments of even one hour. An employee is essential to make use of PTO hours as per his/her scheduled workdays. An employer may need that the employees make use of accrued PTO hours upon taking parental leave for getting paid. 

    Rollovers as well as payout for hours not used

    It’s up to the employer to decide whether to offer rollover advantages to the employees in accordance with the norms of the state, as well as the rules of PTO payouts.

    • Use-it-or-lose-it policy

    When the regulations of the state let employers execute policies, then the unused accrued PTO days won’t be rolled over. In those occasions when the law of the state doesn’t let the employer execute policies, then employer is essential to roll over accrued PTOs from the earlier to forthcoming year.

    But, an employer has the option to keep a cap upon both the total hours meant for rolling over, as well as the total hours accepted to be within the account of the employee. However, the states like Montana, Nebraska, and California don’t have this policy. Similarly, the states like Massachusetts and Illinois have exceptions in this regard, though they allow the same. Every other state allows this.

    • PTO payout

    Certain states come up with payout laws for PTO, though on most occasions,

    the law is applicable only for the vacation time that is earned. For example, the states like California and Nebraska demand PTO payout. Similarly, the states like Oregon, Wisconsin, and Maryland require the same, though with exceptions. It is not essential for the employers to offer PTO payout in the end for other states.

    It can be easier to assess things upon taking the above aspects into account and upon making use of free time off tracker.

    Laws for new parents

    There are basically a couple of federal laws that provide protection for new parents. It is quite essential for anyone associated with HR management to remain aware of these laws. Below are those two laws. 

    • The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

    This law restricts the employers from firing, declining to hire, or declining promotion to a woman, simply as the concerned woman is pregnant. However, it doesn’t offer any kind of job assurance to any pregnant woman, as well as the new parents.   

    • The Family and Medical Leave Act

    This is another vital act that HR managers must remain aware of. It offers unpaid leaves post a child takes birth or on those occasions when the state of the child’s health is critical.  

    There are other states to offer bigger job protection to the parents for taking care of the newly born babies over the one offered by the FMLA, which is of 12 weeks. The prominent states those consider this include California, New Jersey, Tennessee, etc. At the same time, there are states to adopt their own laws regarding parental leaves, which include the names like Hawaii, Rhode Island, Washington, New Mexico, etc. Knowledge of these rules, along with a comprehensive day off app, can provide incredible clarity on these aspects.

    It is important to have clarity about the kind of leaves that fall under parental leaves. The first thing that falls under this is the family leave. Specifically, this kind of leave is meant for taking care of an ill family member, which also includes the one suffering from disabilities related to pregnancy or those related to childbirth. This is also applicable for the new parents in order to provide biological support for the child. It also includes family leaves of paid form and medical leaves.       

    Maternity Leave

    Maternity leave certainly needs no introduction. Basically, this is the most vital time in the life of a woman when she has to take off for giving birth to a child. Noteworthy here is that this rule is applicable for those who adopt a child as well. In fact, medical as well as parental leave also does fall under this.

    In accordance with the state law, varied types of benefits can be grated in relation to the given time regarding leaves that are allowed; job saved time and needs from different employees those fall under this. Employers might demand that the employees make use of the PTO time to ensure that she gets paid when she remains on leave.

    Apart from these paternity leaves, leaves in relation to jury duty, bereavement leave, voting leave, as well as military leave. So, these are the key legal aspects that one must know about a day off, PTOs, etc. It may not be easy to keep all these things in mind and keep track of the day-offs. In this context, downloading the Day off app can be a fantastic recommendation. It’s an all-inclusive tool to keep complete track of the day-offs and vacations of the employees. The best part is that the app is incredibly user-friendly in nature.

  • 5 software tools you need to manage your startup

    5 software tools you need to manage your startup

    Getting started with a start-up is easy, but it’s certainly tough to sustain with the same. There comes a wide range of challenges that these startups often have to confront. On such occasions, no startup can imagine functioning without having reliable tools and technologies. The startup culture in modern times is indeed much evolved with evolving scenarios of virtual workplaces and growing emphasis towards remote operations.

    Evidently, the use of right software has turned out to be the distinguishing factor for successful startups from the rest. Needless is to say that a startup enriched with high-end tools can achieve results in a much quicker time upon keeping things organized. For example, someone enriched with a professional vacation tracker is obvious to be more systematic in terms of dealing with customers, rather than those handling things manually. Naturally, they can be more productive than the others.  

    Importance of being strategic to find the best startup tools

    It’s true at the same time that there is a range of options that a startup can find in modern times regarding tools and technicalities. However, not all these can be equally trusted or relied upon. In addition, there remain budget constraints associated as well. After all, a start-up can’t just go with any of the hugely buzzed software that the top rankers often do boast. At the same time, they can’t also go with any random tool just because it is available for free.

    It can be confusing sometimes for a startup to find out the best option on such occasions. Well, being a little strategic can be helpful for the company to come up with the best options. In this context, it is advised that the approach should be about finding effective tools for the key segments of the business, like HR management, that actually matter for productivity, rather than investing in anything that could be dealt with manually.

    It can be understood that a startup might not always get enough time to think and figure out the best options. In this context, here we have come up with 5 best options that can actually make things easier for the startups in terms of easing down their functionalities for all domains, starting from HR management to communication. The best part, these tools can thoroughly align with the business goal of the concerned startup, irrespective of its scale. Streamlining the process, these tools can make things easier for the concerned startup to take the right business decision.

    Day Off Leave Tracker for employees’ leave and PTO tracking

    Needless is to say how much it matters for a startup to make the most of its employees. In this context, Day Off app can be an incredible recommendation. This is one of the finest leave trackers in order to keep track of the leaves of the employees, as well as for tracking the PTOs.

    It can incredibly save the valuable time of the startup, as well as their efforts in terms of tracking the absence of the entire company in one place. In fact, one can establish the complete policy for leave as well as vacation aspects in a matter of few seconds. The tool can make things look absolutely easy to handle workflow approvals. 

    Day Off has its mobile app for the managers, as well as for the employees. The app can be excellent in terms of keeping track of the vacations and requesting the same from anytime and anywhere. Through it, one can easily direct the leaves of employees to the most appropriate person.

    One can claim that it provides complete control in the hand of HR to handle its managers, as well as employees. If you are looking for reliable PTO tracking software, then also this can be your one-stop solution. Rather, it can be claimed that it’s currently the most popular PTO tracker at the moment.    

    There remains a comprehensive HR dashboard for greater control. There is a calendar view option available for the company, as well as its employees. It enables them to keep track of the vacations, as well as the time offs. Generating a comprehensive report for any period can be done quite easily through this incredible leave tracker app.

    The tool enables users to create a company account quite easily. All that one needs to provide is company details, ranging from name, mail id, location, to password. That’s all it takes to create the company account. It enables the users to add teams within the company with distinct configurations for every team. Next, one can add to every team a dedicated manager, as well as employees. All in all, this time off app can greatly ease down the work pressure from the HR department.      

    Flock

    Be it about a start-up or an established company; effective communication has been the key behind success of each. Better is the communication between the teams, or within the team, greater is the prospect of its growth. In modern-day scenarios, with growing reliance upon virtual communications, technology certainly has started playing a major role.

    This is the reason that the start-ups often remain in hunt for the most effective communication techniques that can provide them the needful ease and effectiveness. Keeping all these things in mind, Flock can undoubtedly be one of the finest recommendations. Just like the incredible employee time off tracker tool cited above, Flock too is also high on demand among modern-day start-ups.

    The best part about Flock is that it is much advanced as a tool than a mere messenger. Specifically, start-up houses looking for a powerful tool for facilitating effective team communication can indeed find it a great option. Rising above being another mere message sending tool, Flock has turned out to be a powerful concept making business collaborations happen with incredible effectiveness.

    It can facilitate things much faster than startups could imagine. It’s a completely unique tool that has changed the way start-ups would communicate with their teams. Be it about facilitating direct communication channels, through group messaging channels, through video sharing, through file sharing, upon preparing customized lists for mailing, to company directories; Flock can be the all-inclusive solution for all.    

    Flock has it all that a small business would need for facilitating effective communication, as well as collaborations. Interestingly, there is a free version available for it as well, along with a Pro edition that costs around 4.5 USD for each user per month.

    With growing dependency upon video conferencing for effective communication on all levels, Flock has turned out to be one of the finest recommendations for start-ups. It enables small businesses to host meetings, as well as webinars over the web. In fact, it enables the businessmen to initiate a video call straightaway through a conversation channel, as well as in sharing the screen through a live presentation. With Flock, it is possible to communicate along with anyone directly on-face in real-time, irrespective of the place. 

    Slack

    Slack can be another incredible tool for start-ups. In fact, it is currently one of the most popular names, at the same time being the fastest expanding software explicitly for the start-up in recent times. There are millions of users of Slack around the globe for connecting with their teams through a single platform. Interestingly, it is possible to develop several channels in order to discuss various projects or matters.

    At the same time, Slack can be a fantastic tool for those who prioritize one-to-one chats as well. A distinguishing aspect of Slack is its flexibility. The tool lets the users integrate the same along with various other popular applications like Gmail and drive. It can be integrated with Trello as well. The tool is quite user-friendly in nature that can be helpful in discovering messages as well as notifications.

    The factor that makes things explicit about Slack is the ease it provides for the users in simplifying things. In fact, a huge number of startups do make use of the software for facilitating effective communication, which includes Airbnb. Slack doesn’t just facilitate conversations; rather, it makes things thoroughly organized.

    One of the distinguishing features of the tool is the searchable history feature, which can be incredibly useful in assessing things. The tool is fantastic from a collaboration perspective as well. No matter you want to collaborate directly or through the shared screen, the software can be useful in all aspects. With well-incorporated file sharing features, it helps the start-up in maintaining thorough coordination among the team.

    Slack doesn’t disappoint users from price perspectives as well. To be specific, its standard plan starts only at $3.20 per month, which can range up to 6 dollars per month when it comes to the plus plan. However, for greater assurance of the start-ups, the software Slack comes up with a free edition as well.

    This free edition is meant for the smaller teams. In fact, the free edition can be enjoyed for an infinite period. However, one can expect greater perks through the Plus plans. Noteworthy here is that the Slack Plus plan starts at 12.50 USDs for every user per month.  On the other hand, the Standard plan starts at 6.67 USD per month. 

    Hootsuite for startup in Social Media

    Marketing is certainly an integral part of any business. Irrespective of scale, it is impossible for a business to survive without effective marketing and promotional strategy. Specifically, a lot of importance is being given to online promotions or digital marketing.

    For a start-up, it’s quite obvious for them to look for ways of promoting and marketing things for free or at lower costs. This is the reason that so much emphasis is being given to social media by start-ups. However, it’s true at the same time that the competition over social media is quite immense. One can’t just expect success with social media strategies without being strategic.

    This is the reason that marketers often emphasize using high-end tools. In this context, Hootsuite can indeed be a fantastic recommendation for startups. This is a high-end research tool that can even enable companies to know the way a user thinks about their products or services. Needless is to say, how it is valuable for any company to know the exact mindset of the customers. Where top companies spend billions for such data, there are tools like Hootsuite providing the same details at a comparatively much lesser budget.

    The interesting aspect about Hootsuite is that it is incredible in terms of managing social media account. It’s pretty much an all-in-one tool on this aspect, enabling users to handle the entire network of social media through just a single dashboard. It can make things simpler regarding scheduling as well.

    In fact, one can prepare the schedule of future posts well in advance over a range of social media platforms. Not just for scheduling, the tool is incredible in terms of tracking the contents over different platforms. The software can ease down things to a great extent regarding engagement with the followers. It can be the all-in-one tool for handling an entire team of social media.   

    There is a range of features that make the tool stand out. Automated scheduling of posts is one such fantastic feature. It comes with vital performance metrics for greater analytics of things. Its flexible workflows approval is another key feature that makes things strategic to manage things. Its custom analytics can be incredibly helpful for effective decision-making. One can export the reports as well through the tool for the entire team. 

    The good news is that there is a free edition available, though for 30 days of a free trial. However, one needs to go with the paid plans onwards. For a single user, the professional plan starts at just 17.56 USD per month, which can range up to 627.04 USD per month. Here it is available for about 5 users. Along with employee leave tracker app and video conferencing tool, this one is also one of the highly recommended tools presently among the experts for start-ups. 

    Canva (Design) is the best for startup

    Needless is to say, how crucial it has become for a startup to have an effective online presence. From this perspective, designing a catchy website enriched with incredible graphical elements has become extremely important. Startups emphasizing this aspect should definitely consider Canva. It can be a useful tool for fulfilling a whole range of graphic design demands. Be it about blog posts, social media posts, or any kind of design needs, Canva can fulfill all types of graphic design needs.

    Interestingly, Canva comes with a massive library as well having millions of photos and fonts, as well as the icons to select from. There is flexibility for the users to pick a suitable design template for creating a site from scratch. In fact, it is quite user-friendly in nature, where one can simply drag and then drop to get the job done. It can be an effective tool for all types of editing jobs as well.

    Coming to the pricing, the Pro plan starts at 9.95 USD per month, in which one can enjoy over 4 million photos. Well, just like the free time off tracker, there is a free edition available for it as well. One can use it to design just anything through this free edition.

    Conclusion

    Modern-day technology is not just about providing the ease of functioning or running a business; rather, it provides access to the most vital data whenever the company looks for it. This is the reason that it has become essential for start-ups to pay equal emphasis towards finding the right set of tools for arranging finance. The bottom line is that any start-up, irrespective of niche, can feel confident about using the mentioned above tools. It includes a suitable tool option for all, be it about those in search of a reliable free vacation tracker or a reliable video conferencing tool.

  • Tips to manage leaves of different time zone teams

    Tips to manage leaves of different time zone teams

    The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced every business across the world to let the employees do remote work. On the other hand, the experts have been predicted that the remote work facility will rise in the coming days. Instead of going office, experts are expecting a long-lasting shift to the remote workers where employees do remote work from different places and from various time zone.

    Remote working has become a new way of working. On the other hand, since the recent COVID-19 crisis, it also has become a new normal for most employers as well as employees. While this facility has brought a lot of benefits, HR managers are now facing challenges in managing leave of different work-from-home with different time zone teams.

    So, when it comes to working holidays as well as taking time off, employers can get a lot of requests. However, the fact that leaves for the remote working teams can be different than the leaves for the physical teams as well as a regular team. For example, a PTO related to COVID 19 need to be tracked in compliance with federal, state, and local governance.

    Across the world, every company is performing all the possible things to keep up with this. After all, this is a time where ignoring leave management can be a costly affair for the company. So, how to deal with all these things? How can the HR management manage the leaves of the different remote working teams?

    Well, the advancement in technology has made it a little easier for employers and companies. Now, one can easily manage the leave requests from multiple teams by using professional PTO tracking software. Now, let’s discuss this in detail and explore some tips to manage multiple leaves.

    Before diving deep into the matter, let’s understand why employees prefer to work remotely. Here are some reasons to consider.

    A great level of flexibility and freedom

    It has been proved that most remote workers with different time zone love their freedom. Why? While working remotely, they can easily plan their Day that will match their home and work life. Having a decent level of flexibility to visit the hospital, spend time with family, and attend to their important task can lighten the load. On the other hand, there is no need to seek permission or follow other members while working. This will lower the pressure. When the companies offer such a level of freedom, it develops the trust factors, and employees enjoy a better level of job satisfaction.

    It is cost-saving

    A lot of employees think that going to the office can be a little expensive. For example, they are going to the office means dealing with the cost of travel, coffee, snacks, colleague presents, work clothes, and more. With remote working with different time zone, they can easily save on such expenses. As a result, they will save more money. Besides, it has been proved that remote working can also help in lowering childcare costs. Why? Well, parents will get more time to take care of their children.

    No location restriction

    Another major benefit of remote working with different time zone is employees can work from any place they want. Employees don’t have to a particular city. As a result, they can easily avoid unnecessary traveling. In fact, they will get more time to work.

    Better health and happiness

    Different studies show that traveling each day and staying in the office for hours is not the healthiest way. The remote teams with different time zone have the biggest advantage of not getting into contact with other people. This is something quite crucial during this pandemic. Besides, remote working also facilitates better mental health.

    Why are some companies emphasizing remote working?

    It has been seen that some companies are now giving importance to the remote working model as they have understood that this is an ideal way to attain a higher level of productivity. Let’s talk about some other major benefits of having remote teams.

    • Better productivity

    Different studies have proved that remote employees can easily complete an entire day’s work each week compared to the other employees. Remote team members with different time zone can work during the time that suits them the best and can stay out of the regular office distraction. So, they can concentrate on the task without being disturbed. They can set their own working environment that can inspire them. So, it can be said that remote working can easily lead to a greater level of productivity among the employees

    Of course, to enjoy the maximum benefits, the company needs to offer all the facilities to the members, including Day off facilities.

    • Efficient communication

    Gone ate those days when frequent catchup-up and unnecessary meetings that can affect the working hours. It has been proved that remote team with different time zone meetings are to the point and purposeful. Meetings are organized with a clear goal, action plans, agenda, and more. In general, advanced video software programs are used to organize meetings. The employees will get more time to work as they will spend less on those unnecessary mattings.

    • Creative unleashed

    To begin with, some businesses may feel comfortable letting their best employees work remotely with different time zone.  Why? This way, the best employees can be offered perfect work-life flexibility. The best part of remote working is that companies can bring out the best in their employees.

    • Easy access to the global talent

    When a company follows a remote working model, the company no longer needs to keep the recruitment process limited by a particular physical location. Besides, the companies don’t have to compromise in locating the right talent for the post. A company can get access to the vast pool of talented candidates and choose the best one.

    Well, with all such amazing benefits, the remote working model can look very attractive. But when it comes to managed leaves, companies face trouble. So, how to deal with leaves and enjoy the remote working model. Keep reading to know more.

    Why does vacation or leave important?

    No matter whether it is for physical employees or remote teams, vacation or leave is a good thing for both the business and employee. Some studies have proved that every year around 700 million leaves go unused by employees. Besides, around 200 million leaves were forfeited by staffers.

    Some employees think that taking leaves will make them appear less dedicated to their company. On the other hand, some worry about leaving their undone tasks. It has also been seen that some companies don’t encourage their employees to utilize their leaves. But this is not a good idea.

    Different studies have proved that offering vacation time as well as encouraging them to use it can promote a healthier workplace. When you offer required time to employees to refuel is a great way to prevent burnout. However, there are also some other benefits.

    Researches prove that employees who work for the companies that encourage leave are happier than the companies who are silent about taking time off. Some other studies reveal that around 70 to 72 percent of manages think that employees can handle extra time if they are offered time off facility. Most of the managers think that employees return from a holiday with a better level of creativity and focus.

    So, if you want to maintain the perfect growth of your company and keep your employees motivated, then giving them vacation will be a great idea. Now, here are some tips for managing the leaves.

    Some best ways to manage the leaves

    1. Create a clear leave policy

    If you don’t have a leave policy, then it’s time to work with your HR department to determine what type of framework the leave policy should follow. For example, you can create a policy considering different factors, such as accrued time, rewards for tenure, and you can also set the maximum number of leave for the employees doing remote working. Once done, distribute that policy to all. This way, your employees will know when they can apply for leave.

    • Stick to the leave requirements

    As per the BLS- Bureau of Labor Statistics, American employees, on average, get ten days of PTO- Paid Time Off every year. However, the number can go down or up based on the region and industry. In general, the days off increase with the employee’s service period. In some companies, in every five years, the employees can earn around three to four days of additional days off every year based on their longevity. 

    Cultural celebrations, special occasions, and holidays, there is a huge requirement for managing days off. Besides, some industries follow the vacation regulations set by the government. Fair work in Australia, the UK’s Good Work Plan, and Fair Workweek in the U.S., all these regulations talk about the maximum number of leave an employee can take.

    You can make the leave compliance easier using a professional Day Off app that comes with a built-in compliance feature. Using this, you can easily block the time off or leave requests automatically for the dates when you want your employee to be there to work without affecting the leave requirements.

    • Make sure the work can get done

    Most of the companies, as well as teams, don’t have the required deep bench. What does that mean? Well, then one is on leave, the others need to find out how to get the work done with one less person.

    So, what should you do here? Well, you need to ensure that you are encouraging all your employees to collaborate as well as cross-training. As a result, if one employee is out, other employees on the team can quickly fill that person’s place and complete the task. Remember that don’t make a single employee so critical that if that particular employee is taking a leave, that can affect the entire team.

    Another best way to ensure that works don’t suffer from the leave is that the team needs to make sure that the work is completed before the vacation. For this, you should provide every member with a checklist so that they can know that they need to finish before they can take a leave. You can easily do that by using a well-designed PTO tracker. The checklist should include:

    • Important deadlines
    • a summary of their ongoing projects
    • location of the important files
    • Important contact information

    When you have all the information, you can enjoy peace of mind by knowing that the work will get complete on time.

    • Set a deadline for the leave requests

    To avoid staff shortage issues, you need to make sure that the remote working team members are submitting their vacation requests before a fixed day. This will help you in understanding how many employees have applied for the lead. If you think you will lack coverage, you can ask some employees to postpone their leave requests. Besides, you will get enough time to find out why too many employees want to leave at the same time.

    • Consolidate the leave requests on one platform

    Text messages, emails, or sticky notes, what method you use to manage the leave requests? Well, the fact is that you will not get enough time to manage this thing using spreadsheets, papers, or voicemails. However, you can use a Free vacation tracker to manage the leave from just one place.

    When you have a professional Time off app that can offer you a centralized leave management feature, you can easily view leave balance, different leave types, and more in one place. With this, you can make the process for applying for a leave comfortable, and you can also easily approve the requests.

    • You need to encourage the employees for planned leaves

    It has been proved that unplanned leaves can greatly affect business activities and can also lead to financial losses. On the other hand, planned leaves can help you in developing an efficient attitude among the staff.

    So, it will be better for HR managers to encourage both physical and remote employees to plan their PTO or leave in advance. This is where a company can use an Employee leave tracker app. Using such apps, companies can track the leave balance and current time off status. As a result, it will be easier to maintain a better workflow for the team and employees.

    • Offer ongoing communication using a simple tool

    To maintain a smooth business operation, you need to keep all the lines of communication open. This is very crucial. Let the employees know when they should or can contact you for the leave questions. You need to create an environment of understanding. Besides, make sure that the team knows there is no need to worry about asking for time off when they urgently need it.

    It will be better for you if you can set a time limit between the actual days off and the leave request. Unless the condition is extreme, the employee should not apply for a leave request just one day before the actual date of leave. Using a Vacation tracker, you can check this thing.

    It’s time to use leave management software to manage the leave efficiently

    A leave management system, or you can say an Employee time off tracker or software, is designed to provide both the employees and company to manage the leaves. There are many automated leave management software programs that enable employers to take the leave balance and leave status.

    Using a leave tracker, you can easily save valuable time and track the leaves in one place. Besides, you will be able to set the vacations or leave policies within a few seconds using a Free time off tracker like Day off.  By automating all the tasks, you won’t face any issues in managing leaves and looking for the best app? Well, it’s time to try our Day Off app.

     

     

  • Mastering Team annual Leaves: Work Life Tips

    Mastering Team annual Leaves: Work Life Tips

    Work-life balance is now more relevant than ever. With mental health and wellness on the line, employees have to take time off every now and then to maintain efficiency. Apart from doing the obvious which is reducing the stress level in employees, leaves boost morale.

    There are a bunch of mental and physical benefits linked to annual leaves so it’s pivotal for a company to make sure the employees are using up their quota.

    HR managers often struggle with keeping track of yearly leave, especially since there are different leave cases complicating the process. Stress leave, sick leave, parental leave are some of the many options. Finding a system that allows easy monitoring of employee availability within the business is key.

    Manual record-keeping is time-consuming and expensive. Consider utilizing a smart leave management system to keep digitized data. Collecting data from a leave tracker at the end of the year is much easier. Assume Day off app as an example. The employee leave tracker app lets HR admins keep account of employee availability, balance, and much more.

    What is Annual Leave?

    Before we get onto annual leave management tips, let’s be better acquainted with the concept of annual leave. It’s basically paid time off in Work life employees get. They can use it for whatever purpose they wish.

    Now, this raises an important question: “Are part-time employees and full-time employees entitled to an equal number of leaves in Work life?”

    How Employee Leave Is Paid

    The rate for time-off payment for an employee is the same as their normal regular wage. Based on the country, part-time workers are given 4 week vacation. But, this isn’t a set standard; it’s not in the USA. Typically, casual workers don’t get any vacation entitlement. Instead, they get a compensatory amount to make up for the annual leave payment.

    Are Employees Entitled to Time-Off?

    There is no state or deferral statutory minimum paid public holiday or public vacation. The employer decides whether they want to grant paid leaves or not. Some companies do, some don’t. Needless to say, the former is definitely more liked by the workforce. 

    The average count of paid leave days granted by private employers is ten days after a year of service, two weeks after five years, 17 days after ten years, and 20 days after 20 years. In comparison to paid leaves in Europe, the numbers are quite shocking for the USA.

    Statistics suggest that the United States has many of the most toxic work environments in the world. 

    Neighboring nation Canada gives employees at least a week or two of paid leaves per year. In Australia, full-time employees are entitled to 20 annual accrued days. 

    Reasons Annual Leave Management Can be an HR Nightmare

    By its very nature, annual leave management is challenging for small to medium businesses. It doesn’t matter if they manage small teams.

    According to the process, someone from the team has to review the remaining leave days and balances. Based on Work life, they must decide whether to approve leave requests or not.

    Just one decision made by a single entity can turn the entire business cycle upside down if the holiday requests overlap with each other. Besides, manually keeping accounts and updating those every time there’s a request is too lengthy to be effective. This is where a good PTO tracking software can be a true savior.

    The Issue with Annual Leave Management

    Many companies still rely on the conventional excel staff leave planner to conduct annual leave management. A few more orthodox businesses will use on-the-wall calendars too. However, these methods have proven to be both ineffective and error-prone in the long run.

    Wall calendars quickly become overwhelming and the seemingly never-ending amount of post-its doesn’t help. Plus, they don’t track disposable leaves or the balance.

    You might now ask, “What about excel leave planners?” Surely those are better at tracking employee absences in Work life but they can still be prone to error. One incorrect formula is all it takes for the whole spreadsheet to be full of mistakes. 

    Most employees will request absences by email, paper forms, or even just inform the manager physically without any official documentation. 77% of employees hope to get routine tasks like requesting leaves done easier, making it increasingly important to find and establish an effective annual leave management system.

    Tips to Form the Best Annual Leave Management

    A leave management software such as a vacation tracker or PTO tracker combined with a bit of human intervention is what you a company needs to make annual leave management most convenient. Here are some tips to keep you at the top of the game in Work life.

           • Create a Fool-Proof Annual Leave Policy

    The first step to making an effective annual leave plan is creating a clear policy that is easily accessible to the staff. The policy should outline what’s permissible while the administration makes sure the management and staff is all aligned.

    When employees are sure about what’s expected of them and how to do it, they are more likely to stick to the best practices.

    Ask yourself what would be in the best interest of your business. If you’re expecting a rush period at any time of the year, it’s best to not grant leaves during that time unless emergency absences are requested. 

    Once your policy is fixed, share it with the staff. Upload everything on a shared drive so any concerned can access it at any time. Make sure it’s included in the onboarding process.

          • Communicate the Policy through Training

    Only when everyone is aware of the policies can the annual leave management policies be successful. Set expectations and communicate those properly.

    Let new hires know that getting leaves during peak periods could be hard. Encourage them to inform HR of their holiday plans in advance so you can stick to the annual leave management goals.

           • Make Leave Transparent

    HR departments and managers can be rather squirrely with annual leave trackers. Closed documents, secret files, and whatnot – but this isn’t the wisest decision.

    Make leaves visible so your employees can see who is available and who isn’t in Work life. The process shouldn’t be too long neither should it too short to the point that it doesn’t include necessary information.

    Monthly emails are a good way to do this but you can try investing in a vacation tracker for best results. Day Off is a free time off tracker with a great pro version for the affordable rate of a dollar per employee for a month.

    Employees can check out how many leave days they have and send in requests from the mobile app. It will be redirected to the right person.

          • Streamline the System

    Can your staff apply for annual leave easily? A common reason why the staff chooses to wait till the end of the year to apply for leave is that requesting one day off is too time-consuming and complicated. Set up a new system or streamline the existing one – make it easy to use and simple in Work life. 

    The request forms can be made available online so employees do not have to bother HR for it. Alternatively, a rota-planning software such as Day Off will allow staff to directly send leave requests to the manager via the app.

    Whichever option is selected, be transparent about it and make sure all the staff knows.

          • Start the Annual Leave Policy from Autumn

    Employees tend to lose track of their early leave and then try to avail of whatever is left at the end of the year in Work life. This could coincide with a peak pre-Christmas period when more than half of the office is away.

    Try to start the annual leave policy in autumn. That being said, it’s natural to deal with many requests for leave during Christmas, but hopefully, it won’t be a case of employees desperately trying to get time off to empty out the last of their leave allowance. 

    In addition, when you start the annual leave sometime during September, employees are already thinking about Christmas leave. Therefore, they’re more likely to inform in advance.

          • Encourage Vacation Planning Well in Advance

    Depending on the industry you’re in, the timeframe to plan holidays will vary. For example, employees are asked to plan their vacations for the coming year in the manufacturing sector. In healthcare, medical professionals are expected to plan 3 to 5 months in advance. 

    Some employees can feel burned by the thought of planning for an entire year from that early on. Encourage them to inform you four to five weeks before their leave so you can adjust operations better. But at the same time, try to remain flexible.

    The Perfect Digital Solution

    Day Off is the perfect employee time off tracker that’s both affordable and effective. A digital approach to HR management issues like annual leave will help the administration to free up more time to focus on other important topics. This is why you should use the free vacation tracker:

    • Make a company profile and customize it.
    • Employees can make leave requests on any device from anywhere. It will be directed to the assigned person for super-fast processing.
    • Send email notifications to the whole team from one place. Define leaves and allowances for those leaves. Vacation, PTO, time-off, or make something of your own. Assign employees to the set policy and maintain vacation accruals.
    • Enjoy auto-updated leave balances free of error. The remaining absence balances of employees can be checked from a single source. 
    • HE dashboard provides a clear overview for leave applications, possible overlapping with public holidays as well as other leave appeals.
    • See the consolidated calendar showing the entire business’ annual leave. Employees can synchronize it with their calendars.
    • A centralized overview of yearly data provides information to make correct decisions based on employee behaviors and trends. Know when employees’ are becoming unavailable the most and try to adjust workload according to that.
    • Say bye-bye to paper records. You can now save your storage space and save annual leave management data in a digital, clutter-free zone. 
    • Create sub-teams and define leaves for each member.

    Employees can send requests from the Day Off app from their mobile on the go. Any sort of unforeseen emergency calls for instant information.

    What to Know Before Granting Holiday Requests

    You, as an employer and manager, must be aware of a few important things before granting a vacation request to your employee.

    A business usually has adequate resources to fill up the absence of the employee in a way that productivity isn’t harmed. An employer and employee should discuss and mutually decide on leave.

    HR has to make sure not too many employees are on holiday simultaneously and/or there aren’t many conflicting requests.

    You can always go for the “first come first served” approach when sorting through leave requests, but a better, more efficient system would do much for the company. Poor annual leave management decreases employee satisfaction and raises the chance of employee turnover.

    Unused Annual Leave

    While it’s good for employees to get off work once in a while, not everyone needs the break sometimes. There are the typical workaholics who are too dedicated to the task. Or employees just couldn’t on break because the company was short-staffed during ta particular periods.

    Employees at the end of the year are often concerned about what happens to their unused accrued days. Do they lose that or can they roll those over into the next time?

    Usually, companies don’t allow the leaves from the previous year to be rolled out into the next. You should outline that clearly in the policy so the managers and employees can refer to it on the online employee portal.

    Bottom Line

    Employees who are constantly working experience quicker burnout, lower productivity, workplace illness, stress, and more. Absence leave management is a crucial function of HR. A time off app will help keep records of annual leave better than manual processing.

  • Tips for Better Annual Leave Management

    Tips for Better Annual Leave Management

    Work-life balance is now more relevant than ever. With mental health and wellness on the line, employees have to take time off every now and then to maintain efficiency. Apart from doing the obvious which is reducing the stress level in employees, leaves boost morale.

    There are a bunch of mental and physical benefits linked to annual leaves so it’s pivotal for a company to make sure the employees are using up their quota.

    HR managers often struggle with keeping track of yearly leave, especially since there are different leave cases complicating the process. Stress leave, sick leave, parental leave are some of the many options. Finding a system that allows easy monitoring of employee availability within the business is key.

    Manual record-keeping is time-consuming and expensive. Consider utilizing a smart leave management system to keep digitized data. Collecting data from a leave tracker at the end of the year is much easier. Assume Day off app as an example. The employee leave tracker app lets HR admins keep account of employee availability, balance, and much more.

    What is Annual Leave?

    Before we get onto annual leave management tips, let’s be better acquainted with the concept of annual leave. It’s basically paid time off work employees get. They can use it for whatever purpose they wish.

    Now, this raises an important question: “Are part-time employees and full-time employees entitled to an equal number of leaves?”

    How Employee Leave Is Paid

    The rate for time-off payment for an employee is the same as their normal regular wage. Based on the country, part-time workers are given 4 week’s vacation. But, this isn’t a set standard; it’s not in the USA. Typically, casual workers don’t get any vacation entitlement. Instead, they get a compensatory amount to make up for the annual leave payment.

    Are Employees Entitled to Time-Off?

    There is no state or deferral statutory minimum paid public holiday or public vacation. The employer decides whether they want to grant paid leaves or not. Some companies do, some don’t. Needless to say, the former is definitely more liked by the workforce. 

    The average count of paid leave days granted by private employers is ten days after a year of service, two weeks after five years, 17 days after ten years, and 20 days after 20 years. In comparison to paid leaves in Europe, the numbers are quite shocking for the USA.

    Statistics suggest that the United States has many of the most toxic work environments in the world. 

    Neighboring nation Canada gives employees at least a week or two of paid leaves per year. In Australia, full-time employees are entitled to 20 annual accrued days. 

    Reasons Annual Leave Management Can be an HR Nightmare

    By its very nature, annual leave management is challenging for small to medium businesses. It doesn’t matter if they manage small teams.

    According to the process, someone from the team has to review the remaining leave days and balances. Based on that, they must decide whether to approve leave requests or not.

    Just one decision made by a single entity can turn the entire business cycle upside down if the holiday requests overlap with each other. Besides, manually keeping accounts and updating those every time there’s a request is too lengthy to be effective. This is where a good PTO tracking software can be a true savior.

    The Issue with Annual Leave Management

    Many companies still rely on the conventional excel staff leave planner to conduct annual leave management. A few more orthodox businesses will use on-the-wall calendars too. However, these methods have proven to be both ineffective and error-prone in the long run.

    Wall calendars quickly become overwhelming and the seemingly never-ending amount of post-its doesn’t help. Plus, they don’t track disposable leaves or the balance.

    You might now ask, “What about excel leave planners?” Surely those are better at tracking employee absences but they can still be prone to error. One incorrect formula is all it takes for the whole spreadsheet to be full of mistakes. 

    Most employees will request absences by email, paper forms, or even just inform the manager physically without any official documentation. 77% of employees hope to get routine tasks like requesting leaves done easier, making it increasingly important to find and establish an effective annual leave management system.

    Tips to Form the Best Annual Leave Management

    A leave management software such as a vacation tracker or PTO tracker combined with a bit of human intervention is what you a company needs to make annual leave management most convenient. Here are some tips to keep you at the top of the game.

    ·       Create a Fool-Proof Annual Leave Policy

    The first step to making an effective annual leave plan is creating a clear policy that is easily accessible to the staff. The policy should outline what’s permissible while the administration makes sure the management and staff is all aligned.

    When employees are sure about what’s expected of them and how to do it, they are more likely to stick to the best practices.

    Ask yourself what would be in the best interest of your business. If you’re expecting a rush period at any time of the year, it’s best to not grant leaves during that time unless emergency absences are requested. 

    Once your policy is fixed, share it with the staff. Upload everything on a shared drive so any concerned can access it at any time. Make sure it’s included in the onboarding process.

    ·       Communicate the Policy through Training

    Only when everyone is aware of the policies can the annual leave management policies be successful. Set expectations and communicate those properly.

    Let new hires know that getting leaves during peak periods could be hard. Encourage them to inform HR of their holiday plans in advance so you can stick to the annual leave management goals.

    ·       Make Leave Transparent

    HR departments and managers can be rather squirrely with annual leave trackers. Closed documents, secret files, and whatnot – but this isn’t the wisest decision.

    Make leaves visible so your employees can see who is available and who isn’t. The process shouldn’t be too long neither should it too short to the point that it doesn’t include necessary information.

    Monthly emails are a good way to do this but you can try investing in a vacation tracker for best results. Day Off is a free time off tracker with a great pro version for the affordable rate of a dollar per employee for a month.

    Employees can check out how many leave days they have and send in requests from the mobile app. It will be redirected to the right person.

    ·       Streamline the System

    Can your staff apply for annual leave easily? A common reason why the staff chooses to wait till the end of the year to apply for leave is that requesting one day off is too time-consuming and complicated. Set up a new system or streamline the existing one – make it easy to use and simple. 

    The request forms can be made available online so employees do not have to bother HR for it. Alternatively, a rota-planning software such as Day Off will allow staff to directly send leave requests to the manager via the app.

    Whichever option is selected, be transparent about it and make sure all the staff knows.

    ·       Start the Annual Leave Policy from Autumn

    Employees tend to lose track of their early leave and then try to avail of whatever is left at the end of the year. This could coincide with a peak pre-Christmas period when more than half of the office is away.

    Try to start the annual leave policy in autumn. That being said, it’s natural to deal with many requests for leave during Christmas, but hopefully, it won’t be a case of employees desperately trying to get time off to empty out the last of their leave allowance. 

    In addition, when you start the annual leave sometime during September, employees are already thinking about Christmas leave. Therefore, they’re more likely to inform in advance.

    ·       Encourage Vacation Planning Well in Advance

    Depending on the industry you’re in, the timeframe to plan holidays will vary. For example, employees are asked to plan their vacations for the coming year in the manufacturing sector. In healthcare, medical professionals are expected to plan 3 to 5 months in advance. 

    Some employees can feel burned by the thought of planning for an entire year from that early on. Encourage them to inform you four to five weeks before their leave so you can adjust operations better. But at the same time, try to remain flexible.

    The Perfect Digital Solution

    Day Off is the perfect employee time off tracker that’s both affordable and effective. A digital approach to HR management issues like annual leave will help the administration to free up more time to focus on other important topics. This is why you should use the free vacation tracker:

    • Make a company profile and customize it.
    • Employees can make leave requests on any device from anywhere. It will be directed to the assigned person for super-fast processing.
    • Send email notifications to the whole team from one place. Define leaves and allowances for those leaves. Vacation, PTO, time-off, or make something of your own. Assign employees to the set policy and maintain vacation accruals.
    • Enjoy auto-updated leave balances free of error. The remaining absence balances of employees can be checked from a single source. 
    • HE dashboard provides a clear overview for leave applications, possible overlapping with public holidays as well as other leave appeals.
    • See the consolidated calendar showing the entire business’ annual leave. Employees can synchronize it with their calendars.
    • A centralized overview of yearly data provides information to make correct decisions based on employee behaviors and trends. Know when employees’ are becoming unavailable the most and try to adjust workload according to that.
    • Say bye-bye to paper records. You can now save your storage space and save annual leave management data in a digital, clutter-free zone. 
    • Create sub-teams and define leaves for each member.

    Employees can send requests from the Day Off app from their mobile on the go. Any sort of unforeseen emergency calls for instant information.

    What to Know Before Granting Holiday Requests

    You, as an employer and manager, must be aware of a few important things before granting a vacation request to your employee.

    A business usually has adequate resources to fill up the absence of the employee in a way that productivity isn’t harmed. An employer and employee should discuss and mutually decide on leave.

    HR has to make sure not too many employees are on holiday simultaneously and/or there aren’t many conflicting requests.

    You can always go for the “first come first served” approach when sorting through leave requests, but a better, more efficient system would do much for the company. Poor annual leave management decreases employee satisfaction and raises the chance of employee turnover.

    Unused Annual Leave

    While it’s good for employees to get off work once in a while, not everyone needs the break sometimes. There are the typical workaholics who are too dedicated to the task. Or employees just couldn’t on break because the company was short-staffed during ta particular periods.

    Employees at the end of the year are often concerned about what happens to their unused accrued days. Do they lose that or can they roll those over into the next time?

    Usually, companies don’t allow the leaves from the previous year to be rolled out into the next. You should outline that clearly in the policy so the managers and employees can refer to it on the online employee portal.

    Bottom Line

    Employees who are constantly working experience quicker burnout, lower productivity, workplace illness, stress, and more. Absence leave management is a crucial function of HR. A time off app will help keep records of annual leave better than manual processing.

  • A Guide to Efficient Leave Tracking for Global Teams

    A Guide to Efficient Leave Tracking for Global Teams

    Remote work is a newer concept to many companies. Thanks to the COVID-19 epidemic, many of these organizations were forced into the whole thing. Two MIT surveys concluded that about half of the whole American workforce has gone remote. 

    Regardless of size, companies have had to incorporate the work from home option into their operations. Apart from the obvious safety and health concerns, another important factor is childcare. Until educational institutes are conducting offline classes again, employees might need to be physically present in their homes. 

    The point is, having a plan for remote work is just the prudent thing to do; doesn’t matter if your state has allowed in-person working or not. As long as there are employees who get work done outside the workspace, you need to consider leave tracking and PTOs.

    With that comes the responsibility of tracking said leaves properly. If the company falls under government assistance criteria, they may also need to track emergency leave and sick leaves. 

    But leave tracking for remote teams are different than leaves for regular, physical teams. For instance, a recent PTO curveball requires leaves related to COVID-19 to be tracked separately in compliance with local, state, and federal governance.

    Companies are doing everything in their power to keep efficiency at an all-time high despite the limitations. In a time like this, ignoring leave management is a certified death wish for any organization.

    So, how exactly do racking works for remote team works?

    A leave policy has to be made for all kinds of employees – whether they drive into work or get everything done from home.

    How Much Vacation Time Should Employees Get

    The answer depends on the company. There’s not a fixed number as employers aren’t required to offer paid or unpaid leaves. Vacation time is another form of time-off to consider. Some companies only grant vacation leave tracking to full-time employees. In contrast, others sanction leaves to all levels of employees.

    An agreement between the employer and their employee determines the vacation pay. It could either be a collective bargaining agreement, an employment contract, or a company policy.

    The Many Advantages of Having Remote Teams

    A remote work model is the only method to achieve higher productivity in a few industries. However, even if you don’t necessarily have to form remote teams, there are quite a few pros of telework. To name a few:

    There’s no commuting cost as well as a decreased need to operate from a physical workspace. This can increase savings.

    Less stress for employees and improved work-life balance have no other alternative. In a time like COVID-19 mental peace is important. The more satisfied the workforce, the more likely they are to give their best efforts and stay loyal to the company. Employee turnover rate can be expected to decrease.

    New generation employees greatly value flexibility. When a business is willing to hear and value new ideas, they attract talents from all across the world, add diversity to their teams, and ultimately increase competitive advantage in the long run.

    However, a prerequisite to gaining these advantages is managing the telecommuting teams properly and ensuring that the employee(s) is/are available when needed. Many big businesses rely on PTO trackers or leave trackers to monitor which employee is unavailable and how many days they have left in their leave calendar. A good employee leave tracker app will also include payments and other important data.

    Before making any plan, the remote team’s characteristics must be taken into account – that’s a pivotal step. Not all teams will react to the same practices equally. Finding the one that aligns with them is essential.

    On that note, let’s explore a few options, shall we?

    A Complete Guide to Managing Leave for Remote Teams

    Implement a Smart Leave Management System Early

    A distinguishing factor of remote teams is the increased degree of flexibility. The very premise of telework relies on employers trusting their employees enough to know they will be able to perform their assigned tasks efficiently. This means that in addition to choosing where they want to work, remote workers can also decide when to work. 

    With that said, devoid of any control, a commuting team’s progress can slow down and they may go off track. A manager must ensure that the employees are putting in the right amount of hours daily and their schedules are accommodating effective communication. Performance bottlenecks are the last thing you want. 

    A time tracking solution can be implemented for the former issue. For the latter, it’s crucial to adopt a top-notch system for leave management and team schedules as such a system offers the most convenient way to plan employee availability and timetable.

    Take Day Off as an example. This employee time off tracker comes with plenty of helpful tools for streamlining worker absence management. You can make sub-teams while setting different policies, working days, and balances for each. Once a leave request comes in, HR can get a consolidated view of the entire workforce’s vacations.

    The automated system allows employees to apply for leaves directly from the mobile app. They can also check how many days they have available while helping the business set up the right workflow for the teams and employees.

    Let Employees Know What’s Expected of Them from the Start

    A leave management system is only as effective as the organization’s rules and policies. You can’t progress without structure – that’s an open invitation to chaos. It’s crucial on the managers’ part to communicate expectations of remote work to their team members.

    Designing and implementing a telework policy is one of the best ways to handle that. The document should cover issues like cybersecurity, communication, conditions of employment, occupational safety, and more. For improved leave management outcomes, discussion of the company’s leave requests, scheduling processes and other relevant matters is key.

    You have to answer questions like:

    • How many hours should employees work on a daily or weekly basis?
    • Should employees be performing at a specific time of the working hours?
    • How quick is the leave approval process?
    • Which tools do they have to use to inform supervisors or managers about alterations in their personal routines?

    Consider the additional expectations you have when it comes to absence and schedule management in the business and try your best to clearly communicate them to the remote team. Apart from the set telework policy, this can be done through group and personal discussion.

    Encourage Planned Leaves

    SHRM says that unplanned absenteeism cuts down on productivity as well as other financial processes of a business. On the other hand, planned leaves promote an efficient attitude in employees, letting them plug off to recharge only to come back with more zeal.

    Thus, managers are advised to encourage remote employees, in general, to plan their time off and PTOs in advance. Longer breaks are better.

    It’s good to utilize a vacation tracker app for this as well. For example, the Day Off app makes it easier for HR managers to track employees’ yearly balances plus approval status. You will now be able to set up a better workflow for your employees and teams.

    The app also lets you define an unlimited number of vacation types. All in all, it allows for error-free and effortless planning of PTO.

    Unplanned leaves are harder to avoid completely – employees will fall sick once in a while. Not to mention unprecedented personal emergencies require utmost attention immediately. Circling back to a previous point, this is why staying flexible in terms of leave requests and scheduling is extremely important when dealing with remote teams.

    Organize Meetings and Video Calls Regularly

    Generally, team members are physically located quite far from each other. They may reside in different cities or even hail from different countries and continents. It’s natural for remote teams to not feel a strong sense of connection amongst the members.

    Employees can feel isolated from colleagues and lonely and as a consequence, maybe much less engaged in teamwork. In fact, they might not even be committed to their company as a whole.

    Situations like this can force remote employees to take more unplanned leaves or even resign from their jobs. There is no substitute for insightful long-distance communication for successful leave management in remote teams. 

    You can encourage employees to interact with their remote colleagues face to face using web-based conferencing tools. Organize brief daily video calls where employees will talk about their current performance and discuss any problems their team members are facing while working. 

    Furthermore, video calls can serve as a great means to increase team cohesion and boost employee morale. It doesn’t always have to be a serious discussion. Gather the employees in a chat room to engage in light-hearted conversation with them once a month. It will help everyone feel like a valuable part of the team and establish meaningful human relationships.

    Always Be Available

    A leader of a remote team must always be available for multiple reasons:

    When managers are present at work and show a great deal of attention to their managerial duties, employees become more motivated to produce the best results too.

    Newly remote workers will experience troubles every now and then. If they do not have a superior to help them out instantly, chances are, and they will become discouraged. Consequently, they might start to invest less time and effort into work when they feel nobody cares about the output or wants to support them.

    Without consistent manager-employee communication, it’s difficult to understand actual worker contribution. A manager can only provide unbiased constructive feedback and praise achievements when they’re constantly in touch with their team. In general, staying connected with employees is highly rewarding in any work environment.

    You, as a leader and manager, must be available to your remote teammates all the time and be prepared to help them.

    Inform employees how they can reach out to you throughout the day and try to provide multiple contact options: phone number, email, social media handles, whatnot. This simple yet effective measure will go a long way in making everyone feel heard and supported. 

    Gather and Analyze Employee Leave Tracking Data

    Data of any factor of team performance is extremely informative and useful to businesses. Employee leave statistics will show how good the management approach is when analyzed against the growth and output data.

    This way, you can identify the problems in a remote team’s conduct and fix those. Knowledge like that can help you enhance team management strategies in addition to fostering numerous improvements with a better approach.

    With the free time off tracker Day Off, employee leave data is readily available to the HR managers. Employees can self-service and keep a better track of the leaves disposable to them. 

    One of the best time off apps available, Day off allows companies to input their information and customize everything according to need. Once done, all that can be accessed from the central HR dashboard.

    As a result, companies have greater transparency in the sector of leave management for remote teams. Collected data provides deeper insight into leave trends.

    A smart leave management system will optimize management as a whole. And the best part about it is that it’s a free vacation tracker. You can pay $1 a month for one employee to get the pro features. That will come with perks like half-day balance. Startups and companies on a budget will find this app extremely useful.

    Bottom Line

    Don’t feel like you have to make all management decisions alone. As you try to come up with the best leave management policies for remote teams, feel free to get the input of your employees.

    Is there a certain policy you think will serve the interest of the company and employees the best? Communicate educate the employees about the policies you will establish your business in a superior position.

  • Tips to Set Leave Policy in Your Company

    Tips to Set Leave Policy in Your Company

    Employees need a day off every now and then to recharge, rejuvenate, and return to work with a stress-free mind. It’s their right to get leaves for important matters. Some companies have set the standard for amazing leave policy that keep their employees happy while maintaining the workflow smoothly.

    However, others have gained a bad reputation in the industry for their vague, often questionable leave policies. When a company starts valuing its work over its employees at all times, it loses credibility to its workers.

    What these companies fail to understand that just because employees need leaves, doesn’t mean their absence has to create a huge dent in the operations. A well-planned leave policy gives the employees their rightful days off while making sure the company doesn’t accumulate major losses. 

    Leave trackers, otherwise termed vacation trackers are a great way to monitor which employees are available at any given time. But before that, you have to know what an effective leave policy looks like. 

    Why Do I Need a Leave Policy in My Company?

    Today’s world is all about balance. Employees’ lives don’t revolve around their workplace. Leaves help them break away from the monotony of their regular work and focus on other aspects of their life. It’s a part of being human.

    Apart from that, there are certain laws in every country dictating the rights of employees when it comes to leave policies. Straying from that hurts employer’s reputation and it can also cost you fines from the government. 

    A Leavy Policy is a set of rules outlining all possible protocols and procedures for employees to avail leaves. Your workforce is the biggest asset of your company.

    Absence of a proper leave policy can result in:

    • Lower productivity
    • Unapproved leaves of employees
    • Decreasing productivity hours
    • Missing important deadlines, targets, etc.

    All this and more can be solved with a good leave policy. For instance, if an employee goes on leave suddenly without any prior notice, their work suffers since the company wasn’t prepared to handle the unprecedented absence.

    On the other hand, if the stakeholders were aware of it beforehand, the work could be distributed between the other employees to handle loss of productivity. This is where a solid PTO tracking software could do wonders for the company’s recording process.

    When drafted and implemented properly, a Leave Policy delineates an understanding between the employees and the employer(s) as to how they can avail of leaves during their tenure.

    A leave policy:

    • Defines the number of leaves an employee has.
    • The kinds of leaves they are eligible for.
    • How employees can apply for leaves

    From the employee’s end, a leave policy gives them the assurance that their company will grant them leaves to:

    • Recover from physical complications
    • Handle any issue they’re facing
    • Go on vacation and enjoy
    • Celebrate their cultural and religious festivals
    • Simply break off from work to relax

    The leave policy needs to be mentioned explicitly in the document of hiring policy. Your employees must know the dos and don’ts to applying for leaves. Furthermore, it’s important to ensure the employees aren’t taking advantage of the holidays and paid leaves offered by the company; helps maintain a steady level between employee satisfaction and productivity. 

    If you’re struggling with falling numbers due to employees’ tardiness and sudden leaves? Ensure a proper leave management system using Day Off , a free vacation tracker.

    The Purpose of a Leave Policy

    As mentioned before, the purpose of a leave policy is to let employees know about when they can ask for a leave, the process of it, what leave with pay is and what leave without pay is, and so on.

    All regular employees of your company are eligible for the leave policy.

    Guidelines of the Leave Policy

    • Employees cannot claim leaves as a matter of right. They must know that any form of leave can be refused as it can be granted depending on the company’s requirements. 
    • Taking a leave from work without receiving approval for it will subject employees to disciplinary action.
    • The calendar year lasts from January to December. 
    • Employees’ leave records shall be maintained in an optimized HRMS tool. 
    • They shall be eligible for Earned Leave after completing their probationary period. After confirmation, that shall be credited to the employee’s account.
    • A limit of 9 paid leaves can be brought to the next year.
    • An employee is free to avail paid leaves based on the leave balance they have. Also, unpaid leave starts from when the leave balance is over but an employee is still in need of leave. The approval can be granted by a manager, HOD, or HR.
    • An employee cannot use the leave until it has been approved by the reporting manager.
    • Leave without approval shall be counted as leave without pay.
    • Weekends, as well as holidays falling within the sanctioned leave periods, shall be excluded and not be considered as earned or casual leave.
    • Leave for the upcoming year cannot be used in the present year.
    • It is the employee’s responsibility to apply for leave in advance in case of a planned leave. But if it’s an unplanned leave, an employee has to regularize leave under two days of resuming duty.
    • LTA leave is counted as earned leave, not casual leave.

    Cancellation of Leave

    An approved leave can be canceled at any time depending on the company’s demand but those must be within reason. Once canceled, the notice will reach the HR and employee through an automatic message. HR will update the leave balance.

    Leave Extension 

    • Due to any unforeseen circumstance, if the employee has to extend their leave, they must inform HR beforehand. 
    • If an employee overstays without gaining proper approval, that will be considered as absence from duty and call for disciplinary action.
    • Extended leave without permission shall be treated as a loss of pay.

    Calculating Leave on Termination/Resignation

    In case an employee is terminated from the company or resigns, privilege leave shall be calculated until their final working day. They will be paid in full.

    Types of Leave Policies

    A number of leave policies could be effective for your company. Generally, leave policies fall within one of these three types:

    Fixed number of credited leaves

    This kind of paid leave policy fixes the number of paid leaves an employee can get on a fixed date. Thus, following company guidelines, you can grant (credit) all the leaves at the beginning of the calendar year or the financial year.

    Set amount of accrued leaves on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis

    A specific number of leaves are accrued based on a daily, weekly, or monthly calculation.

    Unlimited leaves

    There is no fixed number of leaves. Employees can use an unlimited number of leaves.

    How to Choose the Best Leave Policy for Your Company

    The three types of leave policies entail a different set of rules and regulations. As the main decision-maker of the company, you have to consider a few things to know which leave policy would work best.

    Ask yourself: which leave policy would do the most for your employees? It goes without saying that the unlimited/flexible leave policy encourages employees to apply for as many leaves as they want, whenever they feel like it. However, there is no limit to this policy, meaning employees make abuse this opportunity.

    Thus, industry leaders recommend companies take the opinions of their employees on the leave policy. This will make employees realize that they are valued and kept in the loop while the company will be able to narrow down on the policy serving the best interest of their workforce. 

    Why You Should Create Varying Leave Categories

    There are a bunch of reasons an employee would use their paid leaves such as personal emergencies, sickness, vacations, and maternity or paternity leaves. Once you know which leave policy would suit your company the best you need to know how to categorize them.

    Majority of companies like having distinguished leave categories like earned leaves and sick leaves as clean differentiation helps them to track employee absence better. Plus, you would be abiding by Labor Laws.

    Now, how do you decide how many leaves to account for each leave category? The count of casual and privileged leaves that your employees are entitled to be decided by the State you are operating in. The number is determined by the State’s Shops and Establishments Act.

    Considerations about Leave Management

    At this stage, you’ve already implemented the best leave policy. The next step is to learn how to manage leave accruals and leave applications alongside calculating leave balances. An employee leave tracker app such as Day Off can help you track everything from one place conveniently. It’s best to use digitized methods as manual recording is time-consuming and takes too much effort.

    Managing Leave Applications

    Designing a process for applications

    The key to a smooth employee leave management process is timely organization and clear communication. Leaves play an important part in activities such as payroll, which is why it’s even more important to set a fixed process on applying for and approval of leaves.

    You might ignore this procedure as you think it’s too obvious, but clarity will do wonders for your company. It’s as important as the job description.

    Administer the approval power

    You must then decide who will be responsible for approving employee leave applications. Is it going to be their immediate supervisor or the HR manager? Employees need to know where to send their requests to decrease processing time. 

    Tracking Leave Requests

    Leaves are directly connected to the payroll process. Collating leave requests at a month’s end from leave request slips or emails is a crucial task. Track these efficiently on an employee time off tracker app to manage everything with the least amount of effort and time. 

    How to Track Leave Requests Efficiently 

    Using an intuitive employee time off tracker such as the Day Off app helps companies track employee leave applications quickly and better. Here are the reasons you should consider this time off app.

    • For starters, you can get this service for free! Set up your company profile and fill in the information for a unique, personalized experience.
    • The mobile app is super convenient. It keeps the managers and employees connected to the database at all times.
    • The system automatically sends the employee leave request to the appropriate person.
    • HR has total control over the workflow. That means defining teams, managers, and employees.
    • Increase transparency between line managers and employees.
    • The HR dashboard – Calendar view for both employer and employee. You can monitor workflow and team absence, generate detailed and consolidated reports for any period, and send notifications to the team. 
    • You can add new leave types and define balances for each. There is also a half-day option.
    • Manager’s Web Dashboard – Get a full overview of the team, their leaves, and statistics from one point. 

    Small businesses will love this impressive free time off tracker. You can also upgrade to the Pro version for the affordable price of $1 per employee per month. The free version has some of the basic options you would want in any PTO tracker while the Pro version comes with some exciting features that would take your HR game to the next level.

    Final Thoughts

    A company that neglects the leave policy is directly ignoring the needs of its employees, and we know that’s the first step towards the fall of an organization. Do not take it lightly as leaves are enough to get you sued too!

    Make sure to go through all the rules and regulations the state has set. It’s best to mention them in your company policy too. Lastly, have an attorney look at the policies. If they approve, you should be good to go. However, try to stay flexible for the best results.

  • Paper vs. Software in Leave Management

    Paper vs. Software in Leave Management

    The Day Off software or application allows you to tackle the absence, track PTO, vacations, and leaves as well as enjoy an overview, saving your hours of effort and headache. You can easily scroll through the leave and vacation policies associated with your company using the application. If you are rather the employer, it can be quite useful as well. Let us take the topic of Leave Management for instance to take the Paper vs. Software decision

    Leave management Paper vs. Software is a complicated, yet integral issue for all different kinds of companies. Payroll and leave management Paper vs. Software need to run hand in hand for the company to work efficiently and it can sometimes be a challenge to do everything on paper. Yet, many companies today find it difficult to use software for this purpose.

    We have compiled this guide to talk about the different ways of managing the day-off of employees within companies,

    Paper vs. Software pointing out the pros and cons associated with the advancement of technology that highlights the ability of software in doing so.

    Why is Leave Management Necessary?

    If you own a business or work in the HR department, you must know the importance of leave management Paper vs. Software . It can be quite challenging to deal with such day-offs and PTOs or vacations across different departments. Starting with the different types of leaves,

    distinguished laws specific to states, and the added tensions of teams regarding the time-offs of some employees, it can be quite a headache.

    Though it might seem quite straightforward to handle leave management within smaller companies,

    it can start to become both expensive and complex with the increasing number of employees.

    Paper leave management remains a viable option for small businesses but when the number of employees goes over 20,000,

    the companies start switching to outsourcing leave management. This might also differ between industries, but is an issue for most.

    Leave Management through Software vs. through Paper

    When we are talking about leave management for employees, we are talking about the huge amount of data. There is probably going to be quite some paper documentation crammed in the office cabinets,

    where you can find tons of employee information that has to stay undamaged and easily accessible. That might be one big reason why HR systems, even today, avoid going paperless.

    It is essential to understand that the more you rely on paper,

    the greater the effort you have to put in to manage it all. One solution can be attempting to scan all the hard copy data into a soft copy format.

    This can take some time to kick off,

    but once done, the integration of the paper-based content can be quite simple with a software HR system, for day-off trackers, PTO trackers, etc.

    Some managers argue that paper is no hassle given the fact that all the printed documents are usually filed in a relevant sequence,

    more often than not according to the name of the employee. You can, however, maintain this sequence when converting the papers to a digital form to track the information well.

    Sometimes you may wonder why software is essential to management or track the leave of employees when you have dedicated HR within your company to keep an eye on the issue. We have got some benefits here that you might consider.

    Time and Energy

    At the end of the day, you need your company to run all its operations in a streamlined manner. This means you need to save time as well as effort that your employees put into. When you use the software as your PTO tracker and leave tracker,

    you can integrate both the payroll systems and the leave-management parts of your company and reduce the double work of data processing.

    Since both payroll and leave-management systems deal with the information of the same employee,

    it makes sense to have them handled through a database or software instead of having an individual go through different paper files to keep the account.

    You can simply enter the information once and easily track attendance, leave, pay, and all kind of records. It can automate a lot of the functions that would take hours through the paper system. Sometimes, employees can also enter their details, hence saving time and effort for your HR.

    More Accessible

    Usually the vacation tracker, PTO tracking software or leave tracker app can be installedon different devices. When the software is available in the form of an application,

    for instance, an Employee leaver tracker app or an Employee time off the tracker, it is easily manageable through different smartphones, tabs, iPad, etc.

    Accuracy and Compliance

    The computer software or application is likely to make fewer mistakes in terms of calculating payrolls based on PTO or leaves than paper leave-management methods. The latter runs the risk of more mistakes occurring due to human error.

    When you are required to stick to paper for handling leaves, it increases the bureaucracy. Someone who wants to apply for leave first has to complete a form, hand it to the manager,

    wait for him or her to sign and approve. The manager then has to pass it on to payroll for further processing. This tends to be quite inefficient and risk, requiring additional labor.

    The paper management can require between 73 and 124 minutes while the software or application will cost you a maximum of 30 minutes. In the latter case, you simply have to make the minimum number of steps.

    Even considering that you make multiple changes, it will take less than 1 minute to update the online form. The system is automated to go into contact with the relevant parties whenever any change arises. The redundant tasks will be avoided.

    If there is an error in the leave management, it can badly harm the business. In the worst situations,

    business owners or HR can even be sued or fined for miscalculations or underpayments for the smallest of mistakes in timekeeping systems.

    Limited Manual Interventions

    There have been issues faced by several businesses,

    whereby some people have made unauthorized changes to the leave management system through manual interventions in the paper-based system.

    This results in fraud- employees taking a vacation, day-off, or leave and then removing the record,

    or taking one day less than how it should be, or manually making changes to the number of leave days available to one individual.

    When you switch to a software or application, this opportunity to commit fraud is easily minimized.

    Transparency

    When you use software or application to input planned vacations or unplanned leaves,

    all the data can be accumulated by one comprehensive dashboard. This will allow you to have a clear overview of all the metrics related to the day-offs of your employees.

    There is no way the approval of the managers can be skipped. Furthermore,

    you can also track if anyone is abusing the policies associated with leave or underutilizing the vacation hours, and even working below standards.

    In short, the application or software, unlike the paper management system,

    can easily spot the leaks in the employee performance or tackle the issues of absenteeism more efficiently. You can also see if your company needs any specific improvement and make changes to the current approach depending on the requirements.

    Customizable for every location

    If you have employees working in different parts of the globe,

    a free time-off tracker or day-off app can highly benefit both your employees and your company. The free vacation tracker can help both of you keep an eye on the status. These apps can also be customized (with the required settings) for different locations across the globe.

    Furthermore, when you have an overview through the app,

    HR can ensure that key employees to do plan their leaves at the same time. You can also try to make the settings suited to your preferences.

    Cost

    You can highly contribute to saving on the cost of paper,

    time as well as disputes arising from leave and vacations of your employees. The cost of hiring extra professionals to run the leave balance or HR overheads can be avoided with the software versions. It can also help to remain fair in enforcing the policies related to PTO and leaves.

    Reporting

    When all the day-offs are planned using the day-off app or through an employee time-off tracker,

    you can have all the employee-related data and company-wide information in one place. Most of these applications come with an integrated reporting module that makes it quite simple to analyze patterns,

    as well as to get the proper insight on the employees.

    Data Loss

    Even if your company goes through an accident,

    like an unavoidable fire or a simple spilling of drinks on the paper lying around, if you depend on software for leave management, you can avoid the data loss. You can store the information in the cloud and access it anytime from anywhere you allow.

    Values

    With software or application working as a leave tracker or time-off app, you can start to build a strong company culture, where you highlight transparency and compliance as the main factors that cultivate trust amidst the employees, regardless of who they are.

    You can start to promote other company values based on these aspects as well. If you do not have these strong values, you will soon end up with people working in your business for nothing more than the remunerations.

    Simpler Audits and backward reviews

    You can easily keep an eye on what edits and audits have been made to the different leaves or vacations associated with the different employees throughout your company if you are using the software system. This is quite impossible or difficult to do easily when you depend on paper for leave management.

    You may need to check the archived information, for instance, when making a deal or agreement with an employee or former employee, the employee rights control agencies, or some external parties, checking your audits. The software can be regarded as a more reliable source of providing this information in the most convenient, as well as, fast manner. You can avoid penalties or even earn a better image in eyes of the investing organizations and individuals.

    Environment

    Paper is better than plastic- we often hear. Indeed. But, it is still a waste that needs recycling. Why not go paperless altogether when possible? It will not only minimize the workload of the HR management but also help your company act more responsible towards our planet.

    You can eliminate unnecessary waste. As of when converting the paper to digital form, you can decide to remove and get rid of the ex-employee data altogether. 

    A recent report depicted that the negative impact on climate brought about by cutting down over 350 trees, carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, production of solid wastes as well as extensive wastage of water due to office paper use. An honest switch to a software system for handling leaves in your company can help to combat such negative impacts.

    The leave management through software can be seen as an all-in-one hub that can take care of maintaining all the requests relevant to employee vacations whilst also ensuring that their operations run smoothly.

    To summarize, you can get rid of paperwork, subside manual interventions, improve communication, get a real-time overview of the status, ensure compliance with the law as well as reflect on the organization’s health all at the same time when you use the software.

    Concluding Remarks

    The online or software method of leave management, or a mobile Day of the tracker, can serve as the perfect example of a feature that can perform great in the back-end without any effect or any distinct visibility in the main activities of the company.

    It can serve as the perfect optimization tool for your business, delivering the advantages as discussed in the guide. Once you start trying it out, you will soon realize how irreplaceable this application, Day off, can be and how your company can benefit from it.