Several of my clients executives and managers, along with their human resource partners are increasingly seeking guidance on how to unplug and recharge and encourage their employees to do the same. Employees need to feel that their organization understands work-life balance and that they are encouraged to take. First, provide clarity about your time-off policy and any company, government, or health official guidelines and restrictions. Because paid time off is offered optionally and at employers discretion, employers have the ability to block off periods of time when requests wont be approved (or will be approved in limited quantities or under special circumstances). 3. And there are plenty of ways to do so. Is the PTO benefit still competitive with other employers in the industry? Overworked employees are unhappy, do not engage and do not contribute to a productive office environment. Unused vacations have cost U.S. businesses $224 billion a year. Demonstrate care of your employees by offering flexibility, and model behaviors yourself by taking advantage of your own time off. If you have any questions about your leave balance, or how to book leave, please reach out to your manager. Yet, few employees feel comfortable taking the time off they need, especially as travel plans and other vacations are cancelled. Now that there is a boundary, people want to take time off, she explained. You have always been a diligent, hard-working, and loyal team employee (mention the details). You truly deserve this vacation; we hope you will consider our letter and will take this opportunity. They considered creating a vacation bank that would accept donations of employees' unused PTO that could be tapped by colleagues facing extraordinary circumstances, but that was found to be too complicated to administer. Ask employees to create a vacation plan and mark the due date for filing leaves on their calendars. Moreover, vacations can also help employees stay healthy by encouraging them to exercise and eat better habits. Encourage Employees to Take Vacation with a Mindful Vacation Policy An effective employee vacation policy isn't just about the accrual of leave balances and the scheduling of vacations. From dress code to time off, my team follows the tone set by the leader. if(currentUrl.indexOf("/about-shrm/pages/shrm-china.aspx") > -1) { I will be traveling to visit my parents/taking family vacation time. To get all of HBRs content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter. However, while the number of hours worked is soaring, peoples capacity to focus and produce quality work is diving. Likewise, as mentioned above, employers might want to completely rework their PTO benefits for the new year. "It's important for employers to say [to employees], 'We care about you,' " said Jackie Reinberg, North America consulting leader, absence, disability management and life, at London-based Willis Towers Watson. " By starting from a place of care and concern for your workforce you reinforce the maxim that people are your strongest asset and that youre there for them in good times and bad, regardless of their individual circumstances. Being transparent about leave policies allows individuals to consciously weigh trade-offs and enables everyone to operate from the same set of principles. It is the most valued," Reinberg said. Consider providing informal time off, increasing caps on maximum vacation accrual, and encouraging people to take breaks. "Employees may wonder what to do with a week off all at once, so encourage them to take a long weekend, or even a day in the middle of the busy workweek, for a few weeks in a row to lighten their workload," Winn said. But please keep in mind that this leave must be used within the next calendar year or the carry over balance will expire. When people arent taking their leave, it can be for several reasons, including: Thankfully, there is a better way using a staff leave app that makes it easy for you to see who needs a holiday and makes it easier for them to book it. Annual allotment vs. accrual bank vs. unlimited? Energise your workforce. When you set these types of expectations, your team plans ahead and you don't have to get in the middle and manage everyone's schedules. This combination pushed the company to send an e-mail to its 600 employees last month asking each of them to take five days of vacation before the end of August, said Steve Pemberton, chief human . This includes ensuring everyone takes their allotted time off and fostering a culture that doesn't make people feel hesitant to take their vacation days. There are a lot of stressors now and our biggest concern is our employees becoming burned out. Here are 12 ways you can proactively encourage employees to take time off work: Contents hide 1 Encourage Employees to Take a Digital Detox 2 Remind Employees about the Benefits of Taking Time Off 3 Do What You Preach 4 Make it a Habit to Unplug from Work Often 5 Create Company Holidays 6 Show Employees that Work-life Balance is Important We know it can be difficult to remember, especially when youre in the middle of a busy day, but taking small breaks throughout the day will actually help keep you and your employees feeling energized, happy and inspired. Especially amid uncertainty, many people might not feel secure about their jobs and will require extra encouragement from their managers before trusting theyre safe while getting some respite. someone who can approve or decline leave requests) logs into Timetastic, they can see the remaining leave allowances for everyone on the team. One of the most important things you can do to ensure that your employees are able to enjoy their time off is to create company holidays. Here's how you can encourage your employees to take their vacation time this year, even if it's only a staycation: Set an example. But if you dont use it by the end of the year, [DD/MM/YY], then your time off will reset for the new year. For some companies, this situation might not prove difficult whatsoeverit's entirely possible that November and December are slow periods for plenty of employers. Use imagery around the office. For additional queries, you can reach our department of [Mention the details] at [mention phone number] or directly through an email at [mention the email address]. Consider the following scenarios HR may face during the holiday season: PTO tools with at-a-glance calendars allow for easier staffing decisions, but other employers still may want to audit and update their time off policy to save resources in the long run. Taking time off should be encouraged by companies and managers to promote employee wellness, happiness, and productivity in the workplace. Build specialized knowledge and expand your influence by earning a SHRM Specialty Credential. It's important to start having conversations about holiday plans with staff now, even if it's just small talk about how they plan to take a break before the end of the year, MirrorCoop's Linden said. Template for external staff letter. Here are five reasons to encourage your employees to take a vacation. Meanwhile, vacation requests fell roughly 50 percent during the initial months of the pandemic. Second, you also get Timetastics Firewire, which is sent out quarterly to you and any department managers you have on your team. This is just a friendly reminder that, as of [DD/MM/YY], you have a remaining leave balance of [X DAYS / X HOURS]. Push Your Employees Offlineand on Vacation Ettore Toppi Senior Consultant "You're taking a vacation? The nation's workers also eschew lunch to work longer. The disparity in working conditions is becoming evident in the yield of work based on individual work-from-home circumstances. You should send employees monthly reminders about how much time off they have available for use in the following year. This is the same information in the Burnout Board, but its sent directly to you, so you dont risk overlooking it. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Dear (mention the name of the recipient). We send two emails per month max. "This helps reassure the employee that they can truly take time off to relax with family without feeling guilty or stressing out about checking e-mail and phone messages.". Everybody needs refreshment in their life from their work, so by looking into your hard work and sincerity towards your work, the company has decided to give you a leave for someday, and we will appreciate if you take it. Let them know that vacation can improve their relationships at work, as well as their productivity and morale. How does your company handle end-of-year time off requests? To solve this problem, you can use Timetastic as your staff leave app. If they see the boss working nonstop, they. var currentLocation = getCookie("SHRM_Core_CurrentUser_LocationID"); Our unlimited vacation company policy allows employees to take as much leave as they need. According to WorldatWork, about $365B of PTO was accrued in 2019 across all companies and organizations in the US. "When managers are intentional about making time for themselves during the dayblocking time to eat lunch, regularly scheduled personal development, being strict with their work and nonwork hourstheir teams have followed suit," Winn said. The best paid time off tracking software (3 options), The best vacation tracking software (2 options), The best annual leave calendar for your business, The best way to track employee time off: plus, 2 alternative methods. Disclaimer, Elon Musk's Illusion of Control Undermining Teslas Future, SHRM Partners with William G. McGowan Charitable Fund with Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. and Diana Spencer, The Moment is Now for Emotional Intelligence - #SHRM22, How HR Analytics Can Leverage Performance Appraisal System. Drew Gieseke is an aPHR-certified marketing professional who writes about HR, compliance, and healthcare solutions. 1. As Limeades CEO Henry Albrecht stated in my survey, Share the rules, show care, model the behaviors, and trust people to do the right thing.. 0-5 years of service - [days] PTO days each year for exempt employees; [days] PTO days each year for nonexempt employees. When you run a small business, it's hard to compete with the big guys in winning the war for talent. advise the employee you would like them to take some of their annual leave, and. The center, which provides counseling services to women with unplanned pregnancies, depends on volunteers to help carry out its mission. else if(currentUrl.indexOf("/about-shrm/pages/shrm-mena.aspx") > -1) { The company sent employees reminders to start planning their vacation schedules, with few responses. In these difficult times, weve made a number of our coronavirus articles free for all readers. Please note that all such forms and policies should be reviewed by your legal counsel for compliance with applicable law, and should be modified to suit your organizations culture, industry, and practices. }); if($('.container-footer').length > 1){ If you have any questions about your leave balance, or how to reschedule your leave, please reach out to your manager. Does the organization pay out unused time off? Employees should clearly understand your organization's vacation policy. We live in Virginia and many drives that are beautiful. You can show them that work-life balance is important by: Employees are busy, and it can be easy to forget about the vacation days theyve accrued over the past year. You have been a hard-working and sincere employee to our team; you have worked for so long without taking any half-day or leave. 3 templates for reminding your employees to take annual leave Template #1: Reminding your employee that the end of the year's approaching and their holiday time doesn't carry over Template #2: Informing your employee that they missed the cut-off for taking their leave (and explaining how your carry-over policy works) Dear [RECIPIENT'S NAME], If taking time off is hard for your employees, there are alternatives that you can consider. What Is a Dependent Care FSA and How Does It Work? Frequent breaks are more helpful because amped up levels of stress mean we cant always wait for the long-anticipated, lengthy vacations of the past. One way to encourage employees to take some time off is to have one-on-one meetings with them and discuss the importance of taking a break and enjoying some time off. This letter is to inform you from [mention the name of the company or the organization for which the sender is writing this letter] that I, the [mention designation of the sender] of [mention name of the department], would like to encourage you to take a vacation from your work for some days. But how can they do that if they dont know how to disconnect from work? (Campaign Monitor,2019) 3. Set email communication a part of your corporate image . Here are five tactics that can make a difference: 1. Taking time off might seem like an unnecessary luxury given that we all have deadlines looming over our heads all day long; however, these breaks allow both employers and employees to get away from our desks so they can relax and come back refreshed when they return. This will help ensure that your employees use their paid time off and dont miss out on valuable benefits. Wed like to avoid you losing your hard-earned time off. This allows HR to properly plan work schedules and project deadlines around planned employee absences. Start your free one-month trial today. 3) who you are leaving in charge of any project should an emergency or immediate question arise. If you're going to be on vacation for a week or two, then it's essential you set up your vacation email. Otherwise, theyll burn out quickly (and possibly quit). Note that due to the busy nature of this time of year, some requests may not be approved, depending on availability and workload. Redefine vacations to mean more than just recreation and travel to include family time, caregiving, and self-care. Posted on August 4, 2021 Research shows the benefits of vacations to employee productivity and the economy both of which are currently under threat. At this time I am proudly able to announce the reopening of Our Business on June 05, 2020. Download Employee Mandatory Vaccination Policy Letter Template. These Three Words Describe Me in The Best Way. It gives both the employee and employer time for review. Below is a vacation request email sample for medical reasons: Subject: Medical leave application Dear (Manager's name), I'm writing this letter to request vacation leave from Tuesday (December 15th) through Thursday (December 24th). Employees often postpone PTO because they worry about who will take up the slack while they are out, said LauraHandrick, a contributing HR professional at Choosing Therapy, a Brooklyn-based website that helps educate the public about the benefits of therapy. Each and every employee of an organization work hard day and night every single day to produce the exact results that the corporation wants and make sure that the reputation of the organization always remains clean and only achievements are what that the organization gets. This policy is based on mutual trust . Various studies show that the current environment is taking a toll on employees' mental health and fueling workers' reticence about taking time off. to. To minimize employees' lost days, 24 percent of companies are planning to increase carryover limits. Ease the numbness induced with back-to-back video calls and a long to-do list by reinventing vacations and time off, and encouraging your team to do the same. Everyone needs time off work. Restored leave still remaining to the employee's credit at the end of this period will be forfeited without the right to further restoration. 2. Steve Pemberton, chief human resources officer at the company, which is co-headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and Framingham, Mass. First, when you use Timetastic, you get access to your teams Burnout Board. Encourage employees to walk out of the office, turn off their cell phones, shut down the computer, focus on just themselves for at least a couple of hours and simply ask them to enjoy your time. SHRM's HR Knowledge Advisors offer guidance and resources to assist members with their HR inquiries. All PTO requests and approvals will be tracked using [system]. David Zaitz/Getty Images. year after restoration (i.e., restored in leave year 2013 to be used by the end of leave year 2014). The reply should explain when the employee will be away and for how long, but also include some language that indicates that the employee is taking a break from work and is not available during this time. Encouraging to take time off is one of the most important things that you can do for your employees. They can use that time as a mini-weekend getaway with their friends or family. You will need to demonstrate through your own actions that youre serious about time off. The benefits of taking time off are numerous: it helps your employees be more productive at work, it helps them be happier with their job, it can make them more creative by giving their minds a chance to wander freely with no deadlines or restrictions, and it gives them a chance to recharge their batteries so that when work starts up again after the break theyre ready for anything. We know that not everyone feels comfortable taking time off work, but trust me: its worth it! You want your employees to take a break from their work and enjoy the world outside.
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