It is understandable why your client may feel uneasy with staff having to forfeit their untaken leave at the end of the year, however, the good news is there are a number of steps they can take to avoid this situation occurring in the future.
Having an appropriate policy will be vital in allowing your client to clarify their stance on annual leave, ultimately reducing the likelihood of leave having to be refused or passed up. This can be used to outline their ‘use it or lose it’ approach and encourage staff to take their full allocation before the year’s end. A policy will also allow your client to explain any company-specific rules when it comes to booking leave, such as notice requirements and whether there are any periods when leave is not allowed e.g. in the lead up to Christmas.
To prevent a scenario where staff are having to forfeit untaken leave your client may consider taking a more active role in managing time off. Where applicable, it would be wise to task line managers and HR personnel with monitoring those who are yet to book any substantial periods of leave. Staff will traditionally save their longer period of leave for their ‘summer holidays’, therefore it may be worth sending a reminder to those who are yet to book any substantial time off as Autumn rolls around. This will help avoid a scenario where competing staff rush to cram in their remaining holidays towards the end of the leave year.
If your client notices that certain staff are not forthcoming in arranging annual leave, then they should be encouraged to question this as it may be an indication of presenteeism. Your client should look to assist in these situations as taking regular breaks away from work can be beneficial for employees’ health and productivity. If workloads are an issue, then they may look into ways to help staff better manage their time as well as delegating tasks during their absence to reassure workers that nothing will slip through the cracks.
Only once your client has followed the above steps should they resort to arranging mandatory annual leave by issuing staff with a notice to this effect. It is worth noting that this should be used as a last resort and may not be appropriate if individuals have been off work for a significant period due to sickness or maternity leave. In fact, under these circumstances, your client may be forced to provide workers with special dispensation allowing them to carry some untaken leave over into the next leave year, regardless of their workplace policies.
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