Do Your Employees Need Time Off?

Paid time off is an expected benefit for most employees today, and it is necessary to be able to keep up with the requests as they come in, especially as people begin to plan for vacation season. Having an accurate and efficient way of keeping track of the requests is helpful not only for scheduling purposes, but for your budget as well. For businesses in almost all industries, paid time off is a standard for their full-time employees, and for good reason:

• Increased Employee Retention
  • Sometimes, businesses don’t want to offer paid time off as a benefit for their employees because they are operating under the pretense that it’s too expensive. However, this is not always the case – paid time off costs less than hiring and training a new employee: hiring and training a new employee can cost as much as 50-60% of the employee’s annual salary. Offering paid time off as a benefit to your employees boosts retention, and demonstrates that your business cares about its employees by encouraging a healthy work-life balance.
• Improved Morale
  • Employees who have access to paid time off generally have a more positive disposition and come back to work more engaged: 78% of HR Directors report that employees who take advantage of a paid vacation have a higher job satisfaction. Paid time off also gives employees the ability to take time for themselves, ensuring that their health and performance levels are optimum, in turn garnering more success for your business.
• Greater Productivity
  • With the possibility for a chance to recharge, employees can be at their best: 75% of HR Professionals report that employees who use most or all of their paid time off perform better than those who take little to none.
• Better Planning
  • Scheduling personal appointments is essential to employees. Being able to make plans in advance without the worry of a business scrambling for someone to cover their absence is a benefit for all involved.
• Problem Detection
  • An often overlooked advantage to offering paid time off to your employees is detecting workflow problems. When an essential employee is out, those who fill in may notice discrepancies or errors, or even find more efficient ways of doing a job. This is the reason why the U.S. Government strongly encourages bank employees to take vacations: it helps to uncover fraud or oversights being covered up.
• Stronger Teamwork
  • Encouraging employees to take time off makes them more likely to support their coworkers when they take time off. While this alone is a great benefit, as employees feel like they are helping out their coworkers, it also gives the opportunity for cross-training. When an essential employee is absent, those who fill in for them become more proficient and more aware of what their coworker’s positions entail.

All in all, offering paid time off for your employees is a great way to show your employees that you care about their wellbeing, both on and off the clock. 

With the holiday season coming to a close, there is no better time than now to consider your time and attendance tracking strategy. Hopefully, it ran smoothly: every employee's holiday pay and time-off requests were dealt with efficiently, and no problems arose with coverage or other scheduling issues. If this was not the case for you, then perhaps it's time to consider a new time and attendance software that fulfills your demands, no matter the size of your business. Contact us!