Managing Leave Requests. It's OK to say No.

Whether your organization has one all-encompassing personal time off (PTO) policy, or separate annual and sick leave accumulations, balancing the operational needs with employee’s needs is something all businesses face. A pitfall I often see is that managers feel like they must give approval every time an employee submits a request for time off. Employees frequently buy hotel or airline tickets before making their leave request, therefore backing the employer into a corner. They claim that they will lose money if they cancel their travel plans. Most managers do not want to have a confrontation from pushing back, so it is easier to give in.

Organizational culture plays a role in when the employees ask for time off. Allow them to plan up to a year out. Be flexible if they make changes, but also make sure they understand how to plan around business needs, too. A little bit of transparency will go a long way. If you are in an industry that has peak seasons, such as taxes or manufacturing, let them know that leave requests are less likely to be approved during those months. If you do that, be very generous in allowing them time off in non-peak seasons. Permit the business to run leaner in on-peak times so that you can have full staff when it is critical.

Create team calendars as a best practice. A calendar can be mounted on the wall or in digital form, whichever makes more sense for your culture. Make it accessible to all team members. During your regular staff meetings, take a few minutes to review it, add vacations and appointments, or discuss block-out dates. Make sure everyone is working together to create constant coverage. If they all have an interest in helping each other, you will find that they will be more likely to adjust as needed. When they all have buy-in, overall morale improves as well.

The bottom line is do not be afraid to tell an employee “no” to their leave request if the business cannot support their absence. Control the narrative and avoid letting the employees dictate schedules. Work together; compromise happens on both sides of a positive relationship.