With the holiday season not too far away, it's important to plan for employee time off in a way that doesn't disrupt the work environment. Manufacturing is the top industry for the number of employees with access to paid time off, according to Zippia. With the holiday season not too far away, it's important to plan for employee time off in a way that does not disrupt the work environment.
The first step is to find out how much vacation time your employees have accumulated and how many days they are entitled to. The national average for paid days off for U.S. employees is 7.6 days. However, Zippia also outlines that 21% of employees receive 6 days per year. In manufacturing, the average employee has at least 9 paid days off a year, amounting to a two-week holiday, including weekends. Paid days are not the same as those expected as mandatory by the government, such as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Although, things can become more challenging on a human resources level when employers recognize "floating holidays," which are those days offered to employees that celebrate holidays not identified as government holidays in the United States.
There are multiple ways to handle vacation time that will ensure that your manufacturing setting continues to run smoothly and keep up operations with little downtime during the holiday season. Here are some tips to help you get through the holiday season:
- Make sure you have an understanding of the holidays and how they affect business.
- Give employees a heads-up early about upcoming seasons popular for paid days off. Give them a deadline to get their time off requests in.
- Managers should be mindful of the company's culture when deciding on how to plan for holiday paid time off.
- Find out what the employees are expecting and what they are looking forward to during their holiday leave.
- Ask for feedback from the employees about their holiday plans. This will help managers understand what employees want and need to have a successful and happy holiday season.
- Confirm that employees are aware of their holiday benefits so they know how much time off they have coming up and when they can take it.
- Create a schedule that includes what tasks each person will be responsible for. Have a plan for what needs to be done in case of emergencies during time periods where more employees are away than normal
- Assure that you have enough staff on hand.
The most important thing to remember when heading into the holiday season is to plan out your days so that you don't overwork your employees or management – including yourself – and it doesn't lead to any unnecessary stress.