Here are six strategies on how managers can approach vacations when so much of the workforce is working from home. 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. Template for external staff letter. 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. If our content helps you to contend with coronavirus and other challenges, please consider, Unused vacations have cost U.S. businesses, women academics are publishing fewer papers. Thank you for a great year. How HR Can Remind Employees to Use PTO Benefits Before - BerniePortal Education, taking time and truly respecting boundaries are essential to support an employee experience focused on well-being, thriving, inclusion and balance. 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. By involving the entire team, you make taking breaks part of the culture along with supporting and being generous with each other. Providing transparency into where all your projects stand helps put everyone . "People don't have a lot of control right now, and they are trying to control what they can.". Welcome Back to Work Letter and Email Examples - The Balance Careers However, when a manager (i.e. People will be scared and caring about their health and source of income. Why it's in your interest for staff to take leave. First, when you use Timetastic, you get access to your teams Burnout Board. You have always been a very loyal, hard-working, and passionate employee of our team (mention the details), and you have worked for a long time without taking any type of leaves. Encouraging staff to take annual leave | myhrtoolkit The current crisis is creating more urgency and more work. Here are a few samples to help you draft the perfect vacation request letter. Annual allotment vs. accrual bank vs. unlimited? Limit vacation day rollovers. They can use that time as a mini-weekend getaway with their friends or family. Sometimes we all need to take some time off and do something completely unproductive. Here are a few sample vacation request emails and a reminder email draft to help you get started: 1. Steve Pemberton, chief human resources officer at the company, which is co-headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and Framingham, Mass. Managers, Remind Your Team to Take Time Off | Lattice SHRM's HR Knowledge Advisors offer guidance and resources to assist members with their HR inquiries. How to Encourage Your Employees to Take Breaks - Corovan How to Tell an Employee to Take a Leave | Small Business - Chron Not to mention that according to SHRM, when employees take PTO, they're often more productive and exhibit lower stress and better mental health. Learn if they are planning any fun trips, and remind them to book their vacation as far in advance as possible so you can be ready for it. It was hard for all survey respondents to know what to do with an extended vacation of more than a week. Guide To Vacation Leave Letters: Definition, Template and Sample How to Write a Vacation Request Email - With Examples The point is, you now have the information on hand. In this case, make a simple process for reaching out and interacting with coworkers to find coverage for time off. You can reach me at [alternate contact info]. Something went wrong. But if youre always putting in extra time because that project needs to be on timeor because theres too much work left over from last weekthen this will send the message that its okay for them not to take any personal days and just keep going without sleep or relaxation. Note: For privacy reasons, when someone on your team logs into their Timetastic account, they can only see their own individual leave balance. If taking time off is hard for your employees, there are alternatives that you can consider. Note: This is what it looks like when you book a holiday using our mobile app. Please log in as a SHRM member before saving bookmarks. Encourage staff to switch off during annual leave. "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. However, in the retail industry, the final two months of every year are almost always the busiest. If You're in HR, Send this Email About Coronavirus to Staff - Workest Company leaders thought it would be too expensive to allow employees to carry over time or pay them for unused vacation days. Asking employees to take a mandatory leave of absence can give both the employer and employee time to evaluate. Implement rollover limits. Overworked employees are unhappy, do not engage and do not contribute to a productive office environment. 1. Here are five tactics that can make a difference: 1. It gives them space to refresh, a chance to reflect on their own personal growth and health, and helps them come back with renewed energy and focus. Format #1. Helping Startups/ It Companies/ and Small Businesses to Enhance Their Business Through Branding and Marketing Ideas. You have always been a diligent, hard-working, and loyal team employee (mention the details). You also want them to come back feeling refreshed and ready for another round of productivity. I Am a Self-Taught Marketer with 10 Years of Experience. For example, from February to June, employees' risk for developing depressive disorders surged 54 percent while the risk of general anxiety jumped 41 percent, according to Total Brain, a San Francisco-based provider of mental health services. They influence President Biden signed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act into law on December 29, 2022 BerniePortal is the all-in-one HR software solution at a fair price, so HR can focus on providing a good place to work. Remind staff to book annual leave in advance. Encourage holiday talk in your company. For our reps, we've developed a simple algorithm for encouraging them to take vacation days and PTO. If you miss the odd day, the world won't implode, but if people don't know you're away for a few weeks and they don't know exactly when you'll be back, or who they can contact in your place, you're going to have some unhappy clients or customers. Dear Valued Customer, We are beyond grateful for your continued support and loyalty to our brand and services. To all employees: COVID-19 is unpredictable. var currentUrl = window.location.href.toLowerCase();
Even though staff taking holiday can be disruptive in the short term, encouraging staff to book annual leave actually holds many benefits to employers in the long run: Cut stress & burnout, and improve productivity. Take Your Lunch Break! - Harvard Business Review Please purchase a SHRM membership before saving bookmarks. That is why I would encourage employees to take days off by recommending they spend time with their families. Pay attention to your email's header and the design of its body . Yet, few employees feel comfortable taking the time off they need, especially as travel plans and other vacations are cancelled. Create a cafe-like office. If there arent any available at your company yet but would like something similar instead then consider adding an incentive program where each employee receives points based on how many hours they worked each week which can then be redeemed at the end of each month towards goods or services such as gym memberships or other activities outside work hours. You might need to provide extra flexibility. Address and ease their fears of taking time off. Tip#3: Be sure to use the word "because" when explaining your reasons. Employees receive their allotted PTO at the beginning of the calendar year. Please confirm that you want to proceed with deleting bookmark. Offer Time Off As A Sign Of Appreciation Practice patience and sensitivity. Download Template : (pdf, docs, ODT, RTF, txt, HTML, Epub, Etc), Subject: Letter to Encourage Employees to Take Vacations. "People seem to say, 'I don't want to go to work today,' " she said, adding that the summer weather has also pushed people to use their PTO. 2. I'm saving my vacation time until Europe reopens!" My specific plans notwithstanding, my coworker's comments make sense. This strategy will give everyone equal opportunities when it comes to making decisions about how they spend their free time outside of work hours. $("span.current-site").html("SHRM MENA ");
How Will the Anti-Work Movement Impact Businesses? Set email communication a part of your corporate image . The next big thing to solve is making sure your team has the tools to book their holiday. But ideally, no one will ever be on your Burnout Board. Your team can also easily book a holiday through their Wallchart: They simply select the dates they want off, list the reason (i.e. PDF Sample employee email to encourage them to get vaccinated "In the middle of a global pandemic? How to Set a Fair Vacation Policy for Your Small Team One way to encourage employees to take some time off is to have, Provide a list of fun activities or places nearby that are great for taking a break (e.g., If its nice out, try going on a hike!), Offer tips on how to stay focused on work while away from the office (e.g., Turn off notifications so they dont distract them!). "As employers, we have to be cognizant of the mental health impact that the pandemic is having," Pemberton said. The Laurel, Del.-based insurance agency has a "use it or lose it" policy and didn't want its 38 employees to forgo paid time off (PTO), even if they couldn't get away to their usual vacation haunts due to the pandemic. If we take time away from work to recharge and reconnect with loved ones, we can return to work ready to approach our work with energy and purpose. At this time I am proudly able to announce the reopening of Our Business on June 05, 2020. To solve this problem, you can use Timetastic as your staff leave app. Additionally, [company] has the right to identify blackout periods where PTO requests cannot be approved. Members may download one copy of our sample forms and templates for your personal use within your organization. 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. Restored leave still remaining to the employee's credit at the end of this period will be forfeited without the right to further restoration. And finally, activate your team by creating a plan where work is still accomplished, even as people are offline. How to encourage employees to take annual leave - Breathe HR Part time employees accrue vacation on a pro-rated basis. Sabina Nawaz. Employee COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination Policy Template - Paycor 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. 10 Types of Leaves to Include in Your Leave Policy, How to Manage Remote Employees over Microsoft Teams. 3) who you are leaving in charge of any project should an emergency or immediate question arise. Sales teams are notorious for not taking PTO; this is in part because of the ongoing nature of the work and in part because taking time off can be expensive if you miss on commission. Fewer employees want to take vacations given that the pandemic has severely curtailed travel options. In, Template: PTO Communication to Remind Employees to Use Time Off Hours, more productive and exhibit lower stress and better mental health, There's more to PTO than making adjustments at the end of the year. On his half day off, one of my clients created a bouquet for his wife from his garden, repaired a bicycle, and read a book that had been sitting on his shelf for a decade. For more info on handling staff leave, check out our articles on: Our customers tell us what makes them tick. Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor. "They were very relieved [by the change in policy], and we are trying to reward them as much as possible for their work.". 9 Ways To Encourage Employees To Take Vacation Days & Use PTO A smaller share (16 percent) are requiring employees to take vacation time, and another 22 percent are planning to take or considering that approach. 5 Ways to Persuade Employees to Take Vacation Before They Burnout Studies show that almost 75% of employees do not take all of their allotted paid time off (PTO.) Here is a template you can use when structuring your email: Subject: [type of leave] request - [your name] Dear [employer's name], I would like to request [number of days or weeks] leave days that start from [date] and end on [date]. Review. It is the most valued," Reinberg said. Need help with a specific HR issue like coronavirus or FLSA? Talk through these fears and encourage them to use vacation time to spend more time with their families or to lay by the pool as a way to relax and unwind. 1. Otherwise, youre heading for burnout and thats bad for everyone. Policy brief & purpose. }
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. This letter is to inform [mention the name of the person] from [mention the name of the company or the organization to which you are writing this letter] that I the [mention designation of yours] of [mention name of the company and the organization] would like to encourage you to take a vacation from your work for few days. In these difficult times, weve made a number of our coronavirus articles free for all readers. If workers take 29% less vacation for the entire year, this translates into about $60B in additional accrued PTO liability. The request is automatically sent to the right person usually their direct manager, but this can be anyone you want in charge of reviewing holiday requests. But we know that unplugging from work is important.' Here are some ways you can encourage employees to step away from their devices: Sometimes employees hesitate to take time off because they feel they will be distracted from getting all work-related emails and then having to reply to them instantly. When Crystal Brown-Tatum, a human resources manager at Dallas Summer Musicals, noticed that her staff members were accruing more paid time off (PTO) during the pandemic than they would be able to roll over in 2021, she sent out a list of road trips for employees to consider taking. You can do this by offering the following: When you work for a company, you probably know that taking time off is good for your health and well-being. PDF SUBJECT: Annual Reminder Concerning Use/Lose Annual Leave - USDA Vacation Leave Accruals & Carry-Over Reminder | Announcements "Encourage To Take Vacation" Letter to Employee: 4 Templates These employee thank you letters are a perfect way to show the company's gratitude to some employees or even peers for their hard work and effort, as well as their accomplishment to a project. Please enable scripts and reload this page. I suggested that she take a few long weekends and do local explorations. Limit the rollover of unused paid leave days. If you have any questions, please contact [contact]. We help you make things easy for everyone by giving you two things in this article: Lets be honest: You shouldnt really need letter templates. 3. Likewise, as mentioned above, employers might want to completely rework their PTO benefits for the new year. Summary. }); if($('.container-footer').length > 1){
Here's How to Encourage Employees to Take PTO - SHRM Adjust Job Requirements to Allow for Stress-Free PTO. Your session has expired. When the economy is unstable, employers are faced with difficult decisions around staffing, pay and benefits. And if most of your team waits until the end of the year to take their leave, youll struggle to accommodate everyone and end up with an unhappy team, wasted time off, or too much carry-over into the next year. How to Write a Leave Request Email (With Example) 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). By using a human resources information system (HRIS) like BerniePortal, HR can make this enhanced employee handbook available for everyone on the team with a few clicks. 12 Ways to Encourage Employees to Enjoy and Take Time Off Thats why its a good idea to keep your team updated on how much leave they have and the last time they took a break. (Campaign Monitor,2019) 3. Marketing | Branding | Blogging. Employees who take regular time off are less stressed, less likely to burn out, and better equipped to find solutions when problems arise. var currentLocation = getCookie("SHRM_Core_CurrentUser_LocationID");
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. The fear of being replaced or overlooked for projects or promotions is a potential factor preventing your employees from taking time off. Lisa Rabasca Roepe is a freelance writer based in Arlington, Va. You have successfully saved this page as a bookmark. Long Vacation Message. $(document).ready(function () {
This sample leave restriction letter clearly states the company rules and actions against the failures. As a leader or HR professional, navigating how to go about asking employees to use their paid-time-off during these times can be a challenging task. Thank you for going the extra mile. Push Your Employees Offlineand on Vacation Ettore Toppi Senior Consultant "You're taking a vacation? Im writing to remind you that we have an annual leave policy. If they see the boss working nonstop, they. The best approach is a mandatory vacation set at a company-wide level. Sending it in the morning leaves time for your coworkers to get any clarification before you leave.