School’s Out for Summer!

The summer holidays are a notoriously challenging time for both businesses and employees; from parents juggling additional childcare responsibilities, to those left holding down the fort in their absence.

No matter the size of your business, the school holidays are guaranteed to impact you in some way, as staff take time off and business slows down. It’s the same thing every year, so rather than trying to avoid these issues, let’s look at how we can reduce their impact on your operations!

Supporting parents during the holidays

To help manage childcare during the school holidays, employees may (if not already) request annual leave, potentially even at short notice, if their arrangements fall through unexpectedly. Whilst last-minute holiday requests are not ideal, it is worth adopting a more flexible approach, where the business can permit, particularly when parents are struggling. This flexibility is then likely to be reciprocated, reducing operational disruption to the business.

To support your staff with their childcare responsibilities, it may also be worth offering temporary flexibility around working hours. Things like adjusted start and finish times or modified working days could make the world of difference to parents right now. In some cases, short-term remote working may also be an option, if they are able to continue effectively carrying out their duties. Although, if you are considering the latter, then it is worth ensuring those staff have suitable childcare arrangements in place and will not be disrupted throughout the working day.

Other Available Statutory Leave

Employees who have been continuously employed for at least one year and meet eligibility criteria are entitled to up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child, to be used before the child turns 18. The school holidays may therefore, present as a perfect time for staff to tap into this leave. However, it’s important to note that they must give at least 21 days’ notice of their intention to take unpaid parental leave and are only entitled to take a maximum of 4 weeks per year. This leave should not therefore, be used for last-minute or emergency situations.

For emergency situations, staff would need to exercise their right to Time Off for Dependents. This leave permits reasonable unpaid time off to deal with unexpected emergencies, involving a spouse, child, grandchild, parent, or someone who depends on the employee for care. Situations might include sudden illness, the breakdown of care arrangements, or other urgent matters. While employers cannot refuse reasonable requests, this type of leave is typically expected to last one to two days.

Employers are advised to implement clear policies on the above, so they are able to effectively manage requests, set out communication expectations and raise any concerns.

Navigating slower business

For many businesses, orders/customer engagement will slow down over the summer holidays as more people are out of office. This is naturally an apprehensive time for business owners but don’t let that take away from the opportunity it presents. Rather than dwelling on a lack of orders, use this time to focus on those tasks you’ve been putting off throughout the year. Perhaps that’s, getting your admin in order, undertaking training events, clearing out the warehouse/office, conducting stock takes etc. By using this time to focus on these tasks, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running once business is back to normal come September.

If, however, there is a significant drop in demand over this period, then perhaps it’s time to look at other options. This may involve asking your staff to use up holidays during the quiet periods. Don’t forget, as an employer, you can enforce holidays, so long as you give double the amount of notice for the time you wish your staff to take i.e. if you’d like them to use up two days holiday, you should give them four days’ notice.

Other options may include temporarily laying staff off or reducing their hours until work picks back up again. Please note, that this is only possible if there is a clause built into your employment contracts permitting you to do so, or it is custom and practice in your industry. Please seek advice from your trusted HR expert before instigating this process if you are unsure.

As with all employment issues, clear communication from both sides and early intervention when it comes to problems is key. If you are concerned about the impact summer holidays are having on your business, then why not reach out to one of our dedicated HR Consultants for further advice.