Leave requests and holiday clashes can be a cause of conflict year-round but especially so at Christmas. Whether it’s parents who want to make the most of the school break, people travelling to meet family, or someone who simply wants to enjoy the festive season, the fact is, hardly anyone wants to work at Christmas.

It may seem like the world stops from Christmas Eve until after the New Year, but this is not the reality. Many businesses need to keep their wheels turning over the holiday period and, for some, it is the busiest time of the year.

So, here’s the dilemma.

You receive three requests for time off at the busiest time of year. All three employees have valid reasons, but you can only approve one. Take a look at the options.

Employee one:
Harry waits all year to see his family. When he took this job, he knew he’d be moving far away from most of his relatives which is what makes Christmas even more special. He’s booked his ticket early so that he would avoid peak times and save himself a lot of money. Unfortunately, his tickets are non-refundable, and rebooking would leave him massively out of pocket.

Employee two:
Molly has recently had a baby. It‘s her son’s first Christmas, and she is excited for everyone to be together as she hasn’t seen much of her family since her maternity leave ended. She wants the time off to make this first Christmas as a mother really special and has planned an elaborate dinner for all of her friends and family. Some relatives have already booked trains and flights for the occasion and cancelling would cost them a lot of money.

Employee three:
Adrian is an active member in his local church. Every year he requests the same time off so that he can volunteer to help with the Christmas festivities at the church, and they rely on him lending a hand. It has never been an issue for him to get time off before and he assumed that this year would be no different. That’s why he promised to help out with a huge event and without him, they may not be able to go through with it.

Who gets their annual leave request approved?

Well, it all comes down to your company’s policy.

You need to make sure you have watertight annual leave policies written into your employment contracts. That way everyone knows where they stand before they start planning and booking holiday.

Consider using a first come, first served policy. If too many staff are away at any one time, your business might not be able to maintain its normal operations, which can affect profits and customer service.

Having a cap on the number of people away can help staff to better organise their days off and reduces the chances of you being accused of favouritism or discrimination.

Seasonal restrictions can also help manage leave requests. If your business is extremely busy over the Christmas period, you can stop staff members from taking any time off at all. Conversely, you can require your staff to take holidays at certain times of year when your business is quiet in order to offset these restrictions.

At the end of the day, you need to make your decision fairly and ensure you have solid business reasons for accepting/denying any holiday requests.