How leave management software can prevent headaches caused by staff holidays

Leave management is tricky enough just dealing with people, without having to cope with outmoded tools like spreadsheets, paper forms and emails. The need to chase after HR managers to get their signature on paper forms should be long gone, but hangs on in many organisations.

Instead, with a modern leave management process, you can confidently plan and manage your team’s job scheduling, employee attendance, sick leave, sick days, paid time off requests, parental leave and holidays by using leave management software, without having to resort to a manual management system.

What is leave management software?

The leave management process is part of HR and payroll operations, which incorporates time off management, leave requests, sick leave, parental leave and any type of employee leave. 

Leave management software allows companies to modernise and streamline their HR processes to make them more efficient. From a corporate viewpoint it enables better staff management and conformity with company policies. 

Staff also benefit: their leave requests are handled in a fair and accurate way through a more transparent process. A leave management system often incorporates a self-service solution to manage employee leave.

An efficient leaving management platform will:

• Automate time tracking

• Streamline payroll process

• Improve attendance management

• Enhance employee recordkeeping

• Reduce compliance risk

Why is leave management software essential?

Managing employee leave effectively can help ensure compliance with labour laws as well as reduce labour costs.  

A Gallup survey found that 23% of employees always feel burned out, and a near majority sometimes feel that way. These employees are 2.6 times more likely to change jobs, leading to high employee turnover rates that incur significant costs.

Efficient leave management processes promote healthy work-life balance, increase employee satisfaction and reduce absenteeism.

How do leave management systems work?

Workforce management software increases the efficiency and productivity of your organisation by automating and streamlining a range of HR processes, such as generating rosters, tracking staff work hours, and managing leave requests. 

A modern leave management system is a cloud-based human resource tool that gives managers greater visibility of leave requests, and also provides self-service functionality to employees. It will typically feature functions like these:

• Seamless integration with legacy HR systems

• A clear and comprehensive dashboard

• Easy and transparent reporting

• Customisable forms and fields

• Automatic tracking and updates to leave balance

• Adjustable approval process

What are the benefits of implementing a leave management system?

An efficient leave management system delivers benefits for the whole organisation, including management and staff. These are just some of the benefits organisations report after embracing employee scheduling software:

Improve productivity

Gallup’s recent State of Global Workforce report suggests that employers enjoy “17% higher productivity and 21% higher profitability when employees are motivated and engaged”.

And what are casual workers’ top two criteria when seeking out employers? Predictable pay and flexibility with time and leave. They want a guaranteed number of hours to meet their needs, but also the flexibility to juggle home life.

Reduce payroll errors

When payroll is automated, it eliminates errors that arise from manual handling. It also expedites universal changes, such as when unions negotiate a pay rise, or a decision of the Remuneration Tribunal or Fair Work Commission affects a large cohort of staff.

An effective leave management process applies policies consistently across your company. Not only is this fairer, but it is seen to be fair by employees.

Reduce paperwork

An automated leave management process moves us closer to the dream of a paperless office. Without the need for printed payslips, leave request forms and documents requiring signatures, there’s less paperwork to manage. Instead, the data is secured safely in the cloud.

Automate processes

As well as automating processes, a mobile app for an employee scheduling solution is often the most effective means of motivating and engaging today’s mobile and remote workforce. This:

• Allows them to plan their work and leave hours

• Enhances communication with managers about shifts and leave

• Lets them log their hours

• Makes it easy to administer their work life

Ways to manage employee holiday time off

Companies vary greatly in their operations over holiday periods. Here are some ways organisations manage leave requests and employee time off in their leave management process.

Plan sick leave & employee leave in advance

Businesses that need a long lead time for leave requests should encourage employees to plan their holidays, long-service, rostered days off and so on, for the coming year. 

This is made so much easier with an efficient leave management system, which offers employees a clear picture of the leave policies, leave requests, leave balance and their team’s time-off calendar. 

The leave management process will keep them in the loop, prevent shocks, and help them juggle their home and work lives.

Cloud-based platforms are the ideal solution for mobile teams, where staff can be working across a variety of shifts and locations. Humanforce, for instance, is a custom-built employee leave management tool for the contemporary remote and hybrid workforce.

First-come, first-served basis

A fair leave management process helps by democratising access. If every employee can visit their dashboard to see their leave stats at a glance, as well as check company policies, it creates a level playing field for all staff. 

It’s fair, for example, if an organisation offers some leave on a first-come, first-served basis. A limit could be set for the number of time-off positions during critical operational periods.

Flexibility within shifts

An automated flexible leave management system can open up new possibilities for HR managers and staff. In a manual system, for example, it may be too hard to split shifts. 

But with automated employee leave management software, you can drill down to a level of detail that is both granular and useful. You could have someone work in the morning during the holidays and another worker take the afternoon shift, giving them both some time off during a holiday period while covering vital services.

Maintain a roster of part-time staff

If you’re operating a business that gets busy during the holiday season, or many of your staff will be on employee leave then, it’s a good idea to maintain a pool of part-timers that you can tap into. 

With an efficient leave management process, it’s much easier to keep in contact with these part-timers throughout the year. You can track their availability ahead of time, while easily seeing your employee time and attendance during peak times. 

With this ease and level of foresight, absence management becomes less stressful, companies are better prepared, and legal trouble or emergencies are far less likely.

Conclusion

Any HR team that wants to avoid the headaches of outmoded, manual leave management systems should consider what modern technology can bring to the table.

If you want to speak to us about how Humanforce software can improve your organisation’s remote workforce management through efficient leave management software, schedule a demo or contact us here.

Humanforce is a leading provider of shift-based workforce management solutions that simplify employee onboarding, scheduling, time and attendance, employee engagement and communication. Customers in more than 23 countries use Humanforce market-leading software to optimise costs, realise compliance confidence, empower their teams and drive growth. Humanforce was founded in Sydney in 2002 and has offices across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.