Streamlining Holiday Scheduling: 4 Simple Steps

With the holidays approaching, effective holiday planning is crucial for managing the busiest time of year. At IceHrm, we specialize in staff planning and leave management, offering essential tips to ensure your business operates smoothly and embraces the holiday spirit.

During the winter holidays, managing time off, holiday pay, and early requests for leave are critical. Whether you're overseeing a bustling retail store or a 24/7 plumbing service, understanding employee availability and integrating holiday pay rates into your planning is essential for a stress-free holiday season.

1.Set clear expectations for holiday planning

If you're hiring seasonal workers or predicting that your employees will need to work more hours due to unusually high visitor volume, make this clear as early as possible. Staying open a little later while customers try to get something for everyone on their list can increase sales. If your employees understand this, they'll make those extra sales with a smile—assuming the extra hours of work don't catch them off guard. If you run a retail store that's known in the neighborhood for unique holiday gifts, consider having a weekend shift for all employees. Schedule a meeting before the holidays begin so each employee knows the unfamiliar shifts will become the norm for a few weeks. Think of this temporary change as an increase in work hours and pay, rather than a loss of time off work. This will set the tone for the season and ensure everyone is on the same page.

2.Plan availability for vacation scheduling in advance

Vacation scheduling works best with a healthy dose of communication between employees and managers. One of the most important things to communicate is who is working when, exactly. The sooner these times are established, the better. Managers need to announce their schedules a little earlier than other times of the year, and that means employees need to communicate their availability in advance, too. This allows employees to balance their work schedules with their other commitments. And many part-time workers will jump at the opportunity to work more hours if they have enough time to schedule those shifts.

3.Request preemptive time off when planning vacations

Most of your employees will be spending the holidays with family and friends, so they should know what is expected of them at work to balance both during the holiday season. Family dinners, vacations, ice skating, whatever. There are a number of fun activities your employees will want to participate in this holiday season, and they are possible as long as they give you plenty of notice. If your staff is unavailable, it's impossible to make the most of the holiday rush. Manage time off requests by setting a cutoff date for planned time off over the holidays. This allows you to plan for absences and create a solid schedule that successfully avoids last-minute changes. This is especially easy with IceHrm.

4.Implement special rates for holiday shifts

Does your business need to stay open during the holidays? IceHrm has a holiday pay feature that allows managers to set an hourly rate for a holiday without having to manually edit timecards before payroll. For example, if you want to pay 1.5x the hourly rate for working on Christmas Day or New Year's Day, you can do so with a few clicks. You don't want to start the new year unprepared when it comes to running payroll.

The holidays are fast approaching, and planning your holiday scheduling strategy now can give you peace of mind later in the season.

Holiday Planning FAQs

How do I create a holiday schedule?

The most important thing about holiday planning is to start early. You should have a clear policy up front and make sure your employees know what is expected of them. The sooner you can set your holiday working hours, the better.

How do I make my work schedule fair?

Communication is key to a fair schedule. You need to know what your employees want, what they can and can't do, and you need to let your employees know what is expected of them, especially around the holidays. Offering holiday pay of 1.5 to 2 times pay for working on holidays also makes working on those days much fairer.

How can IceHrm help with holiday planning?

IceHrm does it all! From payroll to HR administration to hiring and scheduling, IceHrm can help you with the tedious tasks that take up a lot of time and effort.

IceHrm simplifies holiday planning by streamlining scheduling, managing time off, and ensuring fair compensation with holiday pay features.