How much notice do you need to give for holiday requests?

Posted 6 years ago

It’s down to the employer of the organisation to establish the rules on how holidays must be requested.

It is practical to set out the holiday policy in a Staff Handbook or on the intranet for ease of access for the staff that may be new and unfamiliar with the procedure.

If your organisation has no holiday policy set out, the minimum amount of notice you should expect is a minimum of twice the amount of time that the employee has requested.

For example, a week holiday request should be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the dates of the holiday.

However, this approach to holiday requests may not be practical for your business, as you may need more time to plan. If that’s the case, setting out a holiday policy is crucial for your organisation.

Another thing to think about is how you want your staff to request their holidays: should they fill in a form, send you an email, or use your online HR system?

Above all, your organisation should be consistent in how you expect your staff to request holidays and you should give yourself enough time to plan around staff holidays and ensure you have enough cover for the period.

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