Annual Leave
Author: Kate Shepherd and Lisa Poole
US Consultant: Julie DiMauro
Summary
- Employers that follow good practice in annual leave can support employee welfare and generate a positive impact on their bottom line. See The Importance of Managing Annual Leave.
- Introducing a policy and procedure on annual leave provides guidance to managers so the organization maintains a consistent approach to annual leave. It also ensures transparency, so employees know what procedures to follow to minimize disappointment. See The Annual Leave Policy and Procedure and Requesting and Authorizing Annual Leave.
- Employers can introduce rules on when employees can and cannot take annual leave to help meet business needs. See Timing of Annual Leave.
- Employers should put procedures in place to prompt employees to take annual leave. See Encouraging Employees to Take Annual Leave.
- Employers can introduce a number of methods to increase employees' control over annual leave so they can balance work and personal commitments to suit their needs. See Bringing Forward Annual Leave, Unpaid Annual Leave, The Family Medical Leave Act, Carry-Over of Annual Leave and Banking Annual Leave.
- Employers should consider carefully any requests for leave for religious purposes to foster further employee engagement. See Leave for Religious Observation.
- Employers can institute arrangements to ensure that an employee who returns to work from a duration of annual leave becomes productive as quickly as possible. See Return to Work after a Period of Annual Leave.
- Employers should plan for circumstances in which employees might be delayed on their return from annual leave. See Delay on Return from Annual Paid Leave.
- Employers that help pregnant women to plan the annual leave that will accrue while they are on maternity leave will be better equipped to deal with the leave. See Maternity Leave and Annual Leave.
- Employers should arrange for coverage of a worker's duties when he or she is on leave and have policies in place to handle the issue of unused vacation time at the time of termination. See Arranging Cover During Annual Leave and Annual Leave on Termination of Employment.