A good starting point would be understanding what leave management is. Well, let’s do so. Leave management means controlling, coordinating and overseeing the way leave is applied. It also involves how it is approved or rejected and the grounds on which such approvals or rejections are based. It is a function run by HR departments and is a vital function in the smooth running of any business. An employee on leave is not being productive but the law says he is entitled to it. It’s his or her right to be away from work because he is not feeling well or because she is expecting to give birth or because the law says he is entitled to it, or an employee whose wife or father has passed away or has suffered injury and is asking for time off. Such scenarios fall within the realm of leave management. It is important for organizations to have good leave management systems in place. It is effective and suited for any organization size.
- Benefits of Taking Leave for the Employers: When it comes to the question of the benefits of leave management two points stand clear. One of them is, who benefits? The employee or the employer. Both benefit. This article looks at both sides of the coin, the benefits which accrue to a business from a well managed leave management system as well as how employees also benefit. Let’s go through them. If employees understand what is being talked about it’s going to be a big plus to your business because their morale and productivity gets a big boost.
- Staff Morale Leads to Productivity: A good leave management system has benefits to businesses that are not immediately apparent but which nevertheless are there. Properly managed, a leave management system will have a positive impact on productivity because it improves employee morale thus leading indirectly to increased productivity.
- Time Saver: A properly well managed and well administered leave management system ensures that all information or details about an employee is available at click of a button. For example, a worker on leave moves house, this fact should come to the business’ notice immediately. So the app chosen should have a tool which caters for that particular occasion. All types of leave are on the app.
- Human Errors are Eliminated: The point here is that a properly and well put in place leave management policy allows for greater accuracy. Human errors are greatly reduced as everything is automated. In big organizations for example, it is easy to make mistakes when entering information on spreadsheets or manual reports for example. It is possible to pay an employee for days they are actually absent from work or on unapproved leave. When you have a functional leave management system such errors are greatly reduced.
- High Discipline Levels: Accurate record keeping about leave days will help in improving discipline in the workplace. How is this possible? Most organizations have a fixed number of say, sick leave days allocated to each employee. Say a worker has 25 days allocated to him or her per annum. If all these are used up during the year and the employee has to take more sick leave these additional days are then deducted from the days allocated for annual vacation. If the employee has 21 days allocated for annual leave, the additional days taken for being off sick are deducted from these. If it happens that these become used up as well and the worker still needs time off then he/ she gets unpaid time off. This works well to dissuade those workers who pretend to be ill and go to a doctor and get a medical report testifying to their being unable to work on health grounds.
These are some of the benefits of having a good leave management system in place. This is taken in the context that the business has accurate information about all their employees on their records or they have an HR function that is efficient. In all such cases, a leave management policy comes in handy. They also help you to comply with legal and compliance laws.
