Improving the application of leave policies

In a fast-paced business environment it is understandable for line managers to have to decline a request for leave from time to time.

Denying leave requests are perfectly acceptable so long as they are declined for business reasons and can be justified accordingly. Additional information should be available about denied leave requests in your employee handbook and the process for appeal of a denied request should be explained clearly. Employers should also include the justification for denying leave and the consequences of such an action in the employees' contract of employment.

There are many reasons to restrict leave such as:

• When it leaves a knowledge or hierarchy gap
• When workloads are expected to increase during a particular period
• Controlling workforce levels to maintain day to day work flow
• Not enough notice given

The above reasons are not exclusive and in many cases will vary depending on the company in question. For instance, a sales team might be restricted by marketing schedules or monthly sales deadlines whereas a manufacturing company will need to ensure health and safety personnel and first aiders are available in sufficient numbers and appropriate numbers of skilled machine operators are maintained to continue production.

This sort of business intelligence is often taken for granted and not formalised but enforced randomly where the time and situation allows. In certain situations a collective approach across departments would serve the business better. For instance, many company activities are connected though multiple departments and involve many aspects of the various teams such as project management and business development. In fact, very rarely does a department stand alone so absence management should be centrally managed as well. This does not mean centrally approved; simply applying management rules throughout the business which the managers are then to review absence requests against.

Unfortunately few managers take the necessary time to review the requested leave and just authorise as a matter of course, only to encounter the problems at the time of the absence. This is not a failing of the manager, more the company by demanding the managers' attention stays focused on day to day tasks. A head down and charge attitude is often restricted to this day, this week and sometimes to this month. Very few managers are peering more than 6 months into the future, predicting workloads, workforce levels, sick rates etc and who can blame them?

In order to effectively manage leave requests there must first be a central dump of leave information that the manager can access (filtered in some cases), record to and review, to be able to compare any number of leave policies appropriately. The process must be quick and efficient but not able to circumnavigate when preferred. Relevant leave policies that relate to the employee requesting the leave should be clearly visible and those that conflict should be highlighted to ease management.

OfficeControl goes one step further by allowing leave policies to be given strengths: alert or enforce. Alert policies inform the manager which policies have been conflicted, where as enforced policies notify the conflict to the employee requesting the leave. This gives the additional benefit of stepping the highlight of a problem, for instance 1 away from a department is acceptable, 2 needs more consideration but 3 is impractical.

Leave policies, whether informal or formally implemented are the structure to which your business can operate effectively while managing its employees' right to annual leave. It is a key area that will respond well to business change and will return the investment in all areas you would expect; better productivity, improved morale, fewer workload bottlenecks, better business responsiveness and so on.Improving the application of leave policies should be on your agenda and with OfficeControl it's just a phone call away.

How to check your leave

Checking your leave on OfficeControl couldn't be easier.

Simply log in to OfficeControl and go to Holiday > leave already booked. This section will show you all leave that you have requested and its status. This includes requested, in review (conflicted with a leave policy), cancelled and denied.

As a manager, with 'review leave' permissions, you can view all approved leave for those that you manage in Holiday > Review leave. This page is also used to approve or deny requested leave from those that you manage.

OfficeControl can also give certain users complete access to all leave requests from all employees. This may be required by HR, Directors or overviewers of the system.

Checking Leave (1.0Mb)

Employment Law, HR and Health & Safety Help

A Buyers Guide

Businesses of all sizes face a huge and growing burden in managing work place laws and regulations – from employment law issues to employment relations to health and safety compliance.

The difficulties of regulatory compliance and the financial uncertainty of high legal fees and compensation have created a new market regulatory services that challenges the traditional “pay as you go” solicitor’s model.

The concept is simple – a single fixed annual fee buys you unlimited advice and assistance; contracts of employment, policies and documents that are updated as necessary; plain English legal updates; training; representation at the Employment Tribunal; and legal expenses insurance that pays compensation awarded against the company plus health & safety defence costs if things go pear shaped.

One might have expected solicitors to capitalise on this trend – they have not. The most successful business model in this sector comes from entrepreneurial teams that combine employment law skills, personnel and health and safety professionals with legal expenses insurance. These businesses are known as “regulatory consultancies”. The market is already worth about £350 million and growing at about 20% per annum.

For businesses the great attraction of the regulatory consultancy is clear. It is a fraction of the cost of employing additional legal or health and safety professionals on site and with the long stop of legal expenses insurance it has the added benefit of security and certainty of cost.

Can the regulatory consultancy model really deliver the high quality and responsive service that you need? The answer is a cautious “yes” – but be careful!

Client feedback suggests that the best regulatory consultants offer super service at great value. However, as ever, it is important to sound a note of caution.

The Law Society does not regulate this market and there are, of course, some cowboys out there. If you are considering a regulatory consultancy, follow these simple rules:

• Seek written confirmation that all employment law advisers are either qualified solicitors or otherwise qualified by legal examination.


• Seek written confirmation that the fee includes unlimited advice and assistance (including drafting), tribunal representation and insurance to pay compensation awarded against you.


• Seek written confirmation that the business is regulated by the Financial Services Authority.


• Seek written confirmation that an independent legal expenses insurance policy will be purchased in your company name and ask for a copy of it (beware those that promise only a “guarantee”).


• Carefully check the monetary limits that the insurance policy imposes?


• Check that all the health and safety consultants are qualified by examination? Ask what qualification each has.


• Check that the contract does not demand a lengthy notice period to cancel at the end of the fixed term, for example 6 months? What happens if you don’t give sufficient notice that you want to cancel? Some providers "hide" a clause in the small print that says that if you fail to give a certain amount of notice to terminate at the end of the fixed term the contract is deemed to automatically renew!


• Check that all documentation provided will be tailor made, specifically for your business.


• Ask for at least 3 client names and take up written references? Carefully check that the service delivered is as good as the sales pitch.


• Be realistic. If you are promised a great service at a bargain basement price you will be disappointed. Pay peanuts, get monkeys!

The best regulatory consultancies are now challenging some of the UK’s best firms of solicitors for employment law and HR support work from some of the UK’s leading employers. That can only be a good thing!

Office Control works closely with leading regulatory consultancy Ellis Whittam to offer its clients fixed fee employment law and health & safety support services. If you would like more information about Ellis Whittam please email markellis@elliswhittam.com.