Many of evolved from our primitive old school ways of paper here paper there in all our transactions both individually and as organizations so as to keep up with technology as well as apply faster more effective ways of doing business. Research has shown that poor leave management practices may negatively affect employee performance
When you’re equipped only with conventional tools such as paper forms, emails, and excel sheets, your chances of survival are pretty low and small missteps can cause disasters like resource crunch, payroll processing errors, and legal complications. The responsibility of handling employee vacation requests falls onto the shoulders of supervisors, HR staff, and workforce staff.
Definition
A good leave management system is the process of managing employee time-off requests in a fair, accurate, and efficient way. It is basically a process in which employees can apply for leave online and the employer can adjust various leave categories and adjust the leave policy to the company. This process also allows employees to request leave, view the previous leave history, and the employer can review and approve leave requests and track the current leave.
A good leave management system benefits both the company and its employees. Many managers complained about the time and effort required to process employee leave, process individual leave information, and ensure compliance with the company’s leave policy. It enables the intelligent planning of an employee’s absence in advance and easy monitoring of their vacation days.
BENEFITS OF LEAVE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SYSTEM
- Reduces excessive Paper Work
Accurately tracking and recording employee absenteeism become a real hassle while using spreadsheets or the convectional paper-based system for both SMEs and micro businesses. Automation using a leave management system comes handy in this place by streamlining leave processes. With this system employees will no longer have to be running behind their managers with leave forms to get a signature as going digital in this case is so much better and sweeter.
Information related to employee leave is managed in one central repository. Additionally, since all applications and approvals are handled online, dependence on paperwork can be reduced.
- Ease of use:
Leave management systems greatly simplify the administration of the process. With an online based system/internet connection, you can be anywhere in the world and have a clear view of who works and who doesn’t, without having to open books or spreadsheets. In addition, most of the best employee management solutions are incredibly easy to use and intuitive, which means they immediately alert management if there is a shortage of over-staffing, in case errors, are made in team planning.
- Legal Compliance
Organizations always try to manage its employees and remain on the correct side of the law. However, there may be instances where something might go wrong. In cases such as employee’s persistent short-term absence, long term illness, retirement, health and safety incidents etc. it is imperative that employee benefit compliances are adhered to. Automating the entire leave management system allows you to systematically record and store information to support discussions or legal laws and stay on top of key activities via alerts and reminders. Proper and effective leave management means your business can operate more effectively, you meet your employees’ need for time-off, and you satisfy your legal obligations.
- Tracking leave pattern
It is very essential to track employee leave patterns to monitor the amount of paid leave, sick leaves and holiday patterns within your organization. Since there is no chance of manual error due to automation of leave management. The analytics can also be used to map employee performance and diligence.
- Maintain accuracy
Automated employee vacation calculation eliminates errors and ensures that even the most complex vacation rules are applied accurately and easily. In addition, a comprehensive overview of staff utilization helps companies to plan more effectively and adapt staff levels to condition.
- Involves discipline
Vacation management systems are designed to strictly comply with the company’s vacation/ leave policies and local labor laws of that country. Employees and managers can use the system without discrimination. Easy access to personal holiday history and availability of holiday periods can improve accuracy and strengthen discipline within an organization. It can also improve the attendance of employees who are aware of the consequences of non-compliance with leave regulations as per the company.
TYPES OF LEAVES RECOGNIZED IN MOST COMPANIES AND COUNTRIES
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- Sick leave
Sick leave is time off given by the company to allow employees to recover from an illness and take care of their health. Sick leaves are crucial to allow employees to get the rest they need without worrying about losing pay. Sick leave is a mandatory requirement in many countries to ensure the well being of the employee.
- Public holiday
Public holidays are days that are given as leave by the government. Such holidays must be observed by every institution— schools, banks, government offices, and even private companies. These include holidays such as Mashujaaz day, Jamhuri day and Madaraka day holidays.
- Religious holidays
Christmas, Eid, Easter, Holi, Yom Kippur— your employee is sure to place importance on religious holidays that they celebrate and would want the day off to spend time with their family and observe the festival. It’s important that you accommodate these holidays they have by providing them with the option to take leave on the day of the festival.
- Maternity leave
From taking care of the newborn to recovering from the delivery, maternity leave is an important time for new mothers. Ensure you have accommodated this type of leave in your policy to help employees to not worry about their work while they are busy with their newborn.
Maternity leave is provided to the new mother for a period of 7 to 17 weeks, depending on the country that the company is based out of. Ideally, 14 weeks is a good amount of time to be given to the mother, allowing them to take care of their newborn for the first 3 months.
You should also be open to providing extra leave days in case of any postnatal complications.
- Casual leave
Casual leave is taken by an employee for travel, vacation, rest, and family events. Such leaves are given to allow the employee to take time off for any life events they have like traveling to another country or weddings they have to attend. Giving the employee paid casual leave will allow them to prioritize their private life when required, making them feel appreciated in the company. In most companies, employees can take a maximum of 8 to 15 days of casual leave in a year.
Conclusion
A leave management is vital for the growth and sustainability of an organization and it is a turnkey for employee satisfaction to be meet.
Employee satisfaction results in increased productivity and in turn increased profit for an organization.
For the beat leave management system in Kenya, Robisearch Ltd has got you covered with an easy to use and fair prices, just contact the numbers below.
Robisearch transforming the world through innovation.
By; Waithera Mwangi.