Tips for making the season bright and avoiding holiday horrors

With the holidays about to be in full swing and the end of the year near, visions of time-off requests, bonuses, and parties are likely dancing in employers’ heads. Getting any of those things wrong is a sure way to spoil the holidays, but a little planning and care will keep the work on track and the season merry.

Time-off trouble

As the song says, the holiday season can be the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be the busiest time at work. Handling the time-off calendar is an unenviable task, as resentment and tempers can flare when too many people want to schedule the same days off. Use-it-or-lose-it time-off policies also complicate the task because they make people especially eager to schedule time off before the year ends.

Managing the calendar can be a bit easier if ground rules are set in advance. HR and payroll company ADP has some suggestions:

·     Set a deadline for submitting holiday time-off requests to provide time to resolve conflicts.