An effective and excellent leave structure designed for employees sets them up for a satisfactory experience by setting their expectations before, during & after their leave of absence.
Leave management, also termed absence management, can feel like a regular human resource approach, but for your employees, leave of absence usually define major milestone moments in their lives.
Here are a few things you need to know to design an adequate employee leave structure for your organisation. But, before we understand this, let’s get into learning what an employee leave structure is?
A Brief On Employee Leave Structure
An employee leave structure guides the steps of the leave of absence process, which includes the time made available to employees in compliance with the various local laws.
A constant structure directs employees through the leave procedure & assists them in understanding their responsibilities at each point within.
Putting a structure into an organised zone enables employees to foresee the steps of the leave of absence process, which can aid in reducing their stress & anxiety.
Setting expectations is an essential component of developing a better employee leave experience. Creating an employee leave structure allows employees to understand the procedure and what they should envision before, during and after their leave of absence.
Keeping a set structure can facilitate questions and concerns from employees as they start the leave request procedure. Document your employee leave processes in employee-facing records (such as your handbook), and make it unrestricted for check through your intranet portal.
Making a structure that concedes with federal and state guidelines and equips employees with an optimistic leave experience is possible.
Steps Of An Adequate Leave Structure
Leave structure for each employee should observe the same fundamental format. Your objective is to develop a uniform leave structure so that employees understand what to expect, whether they’ve been through the procedure themselves or observed colleagues go through it.
Here are the steps of an adequate leave structure for employees.
Leave Planning
The leave planning phase should set expectations for the rest of the process. At this point, employees are researching their choices & need access to resources and support.
Employees should also have access to the required data regarding leave, which includes the types of leave, leave benefits & eligibility for leave, and how much time they can utilise or if they are qualified for paid time off or leave without pay.
Tech-driven support software like ScheduleLeave can supply accurate answers to employees’ fundamental queries about their options, eligibility & their leave balance.
With these inquiries being answered, when they meet with an HR executive, they can dig into their specific leave request.
Schedule Management
In the absence of effective schedule management, employees will feel stressed & overwhelmed heading into their leave of absence.
To assist employees in going on leave with as short stress as possible, work with them to address their schedule & workloads, guiding them up to the leave period. Use a checklist to help employees top-list their work & prepare for their time out.
Did we mention that these things can be possible to achieve with a modern leave management system like ScheduleLeave?
Spending Time On Leave
The exact leave itself is the only issue where each employee’s leave structure should be divided. The time allocated for each leave of absence relies on the type of leave the employee is eligible to utilise but can range from a few days to up to five years.
Back To Work
Getting back to work from leave can be a matter of anxiety for the employees. Set upfront anticipations for what the return will look like & minimise employee anxiety leading into their leave of absence.
Design a return-to-work program to help employees adjust after time away. There needs to be training in place to retrain and upgrade qualifying employees.
Remember that not just talents demand upgrading, especially after an extended leave. Returning employees will also have to adjust to the company civilisation and re-adjust to the standards and anticipations of the force.
If such elements have transformed during their time away, it’s even more essential to be clear about what they are, as you would with a new employee.
Take care not to drive returning employees to feel like they’re strangers, undesirable or out of the loop. Your return-to-work schedule demands a delicate balance to control returning employees from becoming overwhelmed. Viewing return to work post leave as an onboarding possibility creates higher possibilities for retention and success.
So, creating an adequate leave structure is imperative, but operating with one such software that guides the employees is even more essential, and this can be achieved by using ScheduleLeave.
