The very mention of leave management is enough to put any HR department into a spin. Not only is it tedious, it can get quite complicated. Keeping track of everything is not easy, especially when leave is processed manually. Implementing a good online leave management system can help to streamline the process but how do you know which one to pick? It helps to first understand the challenges involved in leave management.
Communication of leave policies
How effectively have you communicated your company’s leave policies to employees? Do they have a complete understanding of these policies?
Employees left in the dark can create confusion and it can lead to unnecessary complications. What’s more, miscommunication can cost a company billions, according to SIS International Research, so you can imagine the negative impact ineffective communication of leave policies can have on your business.
Errors with payroll
Payroll errors arise when there is no clear communication of leave policies. How? There is paid and unpaid leave and if you are not tracking these you can end up paying employees for days of unpaid leave.
It’s easy to allow these mistakes to creep in if you are handling the leave process manually. Payroll involves a lot of data and it can be a recipe for disaster when throwing leave into the mix, which requires you to still manage leave requests, check leave balances, compare them to legal entitlements then still make the right calculations.
Uncertainty of leave days
It may not seem like an issue but employees not knowing how many days they have left can create complications for both HR and your staff.
It’s not easy keeping track of how much leave everyone has and it can be time consuming for your HR department to manage everyone’s leave while still fielding countless questions and answering dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of requests.
It can also be frustrating for employees who need to plan their holidays but cannot do so until HR responds to their leave application.
Additional leave management challenges
In a report, The South African Public Service Commission has highlighted various other challenges presented in both the public and private sectors relating to leave management.
According to the investigation, there is a distinct lack of specific policies in place to supplement the national policy on leave. What’s more, there were logistical problems identified with the recording of leave as well as mistakes identified in leave records.
The good news is it’s not difficult to resolve these issues with an online leave management system, which allows you access to an electronic record of all leave that is stored in one place. This helps to prevent mistakes and lost data.
It also allows employees to check their balances online, which helps to eliminate confusion around what leave they are entitled to, and provides a centralised place to set up and manage your companies leave.
LeavePro is the ideal tool for this. It streamlines your leave applications and approvals while tracking employees’ leave balances automatically. You can access the system anytime from your phone, tablet or PC and it helps you stay compliant with the Basic Conditions of Employment. Gone are the days of spreadsheets and paperwork, leave management headaches and fuss.
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