With the warmer months approaching, you may find that more employees are requesting time off. Whether it’s to take a family vacation, to attend their children’s sporting events, or just to get some much needed R&R, employees find the warm months most desirable for taking days off.

Paid time off is certainly a valuable benefit employees consider when working for a company. We all need time here and there to clear our heads, relieve built up stress, and enjoy ourselves. But, some employees may feel as though they are entitled to time off during the spring and summer months. Although there’s no federal law requiring employers to grant their employees time off, refusing to may seriously affect morale. Besides, a few days off can actually help employees come back to work recharged and energized. But, for employers in the retail business and those operating 24/7 establishments, scheduling time off can be a challenge.

To make your scheduling practices more effective and ensure business productivity doesn’t suffer this summer season, consider using the guidelines found below:

1. Develop a time off policy. Your time off policy should specify who is eligible for time off benefits, how many days employees can take off each year, what happens to unused time (i.e., is it forfeited or does it carry over to the next year?), the proper procedures for requesting time off, and how time off determinations will be made. The best way to determine who works and who doesn’t is to follow some agreed upon ground rules, which should cover: how far in advance time-off requests must be submitted; on what basis requests are considered (i.e., seniority, first-come-first-served, etc.); and any restrictions on how many people can be off at one time.

2. Require notice. Inform employees that for one day off (when it’s planned) they need to provide at least “X” number of days notice. Typically, this requirement is two weeks. And for additional days off, employees should be providing more notice, typically one month. This will allow you to plan accordingly by bringing in additional workers, requesting co-workers to work overtime, and planning major projects to be completed prior to the employee’s absence.

3. Require the completion of a time off request form. Employees requesting time off should complete a leave request form indicating the type of time off they will be using, the number of days they will be absent, and the reason for their absence. An approval signature should be required in order for the employee to take time off. Store this form in the employee’s personnel file.

4. Maintain records of time off. Maintain an absence tracking log on all employees, which indicates the number of days the employee has taken off, for what reasons, and the number of days the employee has remaining. This document, like the time off request, should be stored in employee personnel files.

5. Simplify the administration of the program. Tracking employee time off can be time-consuming especially if you have to determine how many sick days have been taken versus personal or vacation days. It’s best to use a comprehensive Paid Time Off (PTO) plan which lumps vacation, sick and personal days into one inclusive time off program. This makes tracking time off much more manageable and typically results in employees taking fewer days off than if the time was categorized as a personal, sick, or vacation day.

6. Provide incentives. To better distribute time off, give employees incentives to take vacations during less desirable times. For instance, if most of your workforce plans a vacation during the summer months, consider allowing employees to take an extra day or two when they wait until the fall or winter months to take time off, once the vacation rush has subsided. Just be sure you offer this incentive consistently and that all employees are aware of it.

7. Have a back up plan. During seasons in which more employees request time off, you might want to consider hiring temporary or part-time employees to ensure you are still able to effectively meet productivity and customer demands. Assigning overtime may also be a viable solution to make up for an employee’s absence.

8. Be flexible. Consider alternative work schedules for the summer months, such as a compressed workweek, flex-time, or telecommuting. Compressed workweeks allow employees to put in their normal hours for the week in a shorter period of time. For instance, if an employee typically works 40 hours in a five day workweek, through a compressed schedule he or she may work 40 hours in a 4-day period. Flex-time is another option, which enables employees to report to work early and leave early, or report to work late and leave late. Flex-time and compressed schedules are good because employees are still working the same number of hours, but they are able to do so on their terms allowing them to better meet the demands of their personal lives.

Paid time off is a valuable benefit you should be offering your workers; it allows employees to fulfill personal obligations and enjoy a little leisure time. But sometimes administering a time off program can be more of a headache than it’s worth. That’s why it’s important to have established procedures for requesting, granting, and recording time off. Following the tips found above will help to ensure that employee’s time off doesn’t get in the way of meeting your business demands.