Summer is one of the busiest times of year for holiday requests.
Employees want to take time off with their families, enjoy the warmer weather, travel abroad, or simply take a well-earned break. For employers, that is completely normal and should be encouraged.
But for many SMEs, summer annual leave can quickly become difficult to manage.
One employee asks for a week off. Then another. Then two people from the same team request the same dates. Someone else has not taken much holiday at all. A manager is trying to check cover from an old spreadsheet. Payroll needs accurate information. And before long, what should be a simple holiday process turns into a messy admin job.
The good news is that summer staffing does not need to cause panic.
With the right process in place, you can manage holiday fairly, keep teams covered and give employees clarity about their time off.
Why summer holiday planning can become difficult
Most businesses expect more holiday requests during the summer months. The problem is not that employees want time off. The problem is when the business does not have a clear enough view of who is off, who is available and whether each team has enough cover.
This can create issues such as:
- Too many employees off at the same time
- Key roles being left uncovered
- Managers approving leave without seeing the full picture
- Holiday balances being calculated incorrectly
- Employees being unsure how much leave they have left
- Last-minute clashes during busy periods
- Payroll or rota mistakes
For small and medium-sized businesses, even one or two unexpected gaps can cause disruption, especially when teams are already stretched.
The spreadsheet problem
Many businesses start by managing holidays on a spreadsheet.
At first, this can seem fine. A spreadsheet is familiar, flexible and easy to set up. But as the business grows, it can quickly become unreliable.
Spreadsheets often rely on one person keeping everything updated. They can be overwritten, duplicated, saved in the wrong place or forgotten about. Managers may not have live access to the latest version. Employees may need to ask someone every time they want to check their remaining holiday.
This creates unnecessary back and forth.
It also increases the chance of mistakes.
If a holiday balance is wrong, an employee may take more leave than they are entitled to. If a clash is missed, a team may be short staffed. If requests are not handled consistently, employees may feel the process is unfair.
Start with clear holiday rules
Before the summer rush, it is worth checking that your holiday rules are clear.
Employees should understand:
- How to request annual leave
- How much notice they need to give
- How requests are approved
- Whether there are any restricted dates
- How clashes are managed
- Whether holiday is handled on a first-come, first-served basis
- How much holiday they have remaining
Clarity helps avoid confusion.
It also helps managers make fair and consistent decisions. If employees understand the process, they are less likely to feel frustrated when a request cannot be approved.
Give managers visibility before they approve leave
One of the biggest causes of holiday problems is approving leave without seeing the wider picture.
Before approving a request, managers should be able to see who else is off in the same team, whether key roles are covered, and whether there are any important business dates coming up.
This is especially important in departments where cover matters, such as customer service, operations, finance, sales, manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality or any team with shift patterns.
A shared holiday calendar can make this much easier.
Instead of checking multiple spreadsheets, emails or messages, managers can see availability in one place and make better decisions quickly.
Check holiday balances early
Summer is also a good time to check holiday balances.
Some employees may have used a large amount of their entitlement already. Others may have barely taken any leave at all.
Both situations can create problems later in the year.
If employees use too much holiday too early, managers may need to carefully manage future requests. If employees do not take enough holiday, they may build up a large balance towards the end of the year, creating a rush of requests in autumn or winter.
Encouraging employees to take regular breaks throughout the year is better for wellbeing and easier for workforce planning.
Watch out for key person risk
In every business, there are usually certain people who hold important knowledge or responsibilities.
That might be the only person who can run payroll, handle a particular client, approve certain orders, manage health and safety, or cover a specialist task.
During summer, it is worth checking whether any key person risk exists.
Ask yourself:
- What happens if this person is off for two weeks?
- Who covers their responsibilities?
- Has the cover person been trained?
- Are important documents or instructions easy to access?
- Are there any deadlines during their absence?
This is not about stopping people from taking holiday. It is about making sure the business is prepared before they go.
Plan around busy periods
Not every business has the same summer pattern.
Some businesses become quieter during July and August. Others become much busier. For example, hospitality, leisure, childcare, tourism, retail and events businesses may see increased demand during the summer months.
That means holiday planning should be linked to business needs.
If you know certain weeks are likely to be busy, managers should plan earlier, communicate expectations clearly and avoid leaving approvals until the last minute.
It may also be useful to review previous years. Were there particular weeks where cover became difficult? Were there repeated clashes? Did employees leave requests too late?
Learning from past patterns can help you avoid the same problems again.
Make the process easy for employees
A good holiday process should not just help managers. It should also make life easier for employees.
Employees should be able to see their holiday allowance, check their remaining balance and submit requests without needing to email HR or message their manager every time.
This reduces admin and gives employees more confidence in the process.
It also cuts down on common questions such as:
“How many days do I have left?”
“Has my holiday been approved?”
“Who else is off that week?”
“Did you get my request?”
When employees can access clear information themselves, everyone saves time.
Keep absence and holiday separate
It is important to manage annual leave and sickness absence properly.
Holiday is planned time off. Sickness absence is unplanned and needs to be recorded differently.
During the summer, these records can sometimes become muddled, especially if managers are using spreadsheets, paper forms or informal messages.
Keeping clear records helps with reporting, payroll, return-to-work processes and spotting absence trends.
It also gives managers a more accurate picture of overall availability across the business.
Communicate before problems happen
Good communication can prevent many summer staffing issues.
Before the busiest holiday period begins, remind employees how to request leave, encourage them to book time off early and explain how approvals will be handled.
Managers should also speak to their teams about cover, handovers and any key deadlines.
Simple reminders can make a big difference.
For example, you could send a message to employees saying:
“Please submit any summer holiday requests as early as possible so we can plan team cover fairly and avoid last-minute clashes.”
This keeps the tone positive while helping the business stay organised.
How WorkSmarter can help
WorkSmarter helps businesses manage holiday requests, approvals and team calendars in one place.
Employees can request leave through the platform, managers can review requests with better visibility, and holiday balances are easier to track without relying on spreadsheets.
WorkSmarter also helps with absence tracking, employee records, training records, document storage and other day-to-day HR admin, giving SMEs a clearer view of their people processes.
The aim is simple: less chasing, fewer mistakes and better visibility across your team.
Final thoughts
Summer should be a time for employees to take a proper break, recharge and enjoy time away from work.
But for businesses, it also needs to be managed carefully.
With clear rules, accurate holiday balances, proper visibility and a simple approval process, SMEs can avoid the usual spreadsheet panic and keep things running smoothly.
A little planning now can save a lot of stress later.
