Are Floating Holidays Right for Your Small Business?

June 30, 2021 | 476 views

Are Floating Holidays Right for Your Small Business?
Are Floating Holidays Right for Your Small Business?

Offering paid time off is one of many incentives to improve your hiring prospects. In some situations, based on region or company size, paid time off may be required. To accommodate paid time off, small businesses usually specify common holidays that are suitable. Sometimes, it is better to be more flexible and offer floating holidays to employees—floating holidays might be right for your employees and your small business.

Floating Holiday Defined

Very succinctly, a floating holiday is a paid day off that is in addition to other paid sick time, company holidays, or employee vacation days. A floating holiday could be chosen from a list of approved days not included in traditional company holidays, e.g., Black Friday, Good Friday, or Rosh Hashana. Or the employee can choose any day of the year to be a floating holiday. As the manager, though, you might choose to exempt certain dates due to business needs. In addition, employees do not usually accrue hours for a floating holiday, so the holiday can be used soon after hiring without restriction.

Reasons to Offer Floating Holidays

  1. Employees like it. To be fair, employees will like any paid day off, but a floating holiday provides some flexibility beyond the norm. That could make your small business more attractive to prospective hires.
  2. It offers options for cultural diversity. Floating holidays create a way for employees to take time off for cultural and religious priorities. Some might prioritize personal time for religious celebrations, while others value their annual family reunion. A floating holiday allows for diversity in days off and an outward appreciation for employee differences.
  3. It helps manage busy seasons. If your business is seasonal, you might need to preserve some days to keep all hands on deck, but those busy seasons might also be the most desired time off by employees. In that case, you can stagger floating holidays and still keep your operation running smoothly during peak seasons.
  4. It’s family-friendly. A floating holiday makes family needs less stressful. When schools close for teacher conferences or a child is sick, a floating holiday helps parents prioritize family.
  5. Scheduling is easier. When you implement floating holidays, employees will be more available when you need them most. The days taken as floating holidays are often non-critical times for the business, so you will be less short-handed when scheduling staff during peak seasons.

Considerations When Implementing Floating Holidays

Establish a policy that suits your business needs first. Be sure it’s clear, and then encourage employees to use it. As part of an employee handbook, floating holidays must have clear guidelines so that employees can effectively use them. Primary details to decide include:

  1. when your business is closed for standard paid holidays, and everyone is off.
  2. when any kind of day off is not allowed at all (due to events or high need for staffing
  3. number of allowable floating holidays and if they can roll over to the next year
  4. specific floating holiday options, if you so choose, or allowing employees to choose any day they want (with some possible restrictions).

It should be easy for employees to take days off within an established policy. Of course, your business needs will guide the design of your plan. Based on that, you will find how best to include floating holidays in your small business.

Author Profile Jon Forknell is the Vice President and General Manager of Atlas Business Solutions, Inc., a software marketing company specializing in employee scheduling software, including ScheduleBase employee scheduling software, and other business software solutions. In the past, Jon has been recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year. For many years, Atlas Business Solutions has been named one of Software Magazine’s Top 500 Software Companies.

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