Online Staff Holiday Planner

[cts1975]

Can anybody recommend an online staff holiday planner?
Ideally we would like drivers to be able to see availability online before requesting. If there is a good free solution then fine but I'm happy to pay a little for a better solution. This would only need to manage 6 drivers holidays.
Thanks
Ian

 

[The Byre]

Calander?

 

[Mark Laurie]

We have just started using http://www.hronline.co.uk/ which seems OK.

 

[cts1975]

Calander?

As in Google?

 

[cts1975]

We have just started using http://www.hronline.co.uk/ which seems OK.

Thanks - I will take a look.

 

[Bob Morgan]

A big calendar on the wall that records Annual Leave and other Company Events (Payroll, VAT, Registrations, Corporation Tax and Year End activities, etc.) works a treat!

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

A big calendar on the wall that records Annual Leave and other Company Events (Payroll, VAT, Registrations, Corporation Tax and Year End activities, etc.) works a treat!

Bit difficult to view when your half way up country and the missus calls and says 'ave you checked that holiday yet'.....

 

[Bob Morgan]

Bit difficult to view when your half way up country and the missus calls and says 'ave you checked that holiday yet'.....

Whatever your preference - However, my personal choice is the 'Big Calendar' on the wall showing all events. There is only ONE and it stays in the Studio Space where all staff can see it! Critical Dates, Leave Cover, and other events are also raised as part of a Daily Briefing. Annual Leave is not added until it has been agreed - Therefore, no panic calls when I am away from the office.

 

[Import Expert]

I use one called myview

 

[cts1975]

The calendar on the wall is not suitable as the office and the yard/units are a mile apart.
It needs to have more formality and control really from our end. We also need to be able to authorise holidays requests before they 'appear' on the calendar.

 

[The Byre]

Calendars do not work like that! Staff request holidays and other events get entered. They do not enter their own desires, otherwise, there is just no oversight and no coordination of events. For example, bookkeeping can't be absent when end-of-year books must be prepared. Staff with sprogs get first dibs on school holiday times - and so on!

It can be an online calendar or a paper wall chart (or even both!) - the result is 100% the same, except that wall charts tend to load faster and are less prone to failure. The key is that only one person is responsible for maintaining that chart.

 

[cts1975]

It can be an online calendar or a paper wall chart (or even both!) - the result is 100% the same

Thanks. It needs to be online via e request feature so that we can control/authorise it. A calendar on the wall with a sharpie next to it will just encourage staff to mark days/weeks on the wall calendar without checking availability first, also sending an email 2 days after marking it on the calendar. Also date changing etc. I've posted because the wall calendar hasn't worked for us.

 

[The Byre]

The calendar on the wall cannot work if it is somewhere where anybody and everybody can change dates. We'll have a 2hr powercut on the 15th. Now supposing 'Accounts' decides to change that because they want to do VAT returns on that day!

just encourage staff to mark days/weeks on the wall calendar without checking availability first, also sending an email 2 days after marking it on the calendar.

Now that sounds like a gross lack of self-discipline and respect for fellow employees.

 

[cts1975]

I'm just looking for a solution that doesn't involve a wall calender

The calendar on the wall cannot work if it is somewhere where anybody and everybody can change dates. We'll have a 2hr powercut on the 15th. Now supposing 'Accounts' decides to change that because they want to do VAT returns on that day!


Now that sounds like a gross lack of self-discipline and respect for fellow employees.

Can you explain that to me?

 

[Edward Sparrow]

BrightHR covered HR needs, including holidays. If you're on a budget you can use Google sheets to cross reference, works okay in my experience.

 

[WaveJumper]

We used an online system at my last place, worked very well, staff put in all requests, they could see other workers time off for cover requirements etc, all requests automatically went to line manager for approval, email would then come through to confirm or decline requests.

Couple of links which might be of interest:
https://www.breathehr.com
https://www.getapp.com/hr-employee-management-software/absence-leave-management/

 

[ecommerce84]

You could have a look at timetastic: https://timetastic.co.uk/

I haven’t used it but have been looking for something similar to you. It has a downloadable app for employees to request and see their holiday, and you can approve or deny holiday requests easily.

It does cost 95p per user per month so it could get expensive if you have a few employees.

 

[AlanJ1]

Have a look at Staff Squared

 

[Andy Davies]

We use timetastic and we love it. If you're looking to cover 6 employees it's well worth a fiver per month fo the order it brings to the holiday process.

 

[Nord20]

Take a look at 'When I work' (.com).

It's good for general staff scheduling as well as holidays. Also helps with covering shifts when someone goes off sick.

 

[phil192]

We've launched the Leave Dates staff holiday planner just a few months ago which solves this exact problem in a simple, modern way. It's really easy to use and is flexible to be customised to suit your company. We're getting loads of really positive feedback from customers. The best bit is that it's free for small companies - so well worth checking out!

LeaveDates.com

 

[Dan Kav]

We use CharlieHR.com - free for under 10 employee's, their team is *very* responsive & our team love it. Super simple & notifies relevant people for holiday, sickness, WFH, etc.

 

[Suzanne Brown]

Look at GEMS HR
I can get someone to give you a call if you like what you see.

 

[SamF]

I've used BreatheHR in the past - it is very affordable for SMEs and does most things you could need. It adds expense requests, sickness and overtime tracking etc.

 

[NicoleWright]

There are some holiday planers, which I see quite effective:
-timetastic
-leavewizard
-online holiday planner from "papershift"
-and finally, you can use "Microsoft Outlook Staff Holiday Leave Calendar"

 

[JessicaR123]

Factorial, a HR management software was recommended to me and I know some other SME's who use it and think its brilliant to simplify processes and save time. During this time of uncertainty, their software is completely FREE!!

They have several features, however my favourite one is their 'time off feature', which manages employee holidays. Many human resource admins struggle to find the best way to track employee annual leave, especially when there are many different types of leave that exist that complicate the process. Factorial provide a better way to manage employee time off requests rather than with outdated spreadsheets.

This way you can request holidays and your manager can approve them with one click. It's really easy to use and keeps everyone in the loop when booking time off!

Search Factorial UK to check it out and sign up whilst its free!!