Small teams often run on understanding. Somebody needs a day, they take it, everybody manages.
That works while the team is four people who all get along. It stops working quietly, usually when somebody notices that the rules seem to be different for different people.
What an absent policy actually creates
Inconsistency, and the appearance of favouritism even where none exists. The confident asker gets more leave than the reserved one, and both notice.
What to write down
- How many paid days, and over what period
- How much notice for planned leave
- What to do for sick leave, and who to tell
- Whether unused leave carries forward or lapses
- Working hours, and what happens when work runs late
- Public holidays for the year, published in advance
Half a page. Not a handbook.
Check the legal minimums
Leave entitlement is governed by state shops and establishment rules and central labour law depending on your setup. Whatever you write can be more generous than the minimum and never less. Confirm the position for your state rather than copying a policy from the internet.
Apply it consistently, including to yourself
A policy that bends for seniority is not a policy. If the rule is two days notice, it is two days notice for the manager as well, and people will notice which way that goes.
Record it somewhere everybody can see
Leave tracked in one person's memory produces an argument every year at settlement time. A shared record that both sides can look at prevents almost all of it, and takes a minute a month to keep.
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