Numerous studies have demonstrated the physical and mental health benefits provided by holidays and vacation time, which help employees maintain a positive work-life balance.

The purpose of this customizable policy, written by Scott Matteson for TechRepublic Premium, is to provide guidelines for requesting, filing and permitting paid/unpaid time off as well as to ensure coverage during national holidays, vacation and other absences where staffing levels must be consistent to meet the needs of the business.

Featured text from the policy:

VACATIONS

Staff will earn up to 15 days of vacation per calendar year, accrued at a rate of 1-1/4 days per month.

Vacation time will increase to 20 days per calendar year after five years of service.

It is acceptable to use vacation time before it has accrued, but should the employee leave the company before they have earned the balance of their used vacation time, the monetary value (as calculated by their hourly/annual salary) will be deducted from their last paycheck. On a similar note, if an employee leaves the organization with a credit of unused vacation time, this will be paid out to them via their final paycheck. Only unused vacation time will be paid out to departing employees; employees are not entitled to monetary compensation for any other unused time off categories.

All vacation time accrued within a calendar year must be used by the end of that same year. No time can be carried over into the next calendar year, except where the employee’s manager has approved this in writing and notified HR.

Vacation is not earned during any period of unpaid time off.

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TIME SAVED: Crafting this content required 20 hours of dedicated writing, editing and research.