Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) (“Paycom”), a leading provider of comprehensive, cloud-based human capital management software, revealed workplace data around U.S. employees’ summer time-off habits. According to Paycom, nearly one-quarter of employees do not officially submit their vacation requests until the day of their trip, or weeks after the fact.
Unclear time-off policies and inconsistent enforcement may contribute to this trend. According to a 2023 Paycom study, one-third of employees struggle to understand their company’s time-off policies — which may deter employees from complying in a timely and accurate manner.
The lack of documented time-off requests can have a ripple effect, causing pay errors, data discrepancies and accrual mistakes, along with a more immediate impact on ensuring adequate staffing levels for business continuity.
“Undermanaged time-off processes are often the root of understaffing or downturns in productivity during popular vacation seasons,” said Tiffany McGowen, senior executive vice president of HR and talent acquisition at Paycom. “Organizations need accessible, efficient and consistent time-off systems that prioritize business continuity and employee experiences.”
The upcoming vacation surge
Effective time-off systems have become even more essential as businesses prepare to handle a surge of 40% more time-off requests during the summer season. Time off around Independence Day, specifically, is the most in-demand vacation request of the summer, with 326% more requests on July 5 than the average day in 2024.
To prepare for the flood of requests, Paycom recommends organizations:
- set and regularly audit time-off policies to ensure they align with current staffing thresholds.
- implement deadlines for time-off requests on popular vacation dates. The average employee requests time off around 34 days in advance for high-demand vacation days.
- empower managers to reiterate company expectations around time-off request procedures.
- use software that automates time-off decisions based on established time-off policies, and then automatically updates those decisions in scheduling, payroll and more.
Paycom’s Time-Off Requests featuring GONE® tool automates traditionally undermanaged time-off processes, instantly approving or denying employees’ time-off requests based on criteria set by managers. A company’s time-off policies are embedded in the software, providing consistent and transparent decisioning for an improved employee experience. It also removes friction from the time-off process because employees can submit time off from their phones anywhere, anytime.
For more information about Paycom’s time-off management solutions, visit https://www.paycom.com/software/time-off-requests/.
Methodology
The data is based on a segment of employees across Paycom’s clients who submitted time-off requests through Paycom’s Time-Off Requests tool in 2023 and 2024. Time-off requests represent paid and unpaid time-off requests of more than six hours made by full- or part-time employees of organizations operating in the United States. This excludes family leave, jury duty, sick days and company holidays, among others.
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