Leave management for hotels and resorts

Steer leave into the low season

A Goa resort is quiet in the monsoon, a hill resort in deep winter, and a business hotel over long weekends when conferences stop. Tell staff at the start of the year when leave will be easy to approve and when it will not, and let heads of department approve accordingly. Earned leave is protected in law: under the OSH Code, a worker who reaches 180 working days in a calendar year earns one paid day per 20 days worked, may carry up to 30 days forward and can ask for unused leave to be encashed at year end. A room attendant who could not go home in season does not lose the days.

Comp-off for holidays and weekly offs worked

Hotel staff work most festivals and some weekly offs. Those days come back as comp-off credits that HR grants for worked weekly offs and holidays, each credit carrying an expiry date. Pick an expiry the property can honour: a resort that cannot give days back during its season may need 90 days, where a city hotel manages with less. Watch the balances too. A front office team that ends the year with a pile of unused comp-offs each has a rostering problem, not a leave problem.

Department cover and the leave calendar

Each department has a floor it cannot go below: two front desk agents on the morning shift, one night auditor, enough room attendants for the forecast occupancy. Before saying yes, the head of department opens the leave calendar on My Team, where approved and pending requests appear in different tints and half days show as half. On the employee's side, the leave form's live preview shows days charged, sandwiched days and the balance after, so fewer requests come back rejected.

Sick leave, maternity and staff far from home

Many hotel staff come from other states and live on site, so sick leave often means resting in the quarters, not going home. Allow half days of sick leave and ask for a medical certificate only after a set number of days, for example 3. Maternity benefit is up to 26 weeks of paid leave, or 12 weeks for a woman with two or more surviving children, after 80 days of work in the preceding 12 months, and it applies to a housekeeping supervisor exactly as it does to a sales manager. Plan her department's cover as soon as she tells you.

How to set it up in ZeniaHR

1. Open the Leave Ledger, compare its default CL, EL and SL accruals with your policy and edit them, then preview year-end carry forward before running it.
2. On earned leave, set a notice period and a maximum spell, and decide whether probationers may take it.
3. On sick leave, allow half days and ask for a document only after a fixed number of days.
4. Give the comp-off type an expiry the property can honour, and grant comp-off after each holiday worked.
5. Post the season calendar on the Company Wall to every department, with acknowledgement required.
6. Have heads of department check the leave calendar on My Team before approving, with HR as the final approver.

Read more about leave management in ZeniaHR.

Roles this applies to

Frequently asked questions