How to manage time off requests for a small team

Time off requests at a small business tend to live in texts and on the back-room calendar. Two people get the same week off, nobody remembers who said yes, and coverage is figured out the night before.

1. Ask the same four things every time

• First day off and last day off
• Type: vacation, sick, personal or other
• Who's covering?

The coverage question is the one that saves you. When staff have to answer it before asking, most scheduling problems are solved before they reach you.

2. Let people ask from their phone

Hourly staff often don't have a work email or a company login. Share a form link they can bookmark, or post a QR code in the break room. No account needed. (More on that in no work email needed.)

3. Decide in one step

Requests start in Manager review. The manager checks coverage and approves or declines. That's it: Requested → Decided. Two steps are all most teams need.

4. Tell them right away

An automatic email when the request is decided means staff aren't left wondering. Add the decision to the email so it doubles as a record.

5. Look ahead

Sort requests by first day to see who's out in the coming weeks before you build the schedule.

What this doesn't do

It doesn't track PTO balances or accruals. Keep those in payroll. This is about the request, the decision and the coverage.

Using the template

The free time off request form template has the dates, type and coverage questions with a manager review step. Want to compare it with a shared to-do list? Read shared to-do list or request tracker.