Does this sound familiar?
It is Thursday. John needs to see his doctor on Monday morning. John emails his supervisor, Bob, but he is not authorized to okay the request. Bob forwards the request to Gloria, the owner of the engineering firm. Gloria is at a prospective client’s location discussing a contract for a big project. She misses the email. Monday morning rolls around and John is not there. Gloria needed John for the final meeting with the prospect to clear up the last critical issue before signing the contract.
Paula won 3-day passes to Disneyland for the entire family. The kids are on a school break. On Monday, Paula asks the Office Manager, Rhonda, if she can take off on Friday. Rhonda knows a big meeting is scheduled for Friday and asks if Sherman, the Senior Consulting Manager, needs her. Paula says Sherman has not mentioned anything to him. Rhonda says she will check with Sherman, but forgets because of a rush of activity through the office. Paula does not show up on Friday thinking it is okay. Sherman needed Paula for the meeting with a new client.
Large or small firm, these situations can be disruptive. Not knowing something as simple as who took the day off can waste many hours every year. In short, the traditional methods of requesting time off can result in a mess. If you have no policy at all, it can be even worse.
The solution is PTO Management. In 2010, it is available in BillQuick and Web Suite. The workflow is natural and efficient:
An employee remembers to request time off while recording hours worked for the day or week. BillQuick and Web Suite include a reminder on the two most used time entry screens – Simple Time Card and Sheet View. The employee clicks the Time Off button and then fills in the form.
First, who should receive his PTO request.
Next, when does he want to take off. When choosing the dates, the employee does not need to work around weekends. He simply enters the From and To dates. BillQuick calculates the work hours for time off, automatically ignoring weekends. If the employee wants only part of a day off, the calculated hours can be adjusted. For example, if the employee wants only a half day off on Friday the 12th, then the whole day off on Monday the 15th, he would enter 12 hours.
Third, the employee can propose what accumulated hours he wants to use to “pay” for the time off. If appropriate, he can propose using unpaid hours. Available time is shown.
Finally, the employee explains his request. An unlimited length memo is available, and supports shorthand codes to insert standard text, spell-checking, and date stamping.
When done, the employee clicks the Send button. BillQuick routes the request instantly. When the manager logs in, the BillQuick Message Alert notifies him. Optionally, BillQuick will route messages to the manager’s email account. If the manager prefers using Reminders, the request will display here too. In short, the person who needs to review an employee’s request can be notified in many ways.
Who reviews PTO requests is a company policy and procedure. When making decisions, managers can Approve or Reject requests. An approver can also review the PTO history for an employee. If needed, the request can be forwarded to a senior or project manager for final approval. Forwarded requests flow through BillQuick Messages and email as well.
Ultimately, you can plan and schedule without worries. You know you have the right person available at the right time. No hassles. No worries.
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Click the video snapshot for a quick demo of the new PTO Management feature in BillQuick 2010.
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