Better Absence Tracking May Deter Summertime Scheduling Issues

Perhaps because of this, 21% of full-time employees that have vacation time say they have been denied time off because a co-worker had already requested it, according to a news release on “The Summertime Crunch” survey sponsored by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated.

Only 37% of survey respondents that have vacation time say their employer uses an automated system to track or schedule vacations and absences, but 59% indicate they have to coordinate their time off with co-workers before they go. Forty-one percent of full-time employees that have vacation time think their employer has benefited or would benefit from using an automated solution to track vacations and absences, the release said.

Scheduling issues are worse in the summertime due to employee vacations (69% of respondents indicated they would take vacation sometime between Memorial Day and Labor Day), but also due to “seasonal absence syndrome.” Only 15% of respondents employed full-time admit they anticipate calling in “sick” to enjoy a day off from work, but 37% say they have called in “sick” to enjoy a day off from work in the past.

“The Summertime Crunch” survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive between April 23-25, 2008 among 2,033 U.S. adults aged 18 and over, of whom 1,092 were employed full-time and 1,015 of those had vacation time from their job.