That we’re all different is obvious.
Even within one company, with everybody working towards the same purpose or even within a team where everyone has a similar skillset there are vast differences between people.
Generally this is recognised and difference accepted and yet there is one area where we are all forced to be the same.
Holidays. We all get the same amount of holiday, irrespective of whether it’s the right amount.
Having everyone receive the same amount of holiday is fair but it does not benefit either employees or even the business as a whole.
For the purposes of this post, we will assume that the holiday entitlement is 25 days per year at our imaginary company.
For some people this will be far more holiday than they need, they will either take the time off and use it for no particular reason or end up failing to use their full holiday entitlement, perhaps feeling a little resentful that they are working effectively for free.
Others would benefit from more holiday, parents to school age children certainly falling into this group, any extra leave helpful in securing a work life balance during school holidays.
With those in need of more holiday, it is even possible that the inflexible nature of leave can lead to absenteeism, an employee might phone in sick or take other unauthorised absence to artificially boost their holiday entitlement by a few days.

Reduced Disruption

A holiday exchange system enables employees to either buy or sell holiday, they can change their entitlement by up to a week. In our example, some employees could cut their holiday to 20 days and so receive an extra week’s pay, others might take six weeks and so have that bit more freedom for days off and holidays.
In most cases, the employees have to choose whether to buy or sell prior to the start of the new holiday year, this means that the business will have knowledge of everyone’s entitlement – there are no nasty shocks as a key worker decides to buy an extra week at the end of the year.
The exchange system also encourages people to forward plan their leave that bit more and give real thought to how much holiday they need. Rather than finding a host of employees are trying to use up holiday right at the end of that year’s allocation period, holidays will instead be evenly spread out with no mad-panic, last-minute usage.
The unauthorised absenteeism mentioned above will also be reduced, the person who needs more holiday will simply buy it and then book the time off properly. The business will save money and cover can be properly planned rather than there being the disruption of a day’s unplanned leave.
Holiday exchange benefits are so obvious a benefit it is common to wonder this scheme is not widespread. At Enjoy Benefits, we find that it is always one of the most popular benefits and one beloved by employees and employer alike. It gives flexibility, it gives certainty and it aids planning.
At Enjoy Benefits, we are experts in helping to set up a whole suite of workplace benefits, including holiday exchange schemes. Other workplace benefits can include workplace nursery schemes, cycle to work programmes, discounted gym membership, mobile phone deals, car leasing and far more besides.
All benefits can also be managed through a hub – you can find out more about the EB Hub on our dedicated site.
You could even do some reading about benefits while on holiday, if only you had the right amount of holiday…
Contact us today on 0800 088 7315 so we can discuss how to set up an exchange system for your workplace.