Q. "We have received a lot of time off requests for summer, many overlapping. Can we approve some but deny others?"
Answer:
In general, yes. We recommend having a policy for time off that explains how employees can request time away from work and what criteria the organization uses to approve or deny requests. For example, you might base approvals on the order in which requests came in, the seniority of those requesting time off, the needs of the ministry, or some combination of these.
Whatever your policy, take care it doesn’t adversely affect members of certain protected classes. If male employees, for example, had time requests granted more often than female employees, you could be looking at a discrimination claim.
Since summer and holidays are often full of time off requests, consider a rotating holiday schedule or a set up where employees can take an extra day off either before or after the holiday. (Or, as an alternative, consider the pros of an Unlimited PTO policy!)
It’s also a good idea to specify how employees will know if their request has been granted and ensure managers understand the time off approval process.