A balanced and happier workforce

It's well-known that work-life balance is important. Employees who are able to enjoy a balanced lifestyle create an engaged, happy and positive workforce. 

Holiday, or annual leave, plays a huge part in providing employees with the ability to enjoy quality time doing what they enjoy the most. Holiday Trading gives employees more control of their annual leave and the opportunity to create a work-life balance that suits them and their personal circumstances. 

A break from work can be just the boost an employee needs to come back re-energised and refocused. Conversely, selling a few days of annual leave might be just what another employee needs if they're trying to save money, for example, to buy a new car.

As a result of providing employees with increased control over their work-life balance, the employer benefits from a less stressed workforce and improved productivity. 

Financial savings for the organisation

The employer organisation can also save money and free up the budget when employees buy holiday days, which can be put towards other projects or benefits.

If an employee chooses to buy extra days, the salary adjustment is such that the employee pays the cost monthly. The money comes out of their gross pay, resulting in tax and Social Security/National Insurance savings for the employee and for the employer, too. 

Here are some great examples of the kinds of savings clients can make with Holiday Trading:

• A well-known cereal manufacturing client had 166 applicants in just one Holiday Trading window. Employees collectively purchased 502 days, which resulted in payroll savings of over £92,000.
• A communications company had payroll savings of over £790,000 when 888 employees purchased additional holiday, just 2.5 days per employee on average.
• An SME client in the technology industry saved £106,000 in their first year with Holiday Trading, which rose by another £40,000 when it ran again for the second year.

Flexible structure

The number of days that an employee can buy or sell (typically between 5 and 10), along with the cost of 1 day's holiday, is determined by the employer and can be defined individually for each employee or for all employees, if employer prefers them all to have the same allowance (e.g. 10 days to buy). In the UK, for example, holiday days are normally valued at 1/260th of gross basic salary, so if their base salary is £15k, then a holiday day would be valued at roughly £60. Some company policies differ, and our system is designed to allow for this.

Additionally, some companies pay their employees by the hour and others by the day. Some have a mixture of hourly and daily paid staff. Our Holiday Trading product can support both options within the same program.

Set limits to suit business needs

By setting limits for the number of holiday days an employee can buy and/or sell, the client can ensure the needs of the business are not compromised. What's more, the Holiday Trading program allows the client to set different limits for employees on an individual, group or departmental basis. 

Clients can also choose to allow employees to buy more annual leave than they sell, i.e. by restricting the number of days employees can sell back to the company. This can be beneficial for financial budgets.

Minimal admin

Holiday Trading is part of the SmartPay family, which means easy-to-use product administration and if a client has more than one salary sacrifice product (e.g. SmartTech, Cycle to Work, Childcare Vouchers) with Reward Gateway, they will be able to manage them all easily from one place.

Also read What can clients expect from Holiday Trading?

Seamless integration with engagement platforms

As Reward Gateway's Holiday Trading module is seamlessly integrated with the client's employee engagement platform, employees will be able to access their Holiday Trading options easily and without the hassle of additional website addresses or login information to remember.

Also read

• What is Holiday Trading?
• Holiday Trading application process