As the holidays roll around once more those in a company’s human resources department have to invariably start dealing with an increased number of employee requests for time off.

With all the hustle and bustle, all the shopping to be done and party arrangements to be made, it is natural for workers to want to use their vacation time at this time of year. And it's also almost inevitable that most people will ask for the exact same days. Black Friday, for example. Everyone wants to hit the stores and grab those bargains, but can your company really afford to close the office for the law so that they can do so? Chances are that the answer is no, and someone will have to miss out.

Although you may feel that you should honor as many of these requests as possible in order to seem fair and flexible as an employer (ideally you want to hear positivity, like “the people at www.dmillerlaw.com are so understanding and let me take time off for the holidays!”) in many cases doing so would leave the company critically understaffed. Here then are a few hints for administering a holiday leave policy that is fair for all parties involved:

Establish criteria for handling holiday time off decisions: There should be a criterion set in stone that governs how holiday time off is approved. You may choose to go by seniority or to grant requests on a first come, first served basis. Whatever guidelines you come up with ensuring that all managers and employees are aware of what they are is crucial to avoid arguments and accusations of favoritism so put everything in writing, so misunderstandings cannot be made.

Ask for volunteers first:  Some people may be quite happy to work over the run up to the holidays, especially if doing so involves overtime pay. Before making a holiday employee schedule ask if there are any staff members who want to volunteer to work, possibly in return for extra pay.

Offer an Incentive: If the majority of employees in your office seem to request the same week off every year, right before the holidays, offer an incentive for employees to buck the trend. Consider offering employees an extra day’s vacation if they use their time after the vacation rush is over.

Consider offering alternatives to full days off: Allowing employees to follow a more flexible schedule around the holidays can kill two birds with one stone; the business remains productive while the employees have the time they need to attend to their personal holiday preparations, a consideration on their employer's part they are likely to be very grateful for.

Allowing an employee to come in earlier than usual in order to leave a few hours before their usual quitting time and vice versa may be all the time they need to get all their holiday plans in order and yet not slow the everyday function of the office down so much that it has a negative impact on employee productivity or the firm's bottom line.