Staff Holiday Planner
One question: how many people does a normal week need? Then tick who is away which week. The tool counts, for every week of the year, who is left standing, names the weeks that drop below your minimum and flags the leave that lands in your busiest fortnight — exactly the argument that starts again every January.
How it works
- 1
Set your cover
How many people have to be standing there in a normal week? Everything hangs off that one number: it is the difference between "yes, take that week" and "then I am on my own".
- 2
Put your team underneath
Name, where they work and how many weeks of leave you have agreed. Five lines and your whole year is on the page. Typing saves itself.
- 3
Mark your busy and closed weeks
Click a week along the top: one click makes it busy, another makes it closed. Leave taken in a closed week costs you nothing — it is the cheapest holiday there is.
- 4
Tick the weeks and read the cover line
Under the plan, every week shows how many people are left. Red means below your minimum. Then print the year sheet: one A4 in landscape for the office wall.
Frequently asked questions
Is this free?
Yes, completely free, with no account and nothing to install. Fill it in and print straight from your browser.
Why does it ask how many people I need first?
Because that is the only thing that makes a leave request good or bad. Two people away in week 42 is fine; the same two in week 30 shuts you. Without that number a year planner is just a sheet of colours.
What do the colours under the plan mean?
That is your cover, week by week. Green: you are above your minimum. Amber: you are exactly on it, so one phone call sick and you are stuck. Red: you are under it, and the tool says by how much. Hatched means you are closed that week.
Why would I mark weeks as closed?
Because leave taken during a closure costs you nothing. Someone who takes their fortnight inside the annual closure keeps their days and leaves your summer intact. The tool says as soon as a closed week is still empty: that is the week to offer first.
Does this replace my rota?
No. This sheet is about weeks, not shifts: who is not here this year, and when. Once you know who is standing, build that week's shifts with the free staff rota tool.
This is a house document, not a statement of law and not a contract. How much leave someone has, how it accrues, what may be carried over, how much notice a request needs and how holiday pay works differ per country and per collective agreement — put those in your own employment contracts and staff handbook.