Leave Planning With Staff Shortages: Stay in Control
In early 2026, the Netherlands recorded 91 vacancies for every 100 unemployed people. For many SME employers, that means every team member counts twice over. A watertight leave planning process is no longer a luxury: it is a necessity. Tracking holiday requests in a spreadsheet or, worse, scattered chat messages, will eventually catch you out. Here is how to handle leave planning during a staff shortage.
Why Leave Planning Demands Extra Attention Right Now
In Q4 2025, 33.3% of employers reported difficulties due to staff shortages, according to HRMorgen.nl. Sectors such as healthcare, IT and specialist business services are growing fast, while the supply of new workers lags behind.
The direct consequence: every day a team member takes leave when staffing is already minimal is felt immediately in output. At the same time, holiday entitlement is a legal right. You cannot refuse requests without proper justification and documented records.
Common pitfalls for small employers:
- Leave requests handled verbally or via WhatsApp, with no central overview.
- No real-time picture of remaining entitlement per employee.
- Statutory expiry dates missed, causing lost days or disputes.
- Peak periods (summer, Christmas) flagged too late to act.
The result: unnecessary understaffing, frustrated employees waiting too long for decisions, and admin that eats into your time.
A Practical Scenario: Eight-Person Installation Team
Imagine you run an installation company with eight engineers. Five of them submit leave requests for the same week. Without a central system, you only discover this after three have already booked their holidays, leaving you with a staffing gap for a job scheduled that week.
With digital leave planning, you would have seen this four weeks earlier. The system shows at a glance who has requested leave, how many days each person has remaining, and whether minimum staffing levels are at risk. You approve the first three requests and ask the other two to choose an alternative week, with plenty of time to communicate this clearly.
Get your leave records in order today with the leave feature in PrikKlokPlus so you can spot peak periods before they become a problem.
Practical Steps for Solid Leave Planning
This approach works whether your team has three people or thirty.
| Step | Action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Centralise all leave requests in one system | No more requests via chat or word of mouth |
| 2 | Set minimum staffing levels per day or week | Automatic alerts when thresholds are breached |
| 3 | Review each employee's leave balance monthly | Prevent large accruals building up |
| 4 | Flag expiry dates in advance | According to the Dutch government, statutory leave expires on 1 July of the year following accrual. See Holiday Leave 2026: Expiry on 1 July Explained and rijksoverheid.nl |
| 5 | Link leave to your project planning | Avoid deadlines clashing with holiday peaks |
Step 4 deserves particular attention. According to the Dutch government, statutory leave expires on 1 July of the year following accrual. Employers are required to notify employees of upcoming expiry dates in good time. A digital system that sends automatic reminders takes much of that responsibility off your plate.
Link leave to your time tracking and you can see immediately what project capacity you actually have in any given week, preventing you from promising a client a delivery date you cannot meet. Read more in Time tracking for your team: how to do it efficiently.
Leave Planning for Freelancers: A Different Angle
For freelancers, leave planning works differently. There are no statutory holiday days, but you still need rest, and every day off is a day without income. At the same time, the tight labour market is pushing rates upward, which means now is a good moment to reassess your day rate.
To do that effectively, you need to know how many hours you actually work, how many unpaid days off you take, and what your effective hourly rate is after non-billable time. Smart time tracking combined with insight into your leave patterns gives you exactly that. See also Time tracking as a freelancer: 5 tips for accurate invoicing.
Absence due to illness is a separate issue, but it intersects with leave planning: if a team member goes off sick while two colleagues are already on holiday, you face an acute staffing crisis. A good system keeps leave and absence separate and gives you an up-to-date picture at all times. Learn more in Absence Registration: Employer Obligations Explained.
Conclusion
Leave planning during a staff shortage requires more than a spreadsheet. You need a system that centralises requests, alerts you when staffing falls too low, and tracks expiry dates automatically. That way you stay in control, even when the labour market remains tight and every team member matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I refuse a leave request because of staff shortages? Yes, but only if you can demonstrate a legitimate business reason and respond promptly. Failing to reply, or replying too late, can result in leave being granted by default. Always document refusals in writing and discuss an alternative period with the employee.
How far in advance should leave requests be submitted or processed? The law does not specify an exact timeframe; this depends on your collective agreement or employment contract. As a rule of thumb: the greater the impact on staffing, the earlier you want the request. Set this out clearly in your HR policy.
My employees have accumulated a lot of leave. What are the risks? Accrued leave is a financial liability on your balance sheet. If many employees take leave simultaneously, for example because statutory days are about to expire on 1 July, your staffing can come under acute pressure. Encourage timely uptake by communicating balances monthly and promoting leave outside peak periods.
Can I link leave planning to project planning? Yes. In PrikKlokPlus you see in one overview who is available and when, so you can align project deadlines with team capacity and avoid making commitments you cannot keep during holiday periods.
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Put your leave planning in order today. PrikKlokPlus combines leave tracking, time registration and project planning in one platform, so you always know who is available and when.