This SOP is a work in progress. If you notice anything that is out of date, could be more clear or could be more efficient please update the SOP or add a comment to start a conversation.
Purpose
This outlines the process for submitting time off requests (PTO or sick time), as well as how to prepare automatic notifications for team members in your absence.
One of the perks of a LeadVenture employee is flex PTO. This policy provides unlimited* paid leave, which is not dependent on accrued hours.
Note: Although it is “unlimited,” time off requests need to be within reason. Employees cannot take exuberant amounts of time off without a plan in place and without discussing it their Team Lead first.
Considerations: For significant time off, special accommodations need to be made. Coordinate with your Team Lead/Manager to devise a plan to accomplish your workload prior to your time off. Will your teammates need to step in to assist? Can you complete the work that you will be missing ahead of time?
Procedure
Initial ADP Request
When you plan to be logged out and away from work for a significant time period, follow the next steps for submitting a time off request:
Go to ADP and sign into your profile.
Navigate to the Myself tab and open the dropdown menu.
Under the Time Off section, click on My Time Off.
You will enter the My Time Off screen, where you can find pending time off requests, policies, statuses, balances, etc. Under the Balances section, click the Request Time Off button.
A side window should appear, where you need to select the start and end dates of your time off request, which time off policy you want to use (Flex PTO or Sick Full Time), the start time of the request, and how many hours per day you want to use.
After filling out that information, select Review. This will then allow you to review the details of your request one more time to ensure everything is accurate.
Select Submit. This will notify your Team Lead/Manager of your request so they can approve it (please note the warning above; have a prior discussion with your Team Lead/Manager for significant time off requests).
Setting Automatic Email Replies in Outlook
Once the time off has been approved, you need to prepare all your communications in order for others to be aware that you are out. The first step is to navigate to your Outlook email.
Once in Outlook, click on Settings (the gear icon in the top right corner.
A window will pop up with different setting options. Scroll to the option that says Automatic Replies.
Select Send Replies Only During a Time Period to indicate the start and end dates, as well as the time you wish for your automatic replies to begin and end, of your paid leave.
Next, there are boxes you need to check off: Block My Calendar for this Period, Automatically Decline New Invitations, and Decline and Cancel My Meetings During this Period. Select all of these boxes.
Next, you will input the automatic reply for any emails you get from memebers within the organization. Copy and paste this template (filling out the necessary information) into the text box as your automatic email reply:
Hello,
I will be unavailable from _________ to _________. If you have urgent questions or requests during this time period, please contact my Team Lead, __________.
Thank you,
After filling out the automatic reply field for members within your organization, it’s time to create an automatic reply for anyone outside of the organization. This message will differ only slightly from the previous automatic reply, as we will want to direct non-LeadVenture contacts to a different source if they reach out to you. For this message, copy and paste this template into the text box:
Hello,
I’m currently unavailable, but will return on __________. If you have any urgant questions or requests during this time, please email SEO@dealerspike.com and someone will respond to you as soon as they are available.
Thank you,
Lastly, once you have double-checked that the above information is correct, select Save.