AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–TCP (TimeClock Plus), a leading provider of workforce management and time and labor solutions, today announced the addition of the enhanced Leave Bidding feature to its Absence and Leave Management solution. This new feature automates time off requests, while prioritizing employees based on position, seniority, length of employment or other criteria established by the organization, directly through TCP’s TimeClock Plus interface.

The Leave Bidding feature allows employees to submit requests for planned time off, bidding on future periods, which can be ranked or prioritized according to the organization’s preferences. There is also an option to create a “standby list” based on the bid so the “next-in-line” for the same time period can be notified if someone cancels their request after the bid is awarded.

Across the public and private sectors, in areas such as public safety, healthcare and emergency response, among others, it is critical that the workforce is properly staffed during all shifts. When time off requests are factored in, it can become a logistical challenge for managers to create a fair system that allows all employees to put their desired request in while also considering employment level.

Even with the technology available today, managing time off requests can be a paper-driven, manual process. Leave bidding (or vacation bidding) is a common challenge all organizations–both public and private–face but it is especially challenging in organizations with collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in place. TCP’s Leave Bidding feature facilitates managing the number of planned leave requests for a given resource pool of employees. Unlike manual tracking sheets, the leave calendars allow managers to avoid mistakes and grievances in the leave planning process.

Leave Bidding enables organizations to digitize this process by providing capabilities including:

• Automation – Employees enter requests for time off directly into TCP’s workforce management solution, allowing employees to plan future leave based on set thresholds. The additional visibility into the scheduling process assures employees their time off requests are being considered fairly, without favoritism or bias. This replaces paper-based requests that managers must sort through and maintain via spreadsheets or on paper calendars.
• Prioritization – Managers set up ranking based on predetermined criteria prior to time off requests coming in. The software then looks at all employees in a particular role requesting time off for a specific period and determines, based on ranking and shift requirements, which employees are granted their requests. This eliminates the rush to ask for time off before others, since it isn’t determined on a first-come, first-served basis. Employers can also set a window of time for employees to enter time off requests.
• Substitution – In shift-based organizations, schedules are often created as far out as six months in advance. Personal circumstances may change during that time so the solution tracks standby requests that were previously denied due to coverage needs, and as time off becomes available these standby requests are granted. Because of this, employee morale is improved, knowing requests are being met whenever possible.

“This latest enhancement was developed as a direct result of listening to our customers, particularly those in the public sector, revealing their time off request process is complex and has many nuances. We knew this aspect of workforce management was ripe for digitization,” said Leslie Bodnar, chief marketing & product officer, TCP. “Automating time consuming and difficult tasks through our workforce management solution remains our focus, and we continue to improve upon and respond to what our customers need most.”

For more information, please visit www.tcpsoftware.com.

About TCP

For more than 30 years, TCP (TimeClock Plus) has helped organizations empower their people by providing flexible, mobile timekeeping and workforce management solutions. Trusted by tens of thousands of customers and millions of users, TCP delivers best-in-class technology and personalized support to organizations of all sizes in the public and private sectors to meet their complex timekeeping, employee scheduling, leave management, and other workforce needs.

For more information, visit www.tcpsoftware.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook.