Rules, numbers and practice for owners, HR and managers who run the operational side of a company themselves. One topic per article, explained to the end.
A preparation calendar from November to New Year, the rules you publish before collecting wishes rather than after, and a rotation that stops the same people getting August every year.
100·80·100pay · time · output Ways of workingThe four-day week: what the pilots measured and what it changesThe 100-80-100 model: full pay, 80% of the time, full output. What the largest pilots measured, the two very different models of the week - and what follows for entitlements, holidays and schedules.
3circles of visibility Privacy and lawSick leave privacy: who should see why someone is offAn employer needs the fact and the dates of an absence - not the diagnosis. The three circles of visibility, the GDPR in plain words, and why a shared spreadsheet cannot keep a secret.
20 + 4 + 5entitlement days in the example Leave and balancesAnnual leave entitlement: how many days and how they accrueEntitlement is built in layers: the legal minimum, then collective agreements, then company policy. We unpack the layers, partial-year pro-rating and the two accrual models.
10 → 130people: from coping to unmanageable Ways of workingAbsence tracking in a spreadsheet: where it breaksA spreadsheet is the right first tool, and at ten people it honestly works. The question is not whether it is good - it is how far it scales. The scale: 10 → 30 → 50 → 130.
S²×Dthe Bradford formula AnalyticsThe Bradford factor: formula, examples and limitsWhy are five two-day sick leaves more alarming than one ten-day spell? The S² × D formula, worked examples, common thresholds - and an honest look at what this metric cannot tell you.
31 Decthe day unused days expire Leave and balancesLeave carry-over: rules that survive DecemberExpire, carry over in full, or cap at N days? A practical look at the three year-end models, expiry dates for carried days, and how to avoid the December scramble.
