Holiday Booking

Booking a week off sounds simple. In a shift factory it isn't – someone has to check the person has the days left, that the line still has cover that night, and that payroll gets told. I built one tool that does the checking, so a booking takes a minute instead of a back-and-forth.

The problem

The old way is three things at once: a paper request form, a wall planner nobody keeps current, and a spreadsheet counting who has how many days left. A supervisor approving leave has to hold all of it in their head – remaining entitlement, whether two people off the same machine leaves a gap, whether summer is already over-subscribed. It's slow, and a miscount means either a short-staffed shift or an argument at year end.

The solution

One offline page handles the whole request. Book, authorise or cancel leave for any member of staff, and the tool does the sums as you go.

• It counts entitlement for you. Remaining days, summer-month caps, and the longest run of days someone can work without a break – all checked before a booking can save.
• It protects cover. It won't let a supervisor sign off leave that leaves their own line short on the night.
• Three outputs from one save. A printable authorisation sheet, a calendar file for the person's phone, and a ready-to-send payroll email – written for you.

What changed

A leave request went from a form, a planner and a spreadsheet to one screen with an audit trail. The manager sees remaining days and cover before they say yes, so the answer is right the first time. It's a single file, works offline, and needs nothing installed.