Coordinating physician and staff vacations

During the summer when the physicians in our cardiology group take three- and four-week vacations (not at the same time), our office hours are reduced. That results in a lot of down time for our staff. With reduced hours cutting revenue, we can't afford to pay people for just sitting around. How can we organize our summers to keep everybody busy?

This is a perfect opportunity to encourage staff to take their vacations at the same time as the doctors. For example, you could offer two extra hours of vacation for every day they take when a physician is out of the office during the summer "slow down." That could add up to over two additional vacation days that must be taken during the summer.

The other option is to offer unpaid time off. Many employees are willing to take un- paid time off, especially in the summer, so they can spend more time with their family.