Human resources professionals say the time between now and late May is when small companies should be doing their vacation planning, and, if they expect to need temporary help, beginning the recruiting process. Owners should also be considering their vacation policies - creating a written document if they don't already have one, or making any necessary changes to an existing one.

A vacation policy, like any other policy affecting the workplace, is designed to provide a sense of stability and help a company avoid problems like the hard feelings than can ensue when everyone wants the same days off but can't have them. Vacation policies among other things should detail how much time off staffers are entitled to, when they're allowed to take it, the process they need to go through to get time off approved and how conflicts with other staffers' requests will be handled.

''Employees need to understand what they have to work with,'' said Mary Massad, managing director of recruiting services for Administaff Inc., a Houston-based company that provides human resources outsourcing.

A vacation policy should also help eliminate workers' concerns about favoritism. If, for example, vacation is granted by seniority, staffers will understand from the get-go that those with the longest tenure get to pick first.

''Having a policy in place in advance that you can consistently apply across the organization is key to maintaining a culture of fairness in the organization,'' said Jay Keegan, CEO of Adams Keegan, a Memphis, Tenn.-based human resources management firm.

But consistent shouldn't be confused with Draconian - a harshly applied policy that doesn't account for, say, two staffers who are planning overlapping honeymoons will keep the workplace orderly but also miserable.

''You want to remain flexible,'' said Massad, who recommended that a vacation policy be considered a set of guidelines.

She also noted that in offices where there's an atmosphere that encourages cooperation and camaraderie, employees are likely to help sort out the conflicts among themselves, agreeing on who most needs to be off at a given time.

But some companies, because of the nature of their work, have to prohibit vacations during peak periods. In the summer, an air conditioning repair service probably can't let skilled technicians take much time off. The solution, Keegan said, is let workers know when they're hired that there are blackout periods.

''Having everyone know that part of their employment at the front end, you can insulate yourself from the organization's productivity falling off during a critical time,'' he said.

Still, even if this is the case in your company, you'll probably need to consider letting an employee take time off for events like out-of-town family weddings. Forcing someone to miss such an occasion can be a morale-killer, and not just for the employee making the request.

Part of vacation planning is figuring out how the work is going to get done when staffers are away. It's particularly critical because of the thin staffing at many small companies, Keegan said.

''One person being out can dramatically impact the productivity of the organization,'' he said.

There are several solutions. One is something that you should do anyhow - be sure that employees are cross-trained so they can all step in for one another. You'd need that contingency plan for staffers' illnesses, emergencies or jury duty.

Massad said cross-training benefits more than the company as a whole: ''It's great for employees - they get to learn a new job, they get to sharpen their skills.''

You might also consider temporary help, and, as Massad pointed out, this is the time to be looking. The best and the brightest temp workers are out looking for summer work right now, she said,

If you need help putting a vacation policy together, there are plenty of resources available. You can find sample ones online, and there are books available that also spell out the issues and considerations that go into creating a policy.

It's a good idea to also ask other business owners, particularly in your industry and geographic area, what their policies are. Remember that vacation is a recruiting and retention tool and therefore can affect how competitive you are with other employers.

Massad recommends owners include employees in the process when they're formulating or changing a vacation policy.

---

* JOYCE ROSENBERG writes about small business for The Associated Press.