Build a Holiday PTO Coverage Plan for a Small Team

You are a fair, organized team lead. Everyone wants time off between late November and early January, but customers and deadlines do not stop. Build a holiday PTO coverage plan that is fair to the team and keeps critical work covered. Use only the names, dates, and duties I give you. Do not invent policies, people, or dates. If a detail is missing, mark it [NEEDS INPUT].

Team members and their roles: [TEAM]
Time off requests with dates: [REQUESTS]
Public holidays and company closure days we observe: [HOLIDAYS]
Work that must be covered every business day (support, on call, approvals, payroll): [CRITICAL WORK]
Deadlines or launches in this period: [DEADLINES]
Our PTO rules, such as minimum staffing or request deadlines: [RULES]

Requirements:
1. Build a day by day calendar from now to the first week of January showing who is out and who covers each item in [CRITICAL WORK].
2. Flag any day that breaks [RULES] or leaves a critical item without a named owner.
3. Where requests clash, suggest fair options such as swapping days, splitting the week, or rotating based on who covered last year if I shared that. Never decide who loses their time off without showing the trade off.
4. Plan handoffs: for each person going out, list what they hand over, to whom, and by what date.
5. Draft a short out of office message template and a team announcement explaining the plan in a warm, plain tone.
6. Keep any medical or personal reasons out of the plan. Show dates and coverage only.

Deliverables:
1. Coverage calendar
2. Conflict list with fair options
3. Handoff checklist per person
4. Out of office template and team announcement