Work cancelling annual leave

[y0rkier0se]

DP works for the Civil Service. He has a week of work booked off over Christmas, and we’ve booked and paid for a cottage for that week. He’s apparently been told today that if Brexit goes ahead on 31st October, all annual leave over Christmas will be cancelled. Does anyone know where we stand on this? Can’t afford to lose £900 on the cottage and don’t see why we should! It’s been booked for nearly a year. Don’t even think travel insurance would cover this

[adaline]

Any employer can cancel annual leave if they give sufficient notice.

[Mammylamb]

I’d perhaps contact ACAS.
Or ask his workplace to refund him the £900

[Lonelymum11]

I imagine you'll be fine. I doubt boris will be able to get it sorted by 31st anyway.

But yeah anywhere I've worked has always had a clause about leave approval being at company's discretion and they can cancel it due to business needs if necessary.

[ClownsandCowboys]

They can cancel, but they have to allow time to use it. When does his leave year finish?

[y0rkier0se]

Where does that leave people for booking holidays and the like? I hope not Lonelymum, I didn’t bloody vote for it anyway and now it’s going to run my holiday

[y0rkier0se]

It goes April to April ClownsandCowboys

[RB68]

It would be reasonable to submit a claim for the costs of the holiday etc.

[feelinghelplesstoday]

@y0rkier0se are you sure it's April to April? My oh is CS too and his is March to feb x

[Snapespeare]

It varies depending on government department.

[moreismore]

I’ve got specialist travel insurance in the past for military where operational needs mean last minute holiday cancellations possible. Might be worth seeing if there are similar policies that cover other jobs?? No idea if it’s possible.

[Justbaking]

Police do it as well. Both my DH and I are blocked from taking leave due to a Brexit and that's right through half term.

[y0rkier0se]

Ahh you’re right feelinghelpless, thank you, it is February to February, and if everyone is the same surely it wouldn’t be viable for everybody to take theirs Between January and February!

[caffeinebuzz]

In every private sector company I've worked for they would reimburse expenses incurred for cancelled holidays. And most allowed the days to be carried over if there wasn't another chance to take it in the current year. But obviously don't know how that translates to the Civil Service.

[readingnc]

😂 It doesn't @caffeinebuzz

Have they said why they need to cancel it op?

[MereDintofPandiculation]

Unless your T&C have changed drastically in the last 10 years, they'll refund the £900 if you ask them.

Civil Service used to talk about "annual leave is a privilege not a right" and "needs of the office" but that changed when UK had to come in line with the EU. So he should be able to take his leave at a later date, or carry it over into the next leave year.

My oh is CS too and his is March to feb Depends on Department. Could be date of joining, could be birthday. Not everyone will necessarily have the same A/L year even in the same Department.

[MrsGrindah]

I’m in the civil service and I’m pretty sure they won’t reimburse, just give you the chance to take leave later.

[readingnc]

Nobody in the civil service has their leave running from their birthday!

I'm assuming he's police, there's not going to be much he can do at this point. It can't be a huge shock though as we faced this scenario in March too

[VirtualHamster]

Nobody in the civil service has their leave running from their birthday!

In the part of the civil service i worked in your annual leave year ran from your birthday month. So if your birthday was 4th May, leave ran May - April, if it was the 30th September it ran September - August etc.

[ArnoldBee]

My leave runs from my birthday month! In my department it's either your birthday month or the month you joined. CS has always had the right to cancel leave due to business needs just that over the past couple of decades our country has been fairly stable so we haven't been used to it. We are in unprecedented times and it's all hands to the pump. Yes it's crap but it can happen. I have never known a holiday refund but you never know.

[mumtomaxwell]

Married to a civil servant too.... the shit show that will ensue when we crash out of the EU with no deal means our family life is going to suffer immeasurably. We have already been through one set of cancelled leave and extended leave bans earlier this year and I’m expecting more. Thanks Brexit

[y0rkier0se]

He’s not in the police, it’s HMRC. Surely they can’t expect us to lose £900 because of it, but he doesn’t seem to think they’ll reimburse either. Honestly at a loss what to do, suppose we’ve just got to wait it out and hope it gets stalled again

[0hT00dles]

Oh gosh.

But yes, it's up to the discretion of the company.

I've never known anyone personally who it has happened to, but I've seen it mentioned a few times on here.

My dh will be cancelling his own annual leave himself if brexit happens on the 31st But that's him doing it and he knows I'm not happy.

[ArnoldBee]

And yes we have been told that we may be required at short notice - not a lot I can do from my desk but I may be drafted.

[MrsGrindah]

Course they can. It’s not done lightly. They cant make decisions based on the fact that it might mean some people are out of pocket.

[BackOnceAgainWithABurnerEmail]

Yes they can and they aren’t liable. Can take someone else (parents etc)? If they do that they may well move to shift patterns which have been billed as 4 on 3 Off so he mightn’t miss the whole thing.