Having holiday declined meaning holiday will be lost as it can't be taken before the cut-off for this year - help

[PrincessScrumpy]

DH started a new job in September - same overall company he has worked for for 9 years but new office/location. His boss has been pretty horrendous re shifts/holiday etc so far so I will give the back ground.

About 5 weeks ago dh got a call demanding to know where he was - he was at home caring for our children while I worked as he was on the rota for the late shift and it was 9am in the morning. I have worked my work meeting etc around this rota. His boss said dh was working on the old rota and needed to bin it and follow the calendar in the office (which basically his boss had filled in incorrectly and refused to amend it - this is the only reason the rota changed as only 2 people follow this rota and neither had asked for it to change).

2 weeks ago dh had a funeral of an ex work colleague - all agreed he could attend and he was travelling with a senior boss who also new the colleague who had died. Dh turned up on the morning of the funeral for work as the funeral was in the afternoon. His boss had forgotten and the day before given another member of staff permission to take a day's holiday the next day which meant dh could not go to the funeral.

Again, today dh's shift has been changed to a late with only 2 days notice.

With that going on dh also put in a request for 4 days holiday - 2 as individual days here and there and 2 running one after the other (Tuesday Wednesday) all late November and early December (He cannot take any time over Christmas other than Christmas day as his boss is taking the whole 2 weeks). Dh put this request in 3 weeks ago for these days and his boss is still umming over whether he can authorise them as they are very busy this time of year. No one else is off on these days and dh picked them so they have minimal affect. He even said to his boss "okay, tell me which 4 days I can take" and his boss said hmmm I think you might have to lose them this year.

Can he do this?

[VegasIsBest]

That doesn't seem right. Is there an HR department your husband can talk to?

[PrincessScrumpy]

I think hr is based somewhere else in the country. There is one lady who has worked there for about 100 years (okay not that long but all her working life and she'd probably 50ish) and she does a bit but she wouldn't want to upset dh's boss iyswim, so it's awkward. Dh has a meeting today to discuss it - seriously, when I was a manager I would never have seen the point in calling a meeting regarding 4 day's holiday taken when no one else is off. What's to discuss? Would be helpful to know the legal stand point if anyone knows. :)

[holidaysarenice]

No he can't is the simple answer.

As long as ur husband follows the guidelines about how long in advance to ask for them then no.

Holidays are for a reason.

Does sick pay get paid for ur dh? Cos the bitch in me would be tempted to slap a sick line in for 2 weeks over Christmas for exhaustion. --> busy period and no rest = exhaustion.

[mariefab]

If your DH only gets the statutory minimum holiday entitlement he must be permitted to take it at some point within the holiday year.
He has given more than the required notice and is willing to change the date to suit his employer.
So, although the employer can say yes or no each time, he can't (lawfully)just say that he'll have to lose them.

However, if we are talking about additional contractual holiday entitlement, what happens if the employer refuses to permit the holiday depends on the contract/policy. Usually it would be carried over to the next year. I'd get that in writing though.

[PrincessScrumpy]

He gets more than statutory but his contract only states he cannot under any circumstances carry holiday over. He did get holiday carried over once but that was due to a huge reshuffle in the office and he offered to cancel his holiday as long as he could carry it over (which he got in writing) but that was in his previous office.

[flowery]

No he can't say that. Your DHs employer can certainly dictate when holiday is taken, but he's entitled to take it so if they don't approve the dates he's requested they need to tell him when to take it.

[FastWindow]

Not too sure about entitlement to actually take the holiday. You'd have to refer to contract or hr. But if he can't take it, or carry out over, he had to be paid it.

[FastWindow]

Sorry for typos!

The boss sounds like a dick, btw. Suggest new job in the new year if feasible.