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Work

Christmas Annual Leave

17 replies

HunterHearstHelmsley · 24/10/2017 20:28

My manager has approved my colleague and my annual leave over the Christmas period. There's the two of us and her.

She's now booked a three week holiday and says one of us will need to cancel as one of us needs to be in at all times.

Can she do this?! I don't intend on cancelling my leave and my colleague is the same.

OP posts:

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LIZS · 24/10/2017 20:30

Cheeky! In theory yes it can be cancelled with notice. Not good management though. Up to a more senior manager to determine I think.

UserShmuser · 24/10/2017 20:43

Could you speak to your manager's manager? That seems so unfair!

WallisFrizz · 24/10/2017 20:45

Have you kept the emails/ whatever confirming you had your leave approved. Refer her to these and say No, I won't cancel my leave.

Snog · 24/10/2017 20:48

It’s shit but yes she is perfectly entitled to do this

scrabbler3 · 24/10/2017 22:23

What would happen to the workload if you and your colleague said no? What would be the impact of your department being shut for a period of time? Would anyone suffer (I'm thinking care work or the like).

Bourdic · 24/10/2017 22:38

Is it really true that she can do what she wants? Is there not some policy about booking leave and having it agreed or custom and practice ie what normally happens?

prh47bridge · 25/10/2017 09:44

An employer can cancel previously approved leave provided they give adequate notice (the same notice as the length of the leave, so if you book 2 days they must give 2 days notice) and provided this does not prevent the employee taking the full statutory minimum leave for the year. So yes, she can do this. However, if there is no clear business reason and you suffer a financial loss as a result (e.g. because you've booked a holiday which you now have to cancel) you may be able to argue this is constructive dismissal unless they provide adequate compensation.

Putting aside the legalities, approving leave requests then arranging your own holiday to coincide with those requests and cancelling the employee's holiday is very poor management. "I've decided to take my holiday then" is not a good business reason for cancelling employee leave. I would refer this to your manager's manager or to HR.

ineedamoreadultieradult · 25/10/2017 09:51

Who does your manager have to have their leave approved by? Go to them and explain and provide evidence your holidays have already been approved.

flowery · 25/10/2017 10:07

Is there a policy on annual leave where you work OP? Does it say anything about cancellation of holiday already agreed?

It’s perfectly lawful if the correct notice has been given but it’s appalling management, and most places I know of where holiday gets cancelled there is a policy around what circumstances this might happen and frequently compensation for losses incurred.

Babyroobs · 25/10/2017 15:50

surely employers can't just cancer annual leave like that ? What happens if you have a holiday booked? !

DelphiniumBlue · 25/10/2017 15:54

Is your manager your employer? I'm assuming not, so go over her head and speak to whoever would sort this out - this seems abuse of power and I can't imagine the business owners would condone this.

flowery · 25/10/2017 15:55

TittyGolightly · 25/10/2017 15:57

surely employers can't just cancer annual leave like that ? What happens if you have a holiday booked? !

They can. Some would pay out of pocket expenses if you'd booked something after the leave was approved.

Snog · 25/10/2017 20:34

They can cancel but must give the same notice of cancellation as the length of the leave booked, so 1 week if you have booked a weeks leave. I’ve had it happen to me and I was fuming. For me it was part of being bullied by my line manager.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 26/10/2017 06:51

I could have sworn I replied to this yesterday... There's probably a thread somewhere with my random reply!

Yes there is a policy (I know my policies inside out!) and there is no mention of cancelling approved annual leave.

I wouldn't mind so much if it was business critical.

OP posts:

HunterHearstHelmsley · 26/10/2017 06:54

It's a large organisation. We aren't carers or anything like that. The difficulty is that with the nature of the work, we can be quiet then suddenly manic with priority work.

OP posts:

insancerre · 26/10/2017 07:24

That's really bad management
I think I would refuse to cancel my annual leave if my manager did this
It's her problem
Let her sort it out, don't make it easy for her

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