Been refused any annual leave this year.

I’ve worked for British and US banks and 2 weeks consecutive holiday had to be taken once a year as fraud prevention. Big red flag if someone not taking their holiday entitlement. Can’t keep fraud covered up unless stay there all the time.

banks insurance against this would be void

You need to approach this from a legal perspective. You company is breaking the law if they do not let you take annual leave. Get advice from either Acas, or Citizens Advice then ask your manager and/or HR for a meeting to discuss how they will resolve then.

Telling you their hands are tied is NOT an option.

It’s like this where my other half works too. It’s shit. To top it off one of the managers in charge of authorising requested holiday for a large team gets off on saying no, it’s a real power trip for her. Unsurprisingly, he’s looking for another job.

It aounds like you work at the same place as me, One year I had to take my leave in 2 or 3 day bits. I couldn't get a week off at all. I've forgotten to book for next year, we were supposed to book before easter. I'll probably have to retire to get time off.

I'm sure they will hve to let you take your leave. I'd put it in the hands of HR.

The upshot of this is that there isn’t enough quota in the calendar to allow all annual leave requests

That is not your problem. That is THEIR problem that they think they can get away with not addressing. At best, they are in breach of contracts and you were employed under false pretences that you would be able to use a certain amount of leave each year. At worst, what they're doing is illegal.

Yep what she said ☝

It's not complicated so don't be tricked by poor internal process and systems into thinking it is. By law, assuming you work a full time week, you must take 20 days annual leave.

You should speak with HR and failing that a union or ACAS.

Take it higher up. Your manager is a sh*t manager if all she can do is wring her hands! I'm embarrassed for her.

Some companies pressure people to work all the time.
When you then ask to take time off, the time that you are contractually and LEGALLY entitled to, they claim should have taken it all ready.

Pick the days you want to take off.
TELL the manager you are going to take this time off.
If they have a problem with this, you will make this a legal matter.

It's that simple.

They cannot ignore the law. Ask for a meeting with HR and point out that you are being prevented from taking your legally entitled leave and they need to rectify it.

@HolidayNotAvailable You need to be making much more of a fuss about this, your employer is under a legal obligation to make sure you are able to take the minimum statutory annual leave, it is their problem and you absolutely should not accept or think of it as a you problem.

Your manager is being a wimp if they are not escalating this - you need to make a lot more noise about it and are early enough on in the year for it to make a difference, if you stay quiet and don’t push is now and more time passes you will be more at fault for not having done so

I hope you get somewhere with this op, you've got some good advice.

But also, how employable are you..? Do you really want to go through this every year...?

I'm amazed that any of the staff would tolerate this.

This is a ridiculous system. Definitely query it, you’re being more patient and flexible than most people, you should have some element of choice not just whatever is left over. People should be able to take the minimum leave before the people who buy extra can use that.

As pos said you have to have a statutory amount of paid time off.

This is one of those machine v human decisions and your line manager and HR need to sort this out

I always tell people on my team that taking annual leave is a requirement, not a mere entitlement. Taking it is non-negotiable to ensure we are meeting our duty of care and are not in breach of the law.

Your employer's annual leave procedure sounds ridiculous and insane, you should be demanding not asking to take your leave. Or better still, your manager should be doing it for you.

Definitely raise it, they need to look at the policies and procedures. In my organisation you need authorisation from your manager to purchase extra leave to make sure the service need is still met and everyone else is able to take their leave. Leave is also based on who is in my team, not the whole department which makes it much easier coordinating leave.
HR/Management should already be aware its an issue but they may not be so it's certainly worth you raising it.

If the requests you’re putting through aren’t being accepted you need to contact the appropriate team and ask them to let you know what two full weeks you can take, and where you can take the rest of it. If they say you can’t take your leave, forward it to HR. If HR aren’t helpful, ring your union or acas. You do need to be allowed to take the statutory leave allowance but with poor management you might have to stand up for yourself

Seeing as you have name changed, I wonder if you would be willing to name the bank, OP? I'm sure lots of us wouldn't want to give our custom to a company who would deny their staff their statutory allowance of annual leave.

Why concern gave you resigned yourself to it taking any leave?!? That's a bizarre reaction

Speak to your manager/HR and ask when you will be able to book the leave you are entitled to as all your requests are being declined. It's not an option for them to just say you want take it!

Seconding previous posters' suggestions about ACAS. Don't resign yourself to not having what you are legally entitled to - people will often say they 'can't' because they just can't see a way round the system - that's why this needs to go to your manager, and her manager, etc, until you find a way to override the system. That may require them getting temporary help or being short, or even taking away some additional leave from others. Absolutely none of those things are your problem. I'd make a lot of requests for different dates and have the evidence ready: I've also found ACAS webpage printouts useful for meetings with HR who are often surprisingly ignorant of employment law. If your manager refuses then go direct to HR or the next level up.

This is the only logical way to do it.

What your company is doing is a very unfair and lazy method of doing annual leave.

Have you even read the OP?

She said she initially tried to book leave a few days after bookings for this year opened, her original request was declined, and she's since tried to book leave in every month of the year without success (apart from a week in December).

How is that not making it impossible for her to take her leave?

Her employer has to sort this out otherwise they can be in big trouble.

See previous comment.

Straight to HR…if you can’t take annual leave, you’re going to risk burnout, mental health problems, low motivation etc. My Manager makes sure everyone in our team takes every single bit (even if you only have a few hours left to take, she will tell ys to leave early). HR needs to sort this for you. Time off to recharge is as important as work.