Want a holiday but 16 year old can’t get leave

Book it and ring in sick

It was years ago now but when I was 19 my parents invited me on a paid 3 week holiday around the USA. It was being booked months in advance but I couldn't get leave. I wanted to go so found another job and told the new employers it was pre-booked which was true. I was only working bars at the time so it wasn't hard to find another job. Obviously, I didn't tell the new employers I was applying to them over declined leave!

I did a few holidays with my parents as a young adult and they were amazing. Far better than anywhere I could've afforded myself and I really enjoyed the time with them. If your teen wants to come I'd encourage them. Life's too short.

It’s not bad parenting at all. Far too many people put up with shit at work. Half these managers don’t even know basic employment laws and will scare people out of their entitlements, cancel holidays last minute and other outrageous shit. I have seen it in my workplace (a mw side job).

I don’t put up with any of it. I like working there but I calmly say sorry it’s non negotiable. They can fire me if they want. But they never do. Because I do a good job, don’t cause drama, play the game of give and take and pick my hills to die on. Holidays are one of those hills.

@Irishmama100 I don't understand your comment about worrying that working for you won't be as respected as working away from family. Surely at 16 the primary focus is earning some cash and keeping busy. Respect really doesn't matter at that age!

Get them to quit, enjoy your holiday, and get them to work for you over summer. Life's too short.

Let them quit. It's a really good to get them used to the idea that no job is more important than your happiness, and certainly not an 8 hour one!

There's ALWAYS another job.

While I agree with your other points there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a 'Protestant work ethic'.

When 16 year old is lying on their deathbed (of course, hopefully many, many years from now!) they won’t be thinking “damn, wish I’d done that 8 hour shift”.

Work to live, not live to work.

Are people honestly suggesting a 16 year old child stays at home without transport in the middle of nowhere while their family is on holiday, so they can do their eight hour weekend shift in a shop, transported by Uber?

Get a grip folks, and drop the supercharged Protestant work ethic. How about we teach our kids that their time is valuable and life is too short for that sort of drudgery!

Well, it seems that OP is rural so Uber won't exist and taxis are a PITA (have to book well in advance, cash only, have to ring around to find one available at the right time as they are all single operators etc)

We don't know whether either are options. Neither taxi nor uber service are universal.

The 16 year old can always get a taxi or uber. Yes, it costs money, but there are options .

As OP has said their location means the 16 year old needs driving in, I don't think no 1 is an option. Or at least not one that will result in the 16 year old getting into work.

I don’t really understand why this 16 year should get special dispensation to have the leave. If you sign the contract, you abide by the company’s rules and that includes getting holiday leave approved. He can like or lump it!

or as @MsCheeryble stated yesterday, these are the options.

You've got three choices:

1. You go on holiday without the 16 year old.
2. You go on holiday at a different time with the 16 year old and suck up the extra cost.
3. Your child tells their employer that they will be leaving if they can't get leave, and puts their notice in. Then they work with you till they can get one of the many jobs going in retail, hospitality etc.

If you say so. But I could leave a massive long list of people to contact if things go wrong, and the one we haven't thought of would happen. Sod's law.

I don't know how old you are but I wasn't left alone by my parents for more than a night or so until I was 19 and had been at university a year.

People are saying it's too difficult for employers to give time off over the school holidays but what about swapping shifts? There might be someone working during the week who'd work the Saturday needed, and then the OP's young person can work a different weekday when they are home.

Or choose a different week and see if a different Saturday works. Or go in October half term. Probably too late to book/get time off for May half term now.

@Mnetcurious

Ok. The word "contracted" threw me off.

At 16 my contract was 4 hours but I worked 17 hours over the weekend every weekend.

100% they should quit the job, especially as they've suggested it.

I would get them to word it to their boss as "I understand you aren't able to approve my leave request. I'm afraid this is a very important family trip for me, so if the leave isn't possible I'll need to give my notice in to be able to go on the trip."

I suspect they might decide the leave is fine after all, but if not then doesn't sound like it will be a big problem for you or DC.

There are more important things in life than a Saturday job.

Isn't there another week you could all take leave?

Sorry I'm 16 my parents are forcing me to go on a holiday. I will hate every minute and am so sorry . Let me know if you still want me after the holiday.

Staff member x you work Tuesday-Saturday, staff member y you work Sunday to Thursday. That helps that. And when I used to work retail over Christmas we employed Christmas staff to cover too - but there were plenty of them who were able to swap shifts about and have flexibility. The shop made more than enough money during that period to fund them. Sometimes we even had too many on shop floor but they could get on with other jobs. An extra staff member at £6.40 per hour would not be such a devastating waste. Whereas relying on a 16 year old for actual appropriate cover in your business is just bonkers.

And yes we can assume that the manger is employing a 16 year old because they want cheaper labour. Why else would you choose a 16 year old? There's nothing wrong with that, but yes they have less experience and shocker, other commitments.

When I was a teenager I worked at a supermarket on evenings/weekends and then did temporary contracts working over summer and Christmas holidays when I went to university.
My mum planned a surprise family holiday for my birthday once which would be during my summer contract, she went into the store and spoke to my manager! Who agreed to the holiday and keeping the secret because by that point I'd worked there over 5 years and I was a good and reliable employee.
If he hadn't have agreed to it, she would have taken me on the holiday & told me to quit if needed.
Some memories and experiences are far more important than a part time temporary job!

The employer sounds ridiculous, I think quit and get another job. Life is short, enjoy your holiday as a family x

@labamba007 Or businesses have business patterns that demand more staff at some times than others? When I was that age Saturday jobs in retail were common because trade on a Saturday was triple that of any other day of the week. We were only needed Saturday, so we only worked Saturday.

Adults are less likely to want 8 hour, 1 day a week contracts (although some of ours were, working around family life) whereas that's often ideal for young people and students.

Also we don't know how much the OP's DD gets paid in relation to any other staff at any other job, or what her contract is, so that's a moot point.

Isn’t this quite short notice to try to be booking off several weeks in the summer holidays? I’m not hugely surprised that they’ve said no.

I don’t know how different the rules are for employers of 16 year olds (but I have worked with some, so I know they can’t lone work, are entitled to a longer break, etc) but from a holiday point of view then I imagine that they are treated the same as everyone else. If they can’t have the holiday because there are too many people off or it’s too short notice then they can’t have the holiday- it would be unfair on the other employees (IMO) for your daughter to have the rules bent for her. If you’re old enough to have a proper, paid job then you have to more or less follow the same rules as everyone else.

If you’re fairly confident that she’ll find another job then handing her notice in is definitely an option. I think “this family holiday is very important to me, so having considered my options I would like to hand my notice in so that I am able to go” is fair enough.

I definitely don’t think you should get involved, as tempting as it may be.

And yet this would not be a problem if the company employed permanent staff and paid them appropriately. There's a reason a company relies on 16 year old staff doing 8 hours a week - cheap labour. If you want to run a business properly and for it to function properly you have to pay more otherwise, yes, you'll get problems like this. 🤷‍♀️

You don't have a gap in your CV at 16, what a ridiculous thing to say. Many 16 year olds don't even have a job.