Work won’t let me cancel leave

I think for team morale if I was the manager I would not allow it either. Having someone book the 'prime' leave, doing it as early as possible so to ensure to get it and thus blocking others from doing so and then cancelling it at such late notice so no-one else can use it would have a negative effect on the team.

I realise it would also have a negative effect on OPs morale but that is one person vs the rest of the team.

You need to read up on Working Time Regulation- yes they can do this. However, I have employees and have never stopped anyone cancelling leave and would give it to the other person who wanted it at short notice - because I can. Other businesses will follow the rules to the letter of the law.

This. YABVU.

But this week wasn’t school holiday for a lot of schools, so not necessarily as useful for anyone who wants to spend those 10 days with their kids.

Why? … it makes perfect sense to me. People need a break when they are well, so it doesn’t seem good for anyone’s wellbeing to use up annual leave on days they are too sick to work.

I'm sorry but that makes absolutely no sense.

@ISpyNoPlumPie What??!!! No. Sick leave, emergency leave, unpaid leave. Who said don’t show up? Bizarre.

Sick leave is a negative reflection on the employee. I avoid it at all costs.

I've never heard of "emergency leave."

You must be very rich if you can take unpaid leave.

In the UK there is no automatic right for an employee to unilaterally cancel pre-booked annual leave.
The employer decides whether to agree to the cancellation request — and they can refuse if it doesn't suit business needs.

Without knowing what the industry is or what roles you and your colleague have it's impossible to say if the manager is being unfair or not. If they've planned around a particular skill mix it may well be far too late to change.

Pretty twatty to put it in as a placeholder so no one else can. I would be fuming if I was your colleague

No she can't under UK employment law

This is what happens when we live in a world of social media lemmings who can't think for themselves.

Every year we get these "book these days off for maximum leave!" posts and people go "Wow! I get 10 WHOLE DAYS OFF if I just book 4" and do it to block others having them off.

If they actually stopped and engaged their brain then they'd realise that you already get 9 days off if you book 5 (presuming you work Mon - Fri anyway) so it's nowhere near as amazing as they think it is.

I don’t know about the policy and I imagine if someone actually agreed to swap now then they’d allow it.

However, I can’t abide piss takers who grab the best slots “just in case” then think it’s ok to just cancel. We missed the opportunity for an amazing trip a couple of years ago thanks to DH’s colleague who had booked just 2 of the days for a stag weekend. Then decided he couldn’t be arsed and admitted he’d never really wanted to go anyway. Hate people like that, so yes, not surprised your colleague is “grumbling”.

This. If you were allowed to swap at this late notice you would want more leave later and that might deprive another colleague. You grabbed it now it's yours. Maybe you will let a colleague have Easter off next year.

But it was the OP who wanted the 10 for the price of 4 offer that Easter gives. The colleague might just have wanted next week, not this week.

Nope

And your employer can cancel your leave with twice the notice as the length - and they can tell you when to take it in the first place (UK)

Surely the colleague could've booked this week off if OP had booked next week? Sounds like they were just slow off the mark if they didn't manage to book one of the two short weeks off, tbh.

Both weeks give you 10 days off for 4 days (assuming Mon-Fri working pattern with BHs off) so she hadn't blocked them from benefiting from this.

Yes this is on you next week is too short notice for a number of reasons
but also if you did this and I worked with you rightly so I’d be well pissed off with you

I can see why your manager has refused the cancellation, as other have pointed out above.

Its a bit selfish to book the "best weeks" annual leave just in case, leaving the not-so-prime-weeks for people who didn't get in quick enough, and then 2 days before deciding that because you didn't make any exciting enough plans, you don't want the leave any more.

Its probably too late for colleagues to plan anything for this time, and you cancelling would make more work for management, in them having to sort out the leave for when you wanted to take the days later in the year. They have already planned for you being off next week.

Just enjoy the time off work and make the best of it

Agree with this

Where I work now is really flexible and as long as business is covered most of the team can be off, we just need to work it around our own projects.

However I can totally see that it would be unfair to book a prime week where only a certain number of people can be off and then cancel it at the last minute. Others will have made arrangements, family booked annual leave to match you, childcare booked and potentially paid for whic often isn’t changeable at the last minute.

Take the leave as you have too and be aware that if you are going to cancel it then next time you need to do it much much further in advance.

It's a side conversation. RTFT!

We can change a week’s leave with a week’s notice but not all teams are like that. What’s the usual policy?

This is about using AL when they’re sick nothing to do with this situation as OP isn’t sick she just bagsy’d the prime leave so others couldn’t have it and has not changed her mind

I think you were really selfish

and yes - employers can make you take AL