Work won’t let me cancel leave

Not true: https://www.gov.uk/taking-sick-leave

This specifically says that employees can ask to take holiday where, for instance, they don't qualify for paid sick leave (a fair way down the page):

An employee can ask to take their paid holiday for the time they’re off work sick. They might do this if they do not qualify for sick pay, for example. Any rules relating to sick leave will still apply.

Employers cannot force employees to take annual leave when they’re eligible for sick leave.

You just can't be forced to take it. It wouldn't make sense if you couldn't ask, but also didn't qualify for anything other than SSP (which had a 3 day waiting period until this month). The ethics of forcing somebody to take unpaid / very low paid sick leave are fairly dubious!

Yeah. I've never worked anywhere where there's either no occupational sick pay ever, or if there is OSP, it's only after a qualifying period (a year where I am currently). I think that's relatively typical private sector.

Another ‘single post from the OP’ thread.

But the other colleague doesn’t want to swap now. It’s too late for them to make plans. Might have been different if the OP had tried to cancel earlier - when a swap was possible.

This is also against the law. If you are sick and unfit for work, you must take sick leave, regardless of whether that is fully paid or statutory.

The point as I understand it is that the colleague didn’t book next week off as they were unable to, due to OP having gotten in there first. Colleague may well be allowed to take leave now but we all know trying to get a good deal the week before Easter is difficult, if not impossible. So OP was quite selfish in booking prime holiday time so far in advance, thus depriving colleagues of the chance to book a reasonable holiday in advance. Even if colleague didn’t want to go on holiday but just make plans to see family etc, it may be too late. People will likely have their Easter plans sorted now, which OP should have known.

IT does seem unreasonable that if you don't want the leave, and Jim does, that you can't swap it.
Obviously assuming you and Jim are more or less interchangeable-if you can do things/work hours he can't, then the manager might already have planned stuff. I do get that companies have policies as they don't like to be messed arounf regarding leave, but in this case, it seems harsh to me (mind you, I've had jobs where staff could just swap shifts/leave without the managers being involved).

Sick leave or compassionate leave (whether paid or unpaid) - these are quite the norm in most jobs.

This is common that people don't get their normal salary when they are on sick leave? I have never worked anywhere that we don't get paid as normal if off sick. That said I've also never worked anywhere that I can't cancel my annual leave at short notice either, but equally the team I work in is scattered across multiple countries so we are not all wanting the same school holidays weeks anyway.

Yes. Employers can actually stipulate when you take leave. You need to get your act together, booking prime time then thinking you can just canc3l.

Yep its allowed. They can actually dictate when you take holidays, cancel your holidays as long as they give notice.

I don't know, it's difficult given when it is. You booked it without knowing you wanted it just to make sure it wasn't taken, now you've decided it doesn't suit you but you've left it so late as to leave it unusable by abyonevelse

I agree with PPs that bagging a prime school holiday week, holding on to it until three working days before the holiday is due to start, and then saying you don't want it anyway is a recipe for pissing off working parents who have now had to pay for childcare or miss out on a holiday away with their family.

I would keep quiet, take the leave anyway and make a note to be more considerate and give people more notice in future.

We had a woman like that at work. She'd book all the prime holiday weeks and then months later cancel what she didn't want. Every single year. By which point everyone else had coordinated alternative weeks with their spouses workplaces, booked weeks off nursery, and paid for flights on weeks they didn't really want to go. So so frustrating. Plenty of your colleagues would have jumped at the chance of the extra long week but you've spoiled that for them. I'm glad your Employer is taking this stance.... Maybe it'll stop you being so greedy in the future.

Bagsying holidays that everyone else wants then cancelling at the last minute is a dick move.

Yes, it is. And YABVU.

Employers can give you notice to take annual leave. Employees have to get the dates of leave authorised or approved. That’s the clue right there. As an employee you don’t get to decide arbitrarily when you take leave.

But she hasn’t given the colleague enough notice to do anything with it. Don’t book prime leave and then expect to cancel a few days before. It’s unfair on colleagues.

I've never, and don't currently, work somewhere that strict so I can't really help. Withdrawing leave is usually allowed where I work.

This is what I think. There would be a lot of grumblings and a mess if people start booking up prime holiday time in case they might want it and then can cancel short notice if they change their mind.

One of my early jobs (with a similar coverage issue as yours) had a special policy for leave dates that fell before or after a holiday closure because of incidents like this - I think it was something like a month's notice if you wanted to cancel pre-booked leave on those days.

Snagging some of the most valuable days of the year so no one else can use them and hanging on to them until a day or two beforehand does have a negative impact on your teammates in a setting where only one or two people can be off at a time. Not allowing last-minute cancellations is one way employers can discourage it from happening.

Some people ask to take annual leave instead of sick leave, so they get paid a full day's money instead of SSP. It's not the employer mandating it.

That’s what sick leave is for. If your employer requires you to take annual leave for a sick day then they’re breaking the law.

Prime dates such as Easter , school summer holidays and Christmas usually are separately considered where I’ve worked so all employees get fair consideration rather than fastest finger first.

The fact that doesn’t happen and you managed to get it and now what to cancel wouldn’t go down well with me.

I have booked leave in the past to try to get a trip away for instance. But then say my DH couldn't get the same leave . I did say as soon as I knew that I wasn't going to take it .

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