AIBU to think a junior probationer’s month abroad request is unreasonable?

I wouldn't consider authorising the leave unless they had a sick relative abroad.

They've tried to manipulate you and they haven't considered how to make their travel work for the business - just for them.

You can teach someone new skills during probation. You can't teach attitude.

Bear in mind how the other staff will feel if you authorise this.

You can't book a holiday until the leave is approved- you don't have to give a rason why leave isn't approved in many cases.
My DP was a civil servant, which is famous for lenient T&C's , but we couldn't book a holiday until the leave was approved and signed off- so your probationer is completely out of order booking the trip before the leave is sined off- just say no, if the lose money that is their problem they shouldn't be such a presumptuous entitled prat.

OP you’ve already got lots of good advice here. It’s not feasible or desirable for you or the individual to allow them to work remotely so that’s definitely not an option.

I think your only options are to let them go, or they take it as unpaid leave. The latter however does set a precedent for other employees to do something similar which if you’re a small company and need to have coverage could put you in a difficult position in future.

I think ultimately you have to let them go, anything else is going to cause potential problems down the line. Assuming they’re not travelling for an exceptional circumstance (eg sick relative), if it’s just a holiday they haven’t been working long enough to even be able to have the leave allowance at this point.

i would be sympathetic if this employee had booked this leave before starting the role, but then they should have proactively mentioned it when offered the job at which point options could have been discussed and you’d be more likely to give them leeway. The way they have told you is rather sneaky and that would be part of my issue with it as well. If they booked the leave after starting that is unacceptable and they should not have booked anything before getting your agreement. Subject to an exceptional circumstance like a sick relative it’s poor form.

there is a slight risk that if they think you’re serious about termination they may actually decide the job is worth it and cancel the holiday, would you risk being stuck with an unhappy and resentful employee? Is this action of actually attempting to request this leave enough to terminate under your t&cs? I suppose if they’re in probation you can sack them either way but I’d just check employment terms and under what exactly you’d be terminating them for to protect your own liability and prevent them claiming something.

Personally, if I could accommodate it I would. Especially if they’re a good worker. We’d be having a stern word about what I expect and not to do it again, but if it was possible and they seemed trust worthy I would see what I can do.

I’m not a hard arse though I’m soft.

This would be my approach too, assuming they're good at the job & you want them to stay otherwise decline the annual leave & presumably they’ll hand in their notice.

This is nuts. My company has a policy whereby we can work remotely abroad. BUT…there are very strict guidelines due to the tax implications of working outside of our company’s country. There are strict rules re: the number of days and which countries are on the approved list. And even then it is not a guarantee—a formal application must be filled in and approved. I had ideas of spending the summer with my parents in the US and letting the DCs hang all summer. Nope—US is not on the list. Even though it is “home” for me. No way would I be allowed to book and present it as a fait accompli to my boss.

I wouldn't let them go but i'd tell them they aren't approved. Other employees will expect consistency with your time off policy.

If you do want to keep them, and personally I wouldn’t unless they were the best worker I’d ever had, I would certainly be making them take the vast majority of it as holiday and extending their probation period

Plus she will be very difficult to mange going forward.

This sounds cultural. A lot of employees in my work expected the same, to go to their home country and work remotely whilst visiting family/holidaying and then working nights/evenings. It very rarely works well. I wouldn’t approve it and would be prepared to replace. Lessons learned.

I’m also an employer.
A definitely no for many of the reasons already stated.
Very unfair on your other employees and it would be madness for you to allow it,
hold the line.

Look at our another way, if they requested the leave but hadn't booked anything would your answer be to try and accommodate them? Or would you say no?
Personally, as a manager I'd be saying no as they have not accrued that much leave, they are still in probation, and all leave needsto be approvedin advance. . I'd also be concerned about whether letting them get away with this unprofessional behaviour will mean more to come in the future.

Completely unreasonable. Unpaid leave (but why set a precedent?) or failed probation due to not following company absence procedures. Jobs are hard to come by these days so pretty sure you'll be able to replace them soon.

This!

This is what I would suggest.

Completely out of order.

Get rid of them. They are chancers/CFs who, if you keep them on and allow them to pass probation, will absolutely keep taking liberties when they have full employment rights.

They're still on probation, meaning you don't yet have the full measure of them - their character, their abilities, their levels of professionalism.

The fact that they - while still on probation - booked this trip away without asking first indicates that they are seriously lacking in professionalism (and have a level of entitlement I would find out of order in a senior Royal).

I'd be denying their request to work in this way, and take it from there. Do you have a HR department to help share the decision to bin them before they cause any more disruption with their unrealisict expectations?

I wouldn't worry too much about about them losing money: that's obviously a risk they decided to take.

It seems relatively simple to me. Unless they have already proved themselves invaluable and/or you risk losing a valuable client if they go, I'd basically tell them they've failed probation because of their disregard of basic company procedures and consideration for their colleagues, and start recruiting a replacement.

People absolutely suck but in my years of managing a team of people at varying levels of seniority, I’ve never read anything with as much of a bright red flag as this. If this happens in their first few months of employment when I would expect them to be the most committed I can’t even imagine what happens next. It would be a hard no from me, referring to the company policy re: leave approvals and then it’s their choice whether to keep their job and sacrifice the trip or vice versa. It’s absolutely outrageous!

What kind of visa does he have?

If you have to hire a temp will you be paying a premium for that over what you'd pay an employee?
Will you be required to pay the local authorities any equivalent of employer's taxes for the period they work there? Are there any regulatory hoops for the business to jump through to allow employees to work for you while physically in that location? One of the countries to which I used to travel for work required my employer to do a load of paperwork to confirm that they were paying me at least as much as the going rate for a local with the same qualifications for the duration of my stay, even though I was only ever there for a couple of days at a time.
I think the employee is being quite naive to assume they can just work from wherever they like without it causing inconvenience and extra costs to the business.

Imagine great jobs aren't easy to come by ... they're about to learn a tough lesson. As they should.

Bloody hell that's insane.
Of course yanbu.

Absolute no to this probationer remote working from overseas. If they are working then they are doing so right here, not as a side-gig while travelling.

They presumably haven't earned more than a week or so of Annual Leave yet so the best deal I would offer them would be that they can have a week as paid A/L and 3 weeks unpaid leave but their probation will be extended by a further 2 months after their return so that you can properly evaluate their performance without an interruption like this.

If they don't like that they can resign. A job isn't a hobby to be squeezed in when you have time.

Talk to them! Sit them down and explain this really is NOT the kind of leeway and commitment expected of someone during their training period. Say that it is not feasible for them to work during this period - security issues/time difference etc and that it is not company policy to allow staff to book a month's leave without approval. They might say it's not leave, they wish to work, but you may need to spell out to them the reasons this isn't possible. Explain how very inconvenient it is for your company to have that gap in the work force for a whole month.

This person sounds staggeringly immature, as if they have been raised in an environment where they always get what they want and assume it as a right. But you say they are talented and good at their job, so give them the chance to back down and cancel the leave, or if you feel generous, to take the full month of leave unpaid and to extend their probation period.

How they react will be the eye opener. If they sulk or argue back, they are not mature enough for the workplace yet. If they listen and understand and make adjustments, they are.