Would it be unreasonable to ask for a week's unpaid leave to move home?

I think a weeks unpaid would be denied as you have so much leave left.

A week in August to move will still leave you almost two weeks for 3 months of the year.

Can you share your plans with your line manager, along the lines of

"I would like to take some of my annual leave for my imminent house move. Can I have reassurance that if I run out of leave before the end of the leave year, that I can take a few days (in a single block) as UPL?"

see what they say, if you don't ask, you don't get.

If I was your manager I’d say no when you have so much annual leave left (30 days is a generous amount). But you can ask. If you’re unwell you should be taking sick leave or reducing your hours if you can’t cope. What about compressed hours doing a 9 day fortnight then you have an extra day off every 2 weeks.

No dont, they might say no and you will have few options left. You are unwell, go off sick

You have nearly three working weeks of annual leave remaining and there are 20-21 weeks left until the New Year. You may already get time off for that week that is not included in your 14.5 days.

If you take another 5 days, you will have 19.5 days away from work and then a further 3 days at Christmas. That is four and a bit weeks.

You would go away for a week, that leaves 19-20 weeks, 18-19 with Christmas. So you would be working a four day week for all of that from some time in September.

If you take a week of annual leave, you could work a four day week from about October. Is that not enough? My DH has just taken a week as he also has three weeks left and he is worried he won't be able to take two more weeks between now and Christmas.

Given that you have already had three weeks off in the last seven months it would probably look unfair to your colleagues if you go off sick while you are moving. I wouldn't be surprised if they were resentful. I would recommend taking annual leave now and then using sick leave later in the year if you need it.

In the meantime, maybe see your GP and ask for HRT rather than the mini-pill, and ask about support for exhaustion.

it might be better to book your future leave dates and then ask?

If you’re not feeling well, that’s literally what sick days are for.

It’s not going ‘on the sick’, like you’re trying it on.

You’re not feeling well - doesn’t matter whether or not it’s to do with perimenopause. It could be anemia, or a thyroid issue - both of which are common during peri and won’t go away with HRT, they need proper treatment.

You can treat yourself with more respect and care than this. Get properly checked out at the doctor, take the paid sick leave you’re entitled to when you are unwell.

OP, can you throw money at the problem and hire a moving service?

At least then your house will be sorted and you won’t have to ask for unpaid leave.
Or buy in help to the same financial level as a weeks wage?

"Im just tired, I feel like Id benefit from shorter working weeks until the end of the year after ive move"

Are you asking for a week of unpaid leave or to reduce your hours each week for he rest of the year?

You're sick. Take sick leave. Don't mention the house move.

I don’t blame you for asking. Next time I move house I don’t think one day’s leave will cut it - I’ll need about a month to recover!

Given how unwell you feel at this point in your life I think sick leave would be more fitting.

Better to take a couple of weeks off to recuperate than end up having to take months off with burnout.

It doesn't sound pathetic, it sounds as if you have thought about what you need in order to keep going and are making a request on that basis. But I think you need to discuss it properly with management/HR, and also consider why you are not taking sick leave rather than requesting unpaid leave. You sound as if sick leave is more appropriate.

You get 30 days a year, so I don't think it is particularly reasonable to want another week off TBH- but ask, the worst they can do is say no.
Back in the day I was denied more than one days annual leave off to move, hopefully it is better now.

Your tiredness is very probably low serum ferritin levels. Have you ever been tested?
It's very common in perimenopause due to the heavy periods.
You can ask you gp for a test, although be aware that they may say of your level is above 12 they won't give you iron supplements. But 12 isn't high enough and you need to be aiming for about 80.

You can find an iron bisglycinate with vit C supplement on Amazon, take one at night every other day for at least 6 months.

The tiredness could also be hormone related. You gp can review the protocol you're on

It doesn't sound unreasonable at all to me but I am in a similar situation to you (perimenopausal and living through the most stressful house move ever). Last year my manager actually suggested I take a couple of weeks off sick as I was so unwell and exhausted!

If I were you I'd take a week of self-certified sick leave now as you are genuinely struggling with your health. And worry about annual leave etc. at a later date.

Edited to add: you don't sound pathetic at all. Is a nine day fortnight an option going forward?

It does sound unreasonable to me.

You have almost 3 week of AL left.

If you feel you need a week off now, and there is enough staff cover for you to be able to take it now, then take it. You'd still have 9 days left to last you through to the end of the year.
If you still feel exhausted at some point in the Autumn and have used up all your leave, then you will need to take sick leave. Or, I suppose, request it then.

I would follow the advice upthread and just take a weeks sick leave. Dont give them your new address for a few months in case they suspect. Just have your mail redirected.

You have 14.5 days until the end of year (I'm assuming you are referring to December not a holiday year that ends during 2027). Take 5 days (1 week) to move house.

You will still have almost another full 2 weeks to take Sept-Dec plus The Christmas bank holidays.

If that still isn't enough and you feel awful you can take sick leave or revisit unpaid leave at that later point. I think your manager might wonder why you are asking for extra leave while sitting on almost 3 weeks allowance.

Do you have any other options eg some organisations let you "buy" more annual leave. Do you have kids under 18 - a week of unpaid parental leave?

All you can do is ask. I took unpaid leave 8 years ago during the house move from hell everything that could go wrong went wrong. I worked for a small family run business and things were quiet so I think it suited them as well.

I’d certainly consider it as a manager in charge of these decisions. Too many variables though. We did give UL to someone who had maxed out their sick after a bereavement. More unusual to do it for a short period. Bit of an HR pain.
Is it Civil Service so until end of Feb?
When is the move? You could eke it out with loads of 4-5 days weekends. Makes going back to work easier too when you take shorter more frequent breaks.

Do you have children under 18 and are you in the UK? If so you can ask for unpaid parental leave and give a reason like needing to move the family home and settle the children in a new location. You have to ask some time in advance. I think that depends on your employer (I’ve had two months notice and 21 days’ notice.)

Does your menopause policy allow for any reasonable adjustments? Increased wfh or a spell of reduced hours so you catch up on rest?

You have almost 3 weeks leave left @ecocredentials can you not use some of that?

Does it roll over? Why are you so intent on keeping so much leave back?

(I always try to keep a week back but I am on my own with young kids so I need a little wriggle room)