What's fair? Team of working mums and annual leave in school holidays

[Lovingmylife]

I started a new role not so long ago and we are all working mums. Most with school age children, two with babies/preschool and two with older teenagers.

Our manager has told us that too many of us want Easter holidays/May half term and so it's causing a bit of a hoohaa.

Manager has said she will do first come first served unless we come up with a better solution.

Yes, it’s always been first come first served at my work. Plan ahead and you usually get what leave you want.
Otherwise take it in turns and rotate which holidays you ask for between you.
Do men fuck about like this at work? No, probably not.

Alternate. Assuming you cant all take all the holidays then some take February, some take Easter, some May. Maybe the following year the February ones get May, and the Easter ones take October half term - you get the idea. It will take compromising.
Negotiate between you if you can.

That’s completely fair and how most places deal with working parents wanting half terms off.

I wouldn’t expect parents with preschool age children and babies to want school holidays off unless their partner happened to be a teacher though.

Might be better to agree a rota system, so that you all get equal time off during the school holidays.

Are you all in the same area as some may have different holidays.

The fairest approach from the manager is to approve requests on a first come, first served basis. You can all make life easier for yourselves by negotiating and compromising between you.

Where I work, it’s first come. The school holidays are initially reserved for anyone with school age children, then opened up to anyone at the end of January.
No one can book time off work until 1st January, then it’s strictly first come first served. Everyone is warned not to book an actually holiday until the leave from work has been authorised as it may be refused meaning loss of deposit for them.
This system has worked well for the 17 years I have worked here.

We had this. Easter/half terms are first, come first served but the 6 weeks we can only book one week off for each person.

Yes, it's fair to put a limit on how much each individual can take during those peak periods, e.g. no more than one week at a time.

At my last place we had a discussion between the team and agreed what leave we wanted. Where there was a clash during the hols we compromised.
IME first come first served isn't always the fairest; not everyone plans their leave that far in advance, due to so many reasons including finances, partner leave, available childcare.

First in first served usually.
I know some who are there early in the morning when dates are released.

We have a rule of one half term per year and if you have Easter or Christmas one year you can’t have it the next year. In the school summer holidays we try and ensure everyone gets two weeks.

I hate first come first served. It’s stupid and makes no sense.

We have a lady who manages to book Christmas off every year- it’s just not fair as several people want it but she somehow gets in there first.

I think it would be better to draw names out of a hat, and then rotate.

I wouldn't expect people with younger than school aged children to be seeking holidays off as it makes no sense, unless their partner is a teacher.

Could everyone put their school holiday weeks in terms of preference by a certain date:
E g
A - Easter week 1 / May half term / Easter week 2
B - Easter 1 / Easter 2 / May half term

Then the manager aims to get as best fit as possible.

The issue will be, I would imagine, if people won't compromise and insist they want whole holidays because their DP/children's father is far too big and important to use his annual leave to provide holiday childcare.

Perhaps people with no children or grown up children might like Easter off. Or a week in the summer too.
I know you asked about your work place op. But this really annoys me.

I don't like 'first come first served' as those who work part-time (and aren't in for another 2 days) or are currently off sick (flu season) miss out on the announcement. People start requesting leave earlier and earlier just to ensure they get what they want, people where I work have already requested certain days next Christmas!

I do a ladder for my staff. Draw for order of picking and a chart with the spaces against each week where four or five who can be off at any one time. Each person picks their first preferred two weeks, in draw order for the year. Then we reverse for next two weeks choice. If anyone doesn’t mind working school holidays ( we have a fair few who are past teenagers) they generally get first pick of non school holiday weeks.

Anyone not able to commit at the planning stage has to take pot luck. It’s very rare someone doesn’t get first choice. We’ll do all we can to try and accommodate people and it usually works out.

Alternating dates is fairer than first come.
One of my husband's colleagues bagged all the best dates with the latter.
There's 3 on the team so we get May/Oct every 3 yrs and everyone gets 2 weeks in the summer but as long as they don't clash.

Llot5

I’d have rather shot myself with a bolt gun than take holiday in August before I had my child. Summer isn’t just August and I always preferred to avoid exploitative high school holiday prices.

Can’t imagine why anyone without children wouldn’t want to avoid them to be honest.

A rota would be fairer.
I always book my annual and parental leave 6 months + ahead. Everyone else books way later than that.
If it was first come first served I'd be putting my request in at 9am the first day of the annual leave year for the next 12 months. If everyone did that in a busy office it would get silly.

Could everyone put their school holiday weeks in terms of preference by a certain date:
E g
A - Easter week 1 / May half term / Easter week 2
B - Easter 1 / Easter 2 / May half term

Then the manager aims to get as best fit as possible.

Sorry, but that sounds like a nightmare for the manager to administer. Much better for staff to go through that process themselves and then request time off according to what has been agreed.

When I worked in an office where we had this problem, everyone requested their main two weeks first, with priority given by seniority and then time served if equal grade. There would be a deadline at the end of Jan when you had to get your request in and if you hadn't decided what you wanted you'd take pot luck nearer the time.

After the main 2 weeks breaks were booked in, everyone requested another one week, in the same fashion. The remaining weeks/days were first come first served (after the main holidays were all booked).

It wasn't perfect, it meant the same people got priority every year and if you weren't organised with your dates you may miss out, but generally it meant the school holidays were shared out.

The days between Christmas and New Year were shared out on a lottery basis, unless you'd used your main two weeks to book them.

OP what would you like to happen?

I'm really worried about this as I have moved to a team where 5 out of 6 of us have young (primary school) age children and I am lucky that due to long service and buying extra leave I get 7.5 weeks annual leave which as I work full time I only want to take with the children.

We have shared out the summer holidays so we have cover but we need to sort out the rest

FWIW @Finfintytint in the office where I had this issue, I was the only woman, but the men still wanted to go away in school holidays.

I wouldn't expect people with younger than school aged children to be seeking holidays off as it makes no sense, unless their partner is a teacher.

Going away with family/friends and one of the adults is a teacher.
Going away with family/friends and some of them have school aged children in the group.