Colleague and annual leave

[Florelei]

It’s getting to that time of year again. I have a colleague who I actually get on well with - we are good as a team and work well together. Our strengths compliment each other in a good way.

However, we have the same problem every year. Every year before I can get a look in they request holiday for all of the best dates. Every year I ask if we can sit down and agree a fair split of the holidays around Easter, bank holidays and Christmas and each year nothing changes. This invariably means that she’s always got more holidays left than me at the end of the year and can take at least a week off which I then have to cover. The week is nearly always taken at our busy period.

It’s happened again this year. My manager is asking me if I have objections to all these holiday requests from her for all of the best dates. I don’t want to appear unprofessional but I’m fed up of this.

Should I object and out my own counter dates in and let my manager decide?

I spoke to colleague yesterday and said i thought we’d agreed that we would talk about the best dates and perhaps take a week off each at Easter. She told me she didn’t think she needed to discuss this with me because ‘it’s standard stuff’.

She also said that she never knows when I am off as I don’t tell her - which is not true - it just goes in one ear and out of the other.

I’m at a loss as to how to deal with this! Please help me.

I'm od the opinion it is down to the manager to sort out holiday requests. It's a cop outto get staff to sort it out.
You need to request the dates the holiday system opens and be sure to make your requests.

It is first come first served where I work and we have the next 5 years open to book.

Just make your request.

Seems pretty straight forward - your manager has asked for input, tell them. Try to be more organised in future. It's been standard in all my workplaces that whoever books holiday first gets the day off. If you know you need specific periods (like Easter, Christmas etc) off, book all those important dates at the very start of the holiday year.

Reading between the lines your manager has realised your colleague has been getting the lions share. They’ve given you the option to book your holiday, now there are clashes she will speak to you and ask you to compromise but give you first pick. That’s what it reads like to me anyway! So have a think about which dates you most want and which you would be willing to compromise on. Bank holiday weeks do give you a week off for 4 days but also bear in mind they’re busier, more expensive and there will be lots of kids around. Before I had kids I used to avoid school holidays like the plague but it obviously depends on your personal circumstances what you prefer. Maybe also suggest a booking window to your manager so that things are fair in the future

@tableanadchairs

Even if your colleague has plans for her 2 weeks at Easter , nothing should be booked until leave is granted. Don’t feel bad because she certainly doesn’t. It says something that your manager has noticed that she always gets in first for holiday dates. Put your own requests into the manager and let the manager decide what is fair. Don’t let her get her own way yet again, Good luck

This. Absolutely.

I used to work with 10 people, some had kids and some didn't (I didn't at the time). I would always want to have Christmas off but would tell everyone in January that I planned to book my Christmas leave on the 1st July to give them all a chance to book first. No-one ever did, I don't know of they didn't want it, forgot, or just preferred to not take a whole days holiday at Christmas when it would be skeleton staff, meaning you only worked a half day if you were in. But I would always give them a chance as I didn't want to be 'that person' who always booked Christmas.

I also used to work for a complete **head, and when I wanted to watch a specific event in Spain in May, which would have meant taking a Friday and Monday off, I asked 10 months before if I could have the holiday. He said no as he wanted to go on holiday 'at some point' in May, didn't know when, nothing was booked, so I couldn't have my 2 days.... I left after working there 3 months.

She’s your archetypal CF isn’t she? Well if it’s ‘just standard’ then say to your manager you would like to share some of these key holiday dates as your colleague has taken them for the last X years. Then when she finds out you can just parrot her words back at her.

Are you saying the colleague can't book in advance because OP doesn't know if she wants the holidays yet?

No, I am saying that it is unfair of the colleague to tip up on the first day on which holiday bookings are available - a changeable date, which she appears to have inside knowledge of - with a list requesting all the peak, sought after dates, expecting to have them handed to her, no question, because she asked first.

Don’t backdown as she is taking the Mickey.

We had a similar issue and the way they changed it was that the majority of the year was fcfs however the predictable popular dates (Easter, bank hols, Christmas, school hols) were blocked out. No one could book them before a booking window opened up. These would then be sent to managers who allocated in the fairest way. It’s much better now because it’s actually managed rather than being a bun fight each time.

@donquixotedelamancha

Put in your own request but in most work places, it is first come first serve.

First come, first SERVED, not first come, first SERVE.

Oh my God, PP missed a letter! You are right that deserves a Caps-lock rant. Typing on a phone is no excuse to lower the normally exceptional quality of MN prose.

They're always doing that. Little insignificant people.

Speak to your manager.

Your manager should want to balance it out a bit. There needs to be some give and take. In my workplace, we all have to state our preferences for Xmas leave by the same deadline for this reason...

I'm surprised you haven't brought it up before with your manager.

@TommyShelby

We had a similar issue and the way they changed it was that the majority of the year was fcfs however the predictable popular dates (Easter, bank hols, Christmas, school hols) were blocked out. No one could book them before a booking window opened up. These would then be sent to managers who allocated in the fairest way. It’s much better now because it’s actually managed rather than being a bun fight each time.

Yes, this approach works well in my workplace too.

I'm in a small team. We all have school aged DC. Consequently we'd all like to take AL in school hols

Boss has been very clear that she expects us to agree leave between ourselves, ensuring the office is covered. She'd take a dim view if she had to intervene.

We met over coffee every 3 months or so to agree our plans. If one of us has a specific need such as booked flights/wedding etc , we'd work it out. We've never had any problems

If you have some time that you want to book off, then put in a request to your manager, since she's asked! If there is a clash, your manager can find a way to split the time you both want fairly.

However, if you don't know which days you want, you can't expect your colleague to not book days on the off-chance that you might want to book them at some point in the future.

You have your opportunity now to put in requests for the leave you want - use it or lose it!

on the first day on which holiday bookings are available - a changeable date, which she appears to have inside knowledge of
My guess, and I'll admit it is just a guess, is that the colleague just checks from time to time to see if the dates are available to book or simply asked the question whereas OP logs on one month or so before she wants to book time off. For ex now for Christmas holidays.

This is based on the fact that OP doesn't seem to acknowledge that indeed she could be the first one to book if she wanted to. To me it sounds like she'd like to have the option kept open until a month or so before, which for most people is quite a short notice.

Just work out what you want and send your holiday dates. Let the manager sort out any clashes. Your mistake is speaking to your colleague about it. Make holiday requests early based on days that suit you and let your boss sort it out

@NoSleepInTheHeat

on the first day on which holiday bookings are available - a changeable date, which she appears to have inside knowledge of My guess, and I'll admit it is just a guess, is that the colleague just checks from time to time to see if the dates are available to book or simply asked the question whereas OP logs on one month or so before she wants to book time off. For ex now for Christmas holidays.

This is based on the fact that OP doesn't seem to acknowledge that indeed she could be the first one to book if she wanted to. To me it sounds like she'd like to have the option kept open until a month or so before, which for most people is quite a short notice.

Yes most people who complain that others get all the good holiday dates don't want to book early as they don't want to commit to leave dates until much closer to the time.

Your manager seems to have noticed it’s not fair, so good you have replied with dates. You say when they speak to you it’s all worked fine with accomodating people, but when you have one person who jumps in to book ALL the dates it doesn’t. I would rather not have a culture where we all have to be checking when the system opens then dive in like scavenging hyenas, which is what’s needed to get ahead of x- I’ve asked her to check with me and talked about dates I’d like before the system opened but she doesn’t listen because she wants her holidays. I do acknowledge too I need to commit more in advance to mine if that’s what others want to do so I can do that from here on.

I usually like to plan my leave in advance. I have one work colleague who is very laid back and last minute and every year she always wants a certain week off which makes it awkward for me to have a fortnight family holiday. Another work colleague is not quite as organised as me but also not quite as laid back/last minute as the other one. As my DC are now Secondary school age teens and theirs are slightly younger. I let them have first dibs on Oct half term, extra days at Christmas (as the time we get off is usually enough for me), same in Feb and Easter. However, I like a fortnight off in the summer (and we are restricted with what dates we can have off) but the most laid back one always likes two separate weeks off one of which clashes with mine and the other one always wants at least one of the weeks I want off. Every year its problematic.

I would be like your friend but we can’t now do that and instead have to discuss each school holiday in turn and agree which is a complete ball ache especially in summer.

I’m not laid back and I don’t expect others to give me flexibility until a month before. I’m happy to lock in all of my holiday dates for 2021 now but I do expect to be able to take time off around bank holiday dates without those dates being swallowed up like an over zealous Pac-Man.

If you want time off around BH then just book it in earlier.

I really don't see what the problem is here - she put her leave request in earlier than you did, she should be given the leave.

You seem to be fairly complicit in it tbh, even when your manager has prompted you you’re still not dealing with it, why?

Yes, this had happened at one of my previous jobs before I started working there. They had therefore implemented a rota system where each person got to have 'first pick' of the holidays one year and then went to the bottom of the list the next year. You should definitely make a stand if it bothers you (it would bother me!)

I have dealt with it today. I have put my leave request in for the days I want over the bank holidays later next year

Yes you have, but you actually questioned it first,

It’s happened again this year. My manager is asking me if I have objections to all these holiday requests from her for all of the best dates. I don’t want to appear unprofessional but I’m fed up of this.
Should I object and out my own counter dates in and let my manager decide?

Why?