Manager has refused my time off 'request'

[MyBossIsAPillock]

I emailed him 6 weeks ago to inform him that I won't be in next week and the week after. He's just told me that my request is rejected. He says it's half term so others have already booked the time off and I'm taking the piss even asking seeing as I've barely been in this year.

Things is, the reason I've been off so much is because I've had breast cancer. The reason I won't be in for the next 2 weeks is because I'll be having radiotherapy.

I told him it wasn't a request and that I wouldn't be in. He said that then it'll become a disciplinary matter. Fuckwit. I'm not worried, HR and senior management have been excellent throughout. But what a twattish way to treat someone going through hell.

I would have replied to his message saying you’d barely been in saying this and cc’ing HR.

This

She doesn’t need to provide a sick note or self certify - the hospital will be able to cover this with a note covering the duration of the treatment and evidence of the appointments. But my point about recording disability leave is that it’s illegal for employers to allow sick leave directly due to disability to trigger disciplinary action for time taken off sick. From the comments made by her manager it sounds like this is what he’s threatening. OP needs to make sure that he and HR are aware of the protections afforded her by the Equality Act 2010.

I agree you should forward his email to HR, copying in your trade union if you are a member. Make it clear you specifically said you needed time off to attend treatment for cancer.

If you really want to be difficult you could raise a grievance about it and they’ll probably give you some money to STFU but I imagine you have enough on your plate.

Good luck with your treatment. 💐

This reads like OP just emailed the manager and said “I will be taking AL in 6 weeks time”. No mention of what for. On that basis he within his right to deny it. AL requests have to be discussed and agreed. They are guaranteed. Why didn’t OP go to the mgr and have a conversation and explain the reasons why? Why don’t she request medical leave?

I suspect the fact that she was going to use her annual leave for her treatment is something to do with her boss. He’s commenting on the amount of time OP has already had off so she probably feels as though she has no choice. He doesn’t seem to have the first clue about disability in the workplace. Sounds like a walking invitation for a court case.

your username is so apt. Your boss is a pillock!!!! Im so sorry. I hope HR absolutely wipe the floor with him.
I also hope your treatment goes ok

This.

If you look at the OP, it says that he’s commenting on the amount of time she’s had off due to her condition. He’s likely the reason she feels she should take annual leave.

We’re getting a very one sided opinion from someone who is very emotional. I wouldn’t be jumping to conclusions.

Be careful. Don't overly rely on the compliance or support of HR or senior managers. They've been supportive so far, but at the end of the day, this callous manager is still in his position, even though I assume HR and management know what he's like by now. There might be a good reason besides arrogance why he thinks he can do as he likes.

Document everything, and don't go in for any 'informal chats' on the assumption they'll be on your side, without someone else being present, if possible.

Does your manager know the reason for your time off tho ? Asking becos it sounds like he does not.

He’s obv talking out of his arse op when he’s threatening you with a disciplinary.

I act as a Hearing and Investigation Manager for my workplace.

When I’m looking at absence triggers, really we’re looking to ensure that the employee isn’t taking the piss for reasons being off and are also doing what they can to look after their health.

In your case obv none of this applies so he has no leg to stand on. Please do make HR aware of his response!

Best of luck with your treatment.

Tell HR , he obviously thinks he is a law unto himself and he need to realise he isn't .
He must be terrible to work with and I'm surprised he thinks he can get away with behaving so badly , after the incident with denying time off for Jury Service I'd have thought he'd have realised he can't just make up his own rules.

She told him it was for radiotherapy. He knows she has cancer.

Your HR will be having puppies if they think he’s dicing with the law, which he is.

I work with someone who is undergoing treatment for cancer and I spoke to ACAS myself about how they were treating him. They told me that his diagnosis places him as one of the 9 protected traits under the Equalities act and they were behaving unlawfully. What’s more, apparently I was witnessing this discrimination and upset by it so they could be up for upsetting me too.

If I were you I’d be bypassing him and going to HR and telling them that they shouldn’t have people in management who can’t follow the law and not only put their staff at risk, but make the company liable for lawsuits.

What a numpty he is.

She told him she wouldn't be in because she was having radiotherapy. She didn't ask for leave.

Read the OP's updates. He knows.

It isn't sick leave though it's disability leave. Having cancer is a protected characteristic. And employers can not refuse time off for treatment which is treated separately from sick leave.

Surely you mean when I tell HR not “if I tell HR”

wishing you all the best with your treatment x

@MyBossIsAPillock Firstly OP, treatment for cancer is bad enough and you ARE still being treated for cancer, you haven't had cancer in the past tense, you are still being treated now. You really don't need his attitude and from the sounds of it, he is not "managing" at all and he is in danger of losing his job.

I have to say that I can understand he may have legitimate staffing issues but that is what he is paid for as a manager, to manage, not terrorise seriously ill people into potentially putting their life on the line.

This isn't annual leave. It isn't even a request for time off. It's medically necessary absence for cancer treatment. In the UK, someone having radiotherapy for breast cancer would normally be treated as being on sick leave, not holiday. The manager's comments about it being half-term, other people booking leave, or you "barely being in this year" are completely irrelevant if the absence is because of cancer treatment.

What makes it even worse is that he clearly knows why you've been absent. Saying you are "taking the piss" because you've had time off for breast cancer shows either astonishing ignorance or a complete lack of empathy. From a practical employment perspective, he's potentially creating a huge problem for himself and the employer: Cancer is automatically treated as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. Employers have a duty not to discriminate because of that disability. Absences connected with cancer treatment are generally handled very differently from ordinary sickness absence. Threatening disciplinary action because someone is attending radiotherapy could easily end up with HR taking a very dim view of the manager's behaviour.

The fact that you say HR and senior management have been excellent throughout is reassuring. If you've accurately reported the conversation, I suspect HR would shut that nonsense down extremely quickly. Most HR departments become very alert when they hear words like "cancer", "radiotherapy", "disciplinary", and "taking the piss" in the same sentence.
What also struck me is that you did exactly what a reasonable employee should do. You gave six weeks' notice of a known medical treatment schedule. You aren't ringing in on the morning saying you fancied a fortnight off. You are informing them of a hospital treatment plan. Its not like its an elective treatment - sorry boss having a fortnight off for a facelift! This is survival!

Honestly, I suspect many Mumsnet readers will be reacting less to the employment law angle and more to the sheer lack of basic human decency. Even if there were no legal implications at all, who speaks to someone having cancer treatment like that?

If the post is accurate, I think you should forward the entire chain of events to HR (hoping its in writing)and then concentrate on getting through your radiotherapy. You have far bigger battles to fight than a manager who appears to have misunderstood the difference between annual leave and cancer treatment.

It isn’t a statutory requirement to record disability leave. It could be considered a reasonable adjustment requested by the disabled person themselves in the form of separating it from standard sickness absence trigger points for disciplinary action. If OP was considering annual leave for treatment it doesn’t sound as though she has asked for this, or that she, or the manager were aware that it’s an option.

Under the law, failing to adjust a policy that puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage can be unlawful - in this case allowing disability absence to tip over into a disciplinary. It’s still up to the employee to obtain medical evidence and to explain how the disability relates to the time taken off - which should be a simple matter in OP’s case. The employer should manage any absence through support rather than misconduct procedures unless there’s evidence of abuse of any agreed adjustment..