I work in a female dominated sector with poor pay and long hours. The work is menial and relentless and there is much more responsibility than the pay reflects. Added to which, society as a whole doesn't seem to rate the skills of workers in my field as transferrable, so after many years in this line of work it can be really hard to change jobs except to unskilled roles. Annual leave is very tricky to arrange, as it involves aligning several shift patterns. I've been really tired this week, and 2 of our usual sub-contractors are both unavailable so the workload is particularly high. AIBU to ask for a day's annual leave without the usual several weeks notice?