temporary contracts and taking leave

[myfurbyiseday]

I'm on a 6 month temporary contract role - went in as a consultant. They are desperately short of staff, to the point where they just can't manage. They have about 4 permanent staff (they used to have 10 but 6 got made redundant) and when any take leave/go off sick/go on a course they really struggle.

Since I've been there I've not taken any leave, changed my days to be flexible, stayed late, started early etc. Anything to help out.

Contract now coming to an end and I havent taken any holiday since i started. As I get paid holidays via agency which employs me I dont think its unreasonable for me to take some. I informed my manager that I would be taking every Monday off until the end of this month (when contract ends). She was not happy, said it wasn't good enough, they couldn't cope without me, they would have to stop providing some of the services they currently provide because I wouldnt be in on Mondays. I was made to feel really guilty.

But as I told my manager soon they will have to cope without me and I am entitled to leave. As I've been there 6 months been told by my agency I have accrued quite a few days holiday pay so even with the 3 days I'm taking this month I will have loads of unused days to carry over onto my next contract where I expect again they wont want me to take any leave...

Just asking here really, but isn't it the agency that pays your holidays? So maybe the company that's paying the agency for you are paying for someone to be there all the time. Possibly the expectation is that you would take your holiday entitlement at the end of the contract? Did you inform your manager that you would be taking these days off or discuss it with them? Most places you have to agree your holiday dates well in advance.

I was going to say the same as above, most places you have to ask if you can have your holidays on certain dates well in advance so you can be accounted for rota changed etc. How much notice did you give? Are you hoping for your contract to be renewed? You ANBU to want holidays off but YABU in the manner you have gone about it

Can you not take the holiday as cash? That's the standard thing on temporary contracts, if you don't take your holiday and the contract ends they just give you the money.

I thought if you worked through an agency, you got paid extra to cover holidays, rather than having to actually take them. I thought if you took holiday now it would be unpaid, as you've already been paid for it ... Does that make sense?!

Float, what will be happening is that the employer will be paying a sum of money included within the fee which will cover holidays. As such the agency should be handing over the cash regardless of whether she's actually taken the actual leave or not. It's the money that really matters here, not the time off.

Presumably the money will come in handy for the OP while she is looking for her next contract.

I think the OP is in danger of burning bridges as far as future contracts go with both the agency and the people she's working for. And also possibly jeopardizing a reference. She would do much better to simply wait until the end of the contract and take the cash.

AnythingNotEverything, not all agencies work like that. It's more common for them to give actual leave or a cash alternative at the end of the contract. It's normally employees who work on a self employed basis through umbrella companies who have the sort of arrangement you are referring to.

This isn't the norm with most temporary contracts, so your company may not have been prepared for this. Usually, you'd be paid for holidays rather than actually getting any, and you'd take any holiday you did want between contracts. You wouldn't take holiday from the contact because the company need you.

It could well be that the company expected you to be there for the whole 6 months, without any holiday, and simply couldn't cope without you every Monday. They may have a replacement lined up for when you leave.

I am sure that I read that if you are employed with a company via an agency and are in constant employment with them for 13 weeks and over then you are entitled to the same benefits that their employees receive.

It is well worth looking into. The agencies were forced to include holiday pay in their hourly rate when the rules changed back in October 2011 as before that they paid no holidays at all.

Agency made it quite clear to me that I am entitled to holidays during my contract. The reason I am taking Mondays off is that I have no childcare for those days (my mum was looking after dc's on that day but is now not able to due to serious illness). All holiday playschemes are booked up and my dH has no annual leave left. I could in theory have given a week's notice and left them in the lurch but thought staying even if it meant doing one less day than normal was actually a nicer thing to do.

The fact is that I am entitled to holiday pay and to take time off. There is no replacement lined up for me when I leave - the organisation simply does not have the cash for this. They have said they would like to keep me permanently and would if they had the cash.

I think you need to balance what you feel you are entitled to against your likelihood of getting repeat work via the same agency/company again. Contracting is about networks, relationships and recommendations. Not saying you are wrong, just that you need to think carefully before upsetting paying customers.

I worked on a long term contract so had to take holidays but they had to be agreed with my line manager ie I couldn't just demand certain days off, if I'd acted in the manner that you appear to be then I would have lost the position and any further contracts from that agency, its a balancing act to keep everyone happy for the long term benefit of yourself.

"I informed my manager that I would be taking every Monday off until the end of this month"

Yes, I can imagine that didn't go down too well...

You may have accrued the leave but that doesn't mean you can just announce you are taking it whenever you fancy.

All "workers" so not just employees are entitled to statutory time off under the working time regulations. It has been ruled that payment in lieu of leave is unlawful as the purpose of the time off is for health and safety reasons to enable a person to rest, paying in lieu of holiday would go against this. I don't know how it works for employment agencies but I would say expecting someone to work for 6 months with no holiday is an unreasonable expectation. However perhaps negotiating when this time off was to be taken would have been better.

I have worked 5+ months without any time off. I have gone into work even when I have felt ill in order not to take time off. I have now asked to have 3 days leave. I hardly think that's an outrageous proposition.

It's unfortunate that my mum has been diagnosed with a serious medical problem which means she can no longer do childcare on mondays. What am I meant to do?

It's unfortunate my DH has no leave left because he took it all when the dc's were ill so that I could go to my (and lets not forget) temporary, job.

I think some posters live in an idealised world where nothing goes wrong and life always goes to plan.

The perception being that just because I am on a temporary contract I should be denied leave and should be at the beck and call of my employer. If my contract was for 1 year should I work a year without any time off? I'd be burnt out.

flowery yes I did inform my manager because she is not my employer. The agency is my employer and I asked them if it was Ok to take 3 days leave. They said yes and expressed surprise I hadn't previously had any time off. After they agreed it was OK I told my manager.

My contract stated that any leave had to be mutually agreed with the placement.

Who suggested you should be denied leave?

Whether your manager is technically the one who employs you isn't the point at all as I think you well know.

Common courtesy apart from anything else dictates that when you want to take some time off work, you ask the person managing you whether the days you want are convenient. You don't just announce you're not going to be turning up to work, and then be all hard-done-by when your manager is (surprise surprise) not happy about it.

It's also sensible to do that if you wish to maintain good relationships with the company.

Have you explained this to your work?

How to put this nicely?

If you have approached your work in the same way you've approached this thread I can really understand why you've got people's backs up.

I don't think any company could reasonably expect you to work those days given that you have leave and it's a family emergency.

But the way you come across is 'I have leave due to me and I'm announcing to you that I am going to take it at this particular time and you have no choice, I don't care if it inconveniences you are effects the service, I am entitled, the agency say I can do it and I'm doing you a favour by not just quitting'.

When actually the way you should have approached it is 'I'm very sorry to inconvenience you but due to unexpected family circumstances it is going to be impossible for me to work the next three Mondays. I'm afraid my mother is seriously ill and can no longer provide childcare and I'm unable to find a suitable alternative at such short notice.'

Also I have worked years and years of contracts and it doesn't matter what the agency says, you ask the person who is managing you at the actual assignment for permission. They know what their staff cover is and whether or not you can be spared, what the agency says means diddly squat if you don't get the say so from them. And I suspect your agency would back her up on this if challenged because at the end of the day they're the ones that pay the agency.

And nobody is saying that you're not entitled to leave as a temporary worker, just that you need to negotiate it at a time when it's convenient for the people running the assignment - or if it's unavoidable at least be gracious about it rather than flying off the handle at them.

I really think you've over reacted about this and may well have burnt your bridges with this company and the agency. Even if this company won't employ again you will most likely need a reference from them. When looking for new contracts you will find that new employers are not interested in a reference from the agency as they don't know you personally or the standard of your work. They will want a reference from whoever line managed you.

It sounds like at the moment you are really jeopardizing your chance of getting a decent reference. I think you should reapproach your line manager and rather than taking the defensive, aggressive position you seem to have at the moment be a bit more conciliatory and explain exactly why it is impossible for you to work and ask for a bit of sympathy rather than taking off in high dudgeon.