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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be annoyed that I can't take my annual leave?

44 replies

anybodythere · 26/04/2018 09:39

I work in financial services and we are entitled to 25 days holiday exc bank hols per annum.

Last year I couldn't take all of my annual leave so had to rollforward 6 days (the maximum). This year I therefore have 31 days to take.

In total, the days I have had and have booked off total 17 days.
We are not allowed to take annual leave between January - 1st April. Fine, so I have 9 months to take it.

However, I have been booked to client work for the rest of the year meaning there is no space for me to book my annual leave. I often don't know when I want the leave over a year in advance and usually know about 4/5 months in advance, but we get booked to clients a year or more in advance.

I'm annoyed, not only do I have another 2-3 weeks of annual leave to take, I couldn't roll this forward to next year as the maximum is 6, and I don't want to! I want my annual leave!

What can I do in this situation and do I have any rights? Or AIBU?

OP posts:

Travis1 · 26/04/2018 09:43

Have you discussed this with HR or your manager? Surely there must be some provision for cover? I wouldn't be losing my holidays that's for sure. As much as it's a pain perhaps you are just going to have to be more organised with when you want to take your leave to make sure you get it.

MyotherUsernameisaPun · 26/04/2018 09:44

You have to be allowed to take your annual leave - it is a legal entitlement. Your company can't ban you from taking leave for 3 months AND then book you up for the remaining 9 as it's effectively banning you from all holidays.

Have you spoken to your manager or HR about it? I would try and clarify the exact position now. If they are seriously suggesting that you can't take holidays this year you will need to escalate it. If you are a member of a union they will be able to advise. If not, the CAB may be able to help.

mimibunz · 26/04/2018 09:46

Maybe a work around solution is to just book off for 2 weeks in August/September and then decide later where you want to go. Are you in the UK? I would be talking to my manager. Everyone needs a break!

IIIustriouslyIllogical · 26/04/2018 09:47

That's rubbish - I'd book leave whenever you want it & re-arrange or cancel the client meetings.

Original poster

anybodythere · 26/04/2018 09:58

It's not quite like client meetings, my job means I work for certain clients for weeks at a time. Think like advising a client on something for a period of time. So every day when I'm on a client (this is my job) I have to be on that client's site 9-5 minimum (I usually work longer).

I have 2 weeks booked in August but this makes up 10 of the 17 days I have already booked/taken. I had 4 days in April and have 3 random days I booked because it was the only time I could take it when I wasn't booked.

So I have 13 days of leave left and if I argue for these days, I wouldn't get the choice of when to take them, it would be when the client team I'm booked to could let me go for a set amount of time.

I'm very stressed about it as my partner is a teacher so I choose my annual leave to be on certain times he's on holiday, I would like to take October half term off but I have been booked up. When I email the person who is in charge of resourcing they respond with "you are booked at this time". The client team won't see it as their issue if I can't have my leave as they will respond that they need the staff and can't afford to lose me.

OP posts:

BarbaraofSevillle · 26/04/2018 10:06

Could you get your HR people to have a word with the people allocating your work to resolve the issue? Your legal minimum leave is 20 days plus bank holidays so they have to make sure you get this at least. Would they buy back some of the days (but still keep you above the legal minimum) if you are OK with this so at least you get money if you don't get leave?

Would you be able to take some of your leave in late December, before and after Christmas?

I'd ask again about the October half term, many of the people at your client could be off then, so you not being there might not be that disruptive and you need a break between your August holiday and Christmas?

Also, what are their contingency plans if you become sick? They can't assume that you will be available 100% of the time until the end of the project because it's not guaranteed.

adaline · 26/04/2018 10:06

You need to learn to plan ahead and book your leave way, way in advance.

If your partner is a teacher, he'll know his term dates over a year ahead of time, so you need to get in early and book your leave I'm afraid. You might not know where you want to go, but you know when your partner will be off so at least you can book your leave around him so you'll be off together.

TomRavenscroft · 26/04/2018 10:13

I agree with adaline. It is a pain, but in a way you have an advantage –you know ages in advance when you'll need to take leave, so get organised and book it in!

As an aside, I think it's very restrictive not allowing leave between Jan and April; I don't envy you that.

Mummyoflittledragon · 26/04/2018 10:14

I agree with adeline. The term 2018/19 term dates for dds School were published some time ago. I’d already be planning next year if I were you.

TheJoyOfSox · 26/04/2018 10:15

You need to learn to plan ahead and book your leave way, way in advance.

Ths^^

I’m sure you know if you like to holiday abroad in term time or during school holidays in the summer.
I’m equally sure you know if you like a summer holiday or a less conventional holiday time.
I’m sure if you like to book a long weekend or two, then booking a couple of Friday/Monday’s off and then arranging a trip away later is easy enough.
You want a week off work sometime for decorating or Christmas shopping, then book a week off in November.
It’s often referred to as adulting and it’s your responsibility to book some holidays.
You may well have been booked for client work for the rest of this year, but you’re still entitled to book your weeks off from work.

BarbaraofSevillle · 26/04/2018 10:18

But whether or not the OP has booked her leave, her employer is being unreasonable by booking her up in such a way that they don't allow her to take leave, ie no leave at all in Jan - Mar plus bookng her on a non stop project from April to December.

They either have to allow the project to be non-continuous, for her to carry over excess leave, pay for it, or send a substitute when the OP is on leave.

Parker231 · 26/04/2018 10:19

Email your HR team copying in the resourcing team to let them know that you have x days of holidays which are not yet booked and to ensure that work can be allocated and everyone aware of your availability in advance, you plan on taking x days in June and x days in October. You could add that you appreciate that work needs to be resourced but you need to take your legal holiday entitlement.

If you don’t take action you will loose your holidays.

GnotherGnu · 26/04/2018 10:19

Surely your employers have some sort of cover arrangements in place? What would happen if you were off sick for a week or two, for instance? Can't they use the same arrangements for leave cover?

TheClacksAreDown · 26/04/2018 10:20

With this sort of dynamic then the only way you can be assure the dates you want is booking very well in advance. Given you know when your partner will be on holiday this doesn’t sound like a huge deal.

If you have 13 days and can only carry forward 7 then you do need to be allowed these. But that doesn’t mean you get your choice of dates.

I would assume that a few days over Christmas wouldn’t be an issue as your clients generally won’t want you around then anyway. So perhaps this is about finding when you can take 4 days? But realistically unlikely to be half term.

Parker231 · 26/04/2018 10:20

OP - I’m guessing you work in audit?

TheClacksAreDown · 26/04/2018 10:22

I would also add that school holidays will of course also be very popular with colleagues with school aged kids so the further in advance you book the better.

pudcat · 26/04/2018 10:24

I often don't know when I want the leave over a year in advance and usually know about 4/5 months in advance
If your husband is a teacher you will know a good year in advance as to when he is on holiday. Even now you would be able to book a week off May 2019 Summer hols 2019 and October 2019. Schools have holiday dates posted well in advance on their web sites. So you can get next year sorted now. I am sure your firm will not have booked clients that far in advance.

Borris · 26/04/2018 10:24

Well I have similar issues. In as much as only one person is allowed off at a time. And who wants a week holiday in November. So as I know I want school holidays I just book 5 school holiday weeks off on 1 jan and then decide what to do later. It doesn’t help you this year but maybe for next ? .. at least you won’t end up missing out

adaline · 26/04/2018 10:24

Eh? They haven't done that at all. She's off for two weeks in August, for starters.

It's her responsibility to book in her annual leave, and lots of industries require it to be booked in well in advance, to avoid the situation of it all being taken at the end of the year, or to avoid everyone trying to take the school holidays off.

They're obviously happy to accommodate annual leave booked in advance. She knows they book in clients a year in advance, so she needs to be super organised and book her time off before they arrange work for her. If she's already booked leave, they'll just have to make other arrangements.

It might be annoying to have to be so militant, but it's the way of the world for lots of people unfortunately.

woollyheart · 26/04/2018 10:26

Are you in the UK, or elsewhere? If in UK, yes, you do have rights to take your holiday. Your employer should be insisting that you take at least the statutory minimum. Although they may have booked you to client work, they may have calculated this time so that it will include a proportion of your holiday allowance. You need to check how this works with them. After all, they can’t accurately book around your holiday if you haven’t told them when you want it.

If your employer has not allowed any time allowance for holiday, and have made it impossible for you to take the legal minimum, you need to talk to them and get it corrected.
If you receive warnings from them to get your holidays booked ‘or else lose it’, it might be best to get holidays booked early before it becomes impossible. Most companies expect you to tell them when you want to take your holidays rather than explicitly planning holidays in for you.

Dvg · 26/04/2018 10:31

That's illegal OP, they have to have things in place to accommodate holiday and sick leave as both those things are entitlements that cant be denied unless within business reason ( as in you cant take holiday that week but can the week after etc)

I would go to a Union or HR and explain exactly what you just said and tell them that they are denying you holiday by having that system.

kmmr · 26/04/2018 10:33

We have this issue. I suspect you may be in my industry. (Auditor? Big 4?)
I tell the people I look after to book in holidays first as soon as they can into the resourcing system. Even if it's just a block that moves later. With school holidays you are even more sure. I'm sure they can absorb you onto jobs if you tell them a few months in advance that you can't do it. Once booked it's very hard to get off a job as resources are always tight.
Its rubbish though!
I'm in Australia now and our leave never expires, but we get a fair bit less.

Furano · 26/04/2018 10:45

So you are in Audit?

You need to get your holidays on the planner A-fukcing-SAP like at least a year ahead.

Right now - you need to go to your performance manager or department head of people (or whoever is more suitable) and say you really need to book holiday, which jobs can you be released from?

You sounds like a right wet blanket.

Everyone knows the deal in Audit, you book your holidays way in advance. At least once they are booked on the planner they are pretty sacrosanct. If anyone does ask you if you can move them you just say "no sorry, everything is booked".

Furano · 26/04/2018 10:47

I often don't know when I want the leave over a year in advance and usually know about 4/5 months in advance

Then overbook and release the holiday off if you decide you don't want it.

Fucks sake, how hard are you making this?

ChipperChapper · 26/04/2018 10:49

You need to learn to plan ahead and book your leave way, way in advance

I don't understand how that works... For example, say the OP wanted to take the Friday off before a Communion, to go shopping etc and relax before the Saturday.

She couldn't do that?

I'm genuinely intrigued. As an adult, everywhere I've worked, if I book off holiday a month in advanced, I'm always granted it. Providing someone else /too many people aren't off at the same time, anyway.

You won't like me, OP. I gave my line manager a week and a half's notice last time I wanted two days off

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