I always struggle to get time off work.

[furrycover]

I work full time - 9 to 5 office job. There is a fairly small staff - a lot of part time people with a handful of full time workers. There are probably about 15 workers in total. I can't take leave at the same time as three other people - other than that it's as approved. However, I am finding it increasingly difficult to take a day off. My boss (who owns the company) will always look at the diary and say that there's a lot on. I have my own case load and am always busy -in fact I work my lunch most days and work late a lot. He ultimately has to take on my work when I'm not there as there's no one else and vice versa. No one else has this issue and it's really getting to me - he seems to take it as an insult that I want time off. I've got round it by booking a couple of holidays for later in the year because he can't really complain because no one else is off at that time. It''s getting to the stage I'm always ready for a showdown when I ask for time off. Just getting fed up with it.

Just make sure you book in advance, that's what I do they can't argue with that if no one is off . If it's short notice then I can see why . Also what will you do if it gets to the end of the year and no holidays ?
I used to work somewhere and a colleague would book 2 weeks holiday in September not have a day off all year , our holiday year started in November so would come back from holiday then squash all her holidays in before November. It seemed pointless to me and used to annoy me as for on and off 2 months was covering her holidays .

I am due six weeks holiday a year, plus bank holidays and we are closed between Christmas and New Year. I always have 2 weeks in the summer and a separate week but other than that I really struggle. It's as if unless I'm going somewhere in particular I shouldn't be off, which is ridiculous.

Point out to him that there's always a lot on. Maybe someone else should be taken on or trained to do what you and he do?

Is this single days off? Can you book them slightly further ahead to make it easier? What are you generally booking them for - appointments etc or general down time?

I've worked somewhere like this and it honestly never changed. I couldn't plan anything, ever, without a huge long winded discussion and then me being asked if it was imperative that I had the time off. If it was for, say, a festival; I'd get raised eyebrows as if I was ridiculous for even asking! They had no right to even know why I wanted it!

The workload is irrelevant. If your policy states you have to give x amount of weeks notice and can't have it at the same time as someone else, then they have no right to deny leave if you have done both of these.

You either leave, of don't tell them what it's for, just say I will need xyz off. End of discussion.

It’s annoying. If they can’t accommodate staff holidays they maybe need more staff!

If you're flexible then ask him when it would be best to take time off. Employers can dictate when you take time off, as long as you are allowed to take your statutory amount within the given holiday year.

An instance was last week when I asked for a half day but said if all of the urgent stuff wasn't done I would stay. I managed to get everything done and he finally relented. However, he basically slagged me off for what I wanted the half day off for (decorating) and said it was weird.

To be honest I was in a job like this and ultimately I found a new job.

I became burned out as I was basically working constantly as I could never take a break.

There is no one else trained enough to do what I do. I don't want to go into too much detail but there isn't even anyone there who could be trained at the moment. Getting someone else doesn't seem like an option. I'm not blowing my own trumpet but I am very fast, know the job inside out and am well liked by clients and get a lot of repeat business. You wouldn't think this if I ask for a wage rise though - firmly put in my place. Have been doing the job for years and would need to travel to get a new one.

Sorry posted to soon.

It got so bad that I had a bad bout of vertigo and was off work for 3 weeks (2 of which I was sick every time I moved) and my boss still tried to make me come into work. My mum explained to her that if I came into work then I would be throwing up every time I moved.

You need to stop giving reasons for the day off request. If he asks why you need the day off say "because I have leave to take, and that day is available".

Maybe suggest if there are "crunch weeks" where reports are due or deadlines, that you and he share these in your calendar so you have pre warning of busier times.

It is hard to know when the busier and quieter times will be - it's very random but it was non stop for most of last year. Also my DH has to more or less stick to school holiday - we don't have small kids now so that's not an issue. My boss has put in all annual leave for this year - easter, summer, October holidays and mid term breaks. This means that I can take two weeks with DH in the summer but the rest of the time I would off on my own, which is why I like to take a day here and there or the odd half day. I know I should just tell him I feel like getting shitfaced - that would shut him up!

Do you enjoy working there otherwise?

Yanbu, it would get me down too. But you also mention being put in your place when asking for a pay rise to recognise your hard work. Would the travel and a potential pay rise be worthwhile to work somewhere else where you actually feel valued and able to take your annual leave?

ImNotKitten I've thought about a new job many times but this one is a five minute drive and suits me. Sometimes I like it sometimes I don't. I have been there so long I'm probably a bit scared to go somewhere else and it might be the same shit just in a different place - also I would likely add a 2 hour commute to my day. I am very good at my job - my boss sometimes recognises this - but I don't have a degree, which is the stick he beats me with!

DP left his last job because of this.

I can't remember how many were in the team, but management had a "max 2 people off at a time" rule. All the rest of them booked their leave and their package holidays at the start of the year in January. I could never do this, because my leave year doesn't start until April, and by then, all the non-school holiday times in the spring and summer were booked by his colleagues.

By the time we'd ruled out all the weeks where I had team meetings, mandatory training and stuff, we'd be left with a week in October and a week in February, not the ideal time to be touring the UK in a motorhome!

The stupid thing was that his job was very self-contained and quite specialist. No-one used to cover his work if he was off, he'd just come back to a backlog, and he didn't cover anyone else's or take phone calls or anything. It would have made no difference whatsoever if he was the 3rd person off in any given week.

Now I'm not doing frontline work, I don't have to do mandatory training, I'm in a team where we get very little urgent stuff and half the team can be off at a time and he's changed jobs to one where his leave year is the same as mine. For the first time in years we're going away for a week at the end of March to use up our leave, and I'm really looking forward to it.

OP, the one thing I would do is send your leave requests by email, so you have a record. You're entitled to 20 days paid holiday a year (plus 8 bank holidays), and if you're consistently being prevented from taking it, you can point this out and have the evidence to back it up.