AIBU to think Employers cannot allocate annual leave?

[Daisydrum]

DH’s Employer has allocated annual leave for the whole year. No one is happy about it, everyone has spoken up about it but apparently there is nothing they can do!
Is there anything we can do?

How do you think teachers and other school staff have their holidays booked then?

it is common and some places make you take all annual leave in quiet periods, someone i know with a job in hospitality has to take 20 of the 28 r days during quiet January- March and October/november period and is only allowed a maximum of 5 days between June and August and never the weekend of a wedding, during christmas and New year you will get 2 days off no annual leave between 1st dec and 3rd Jan

another friend works in animal feed industry and they are almost opposite you need to use leave between end of may and end of september

lots of small building companies etc will just shut for 2 weeks at christmas and 2 in summer with maybe just a couple of days free choice once you have bank holiday s at Easter and May

We get most of our holidays allocated at work as we're a small business and we have to take holiday during quiet times.

I don't mind as it's always in school holidays which is what I would choose anyway.

that's mad. What reason have they given?

I'm willing to bet that there has been one or two parents being arsey over the fact that they are the only ones who deserve to get school holidays and Christmas off, and other employees getting sick of them playing the parent card all of the time.

They can't change it if it's always been customary to choose own dates subject to agreement though surely?

Can you give us an example of how its been allocated OP?

Of course they can. I imagine people without kids are fed up of getting the shit holidays.

I don't think op's situation can be compared to teachers and school staff. Regardless of whether you have children or not, I think most people would choose summer, Christmas and/or Easter off for annual leave.

And that’s probaly the issue to the employer. The majority can’t request the same general times for annual leave so they are setting them.

I've just found out that this is allowed and I too couldn't believe it.
My DSis works in retail and she was telling me that staff in her company have to get their requested annual leave in by end of January for the whole year ahead, and if your requested days are already booked then the manager will allocate you completely different ones.
So DSis gave a list of a bunch of dates (more than her allowance) and said whichever of these dates she could get, so she was trying to be flexible but still get at least some dates that would suit her, and every single request was denied, so instead the manager has allocated her an equal amount of days each month over the full year. This means she now cannot contemplate taking a week long holiday (as a young single adult probably would), but instead she gets a couple random days leave each month and most months these days haven't even been given together, so maybe a Wednesday one week and a Friday a couple weeks later etc.

Summerisdone

Is she looking for another job?
How can you not at least a week off!!
In my job you are supposed to take at least some time off in the first half if the annual leave year. The idea us you are getting a rest at done point. My manager turns a blind eye to that if people prefer to take their time in the autumn and winter. However she insists that we do take our leave and encourages us to hsve at least a week off at some point ( instead of random days) so we get a break.

@Summerisdone I would question whether that is allowed. I know in Australia we have a Fair Work Ombudsman who would look at issues like that. Is she in a union?

Why are people comparing this to teaching? When you become a teacher, you know what you are getting into and that your annual leave is set in advance. You also know that its the same for you and everyone else in your job.

This is totally different. This is an employer who has changed the system overnight with no consultation with the staff. Not even vaguely the same.

If something has been done a particular way for long enough then can become an implied part of a contract and therefore is challengable if changed, which is why I suggested he contacts ACAS for clarification.

Also lets face it, teachers have allocated holidays at times that most parents would love.
Allocated holidays by other employers can mean you have no annual leave at all during school holidays.
For parents, it is not at all comparable.

No, it's not an implied term because there is statute and law overrides contract. The law says employers can set leave dates. And that's the end of it.

I work for NHS as medic and have done for the last 10 years
I’ve always been able to pick my leave.

Also lets face it, teachers have allocated holidays at times that most parents would love.

And it comes with never being able to take a cheap holiday and never getting a day off outside of those times. Lots of teachers would love to holiday in term times.

Allocated holidays by other employers can mean you have no annual leave at all during school holidays.
For parents, it is not at all comparable.

Reproducing does not give you an automatic entitlement to leave during the holidays. Non parents may have just as legitimate reason to want that time.

" In my workplace they really tried to accommodate that by having cover from non parents"

Bet that went down well with the non parents.

sorry can I probably ask a really dumb question but do teachers get leave outside of school holidays?

They don’t kate. It’s one of the disadvantages of the job. If you have a sympathetic head, you might be able to take a day or two for a very specific thing but that’s it.

How do parents cover holidays? In my workplace they really tried to accommodate that by having cover from non parents

This is totally unfair on non-parents. I’ve worked in places like this before where parents get first dibs on school holidays. Apparently having a teacher husband and actually wanting to have holiday together doesn’t matter. Nobody should be allocated holiday based on whether they have kids or not.

I'm in Australia, but presume the UK would have similar rules. It would be up to the head, and would have to be a very special occasion. I've only done it twice, once was one day for an immediate family members wedding, and once was two additional days tacked on to end of mid year holidays as I was invited to represent the country at an international competition. In both cases, they were unpaid days.

We do have long service leave, which can be taken in agreement with the head. That's generally taken in blocks such as a whole term off.

In my nhs Department no more than two people off at the same time so it’s definitely advisable to book your leave then your holiday not the other way round.

I don’t think I’d mind being allocated blocks of holiday, but I’d like to have the option to take one or two days when i want them.

Quite common in some areas of construction, to ensure the continued availabity of specialist skilled workers.

PyongyangKipperbang

I completely agree. Can't believe how unsympathetic people are being. All very well and good if you choose to be a teacher as everyone knows that comes with the job...as well as the fact that it is a lot of holiday and convenient if you have children. It's not ok if this is a bog standard job and it's an unexpected change.