Requesting Annual Leave

[DottieLottie1]

Is it strange to ask for annual leave now for leave that falls in the next leave year? We work Jan-Dec, I'm asking for time next March.

Apparently I'm being ridiculous!

Not ridiculous at all, you can book flights a year in advance so obviously would need to book leave first before you could do that.

Of course not, surely this happens all the time for weddings or holidays.

No, sounds fine to me. We have to bid for leave during busy periods i.e. school holidays and we've just had the forms to bid for next Easter

Ive been told it can't be authorised now as next years leave is not on the system yet. I work for a massive company.

My leave is sorted right up till next April it’s just how it’s done on my ward so we can plan/book stuff

Fine to request it, also fine for them to decline it until they decide otherwise. Have they said when you can submit requests for next year?

If you are expected to sort leave before booking a holiday which seems to be becoming the norm at a lot of places then no it isn't.

Surely this can't be the first time people have asked to book in advance. If you wanted to go away in January, are you expected to wait until December to ask for leave.

Perfectly normal, if you were looking to book a ski trip for example. I've had leave for Jan approved by line manager, and whilst it can't be input on 'the system' my line manager has confirmed by e mail it's approved and I will just load it in when the 2020 dates go live. YANBU.

Ours can be authorised but can’t be logged onto the system. Requested dates are just noted down and then they are logged onto the system as soon as it is ready.

So, can you only book leave up to December? Or will March become available later in the year?
Our company has a rolling 12 months on the system for booking leave. I've already booked for next June.

Last year it was beginning of December when we could book for Jan!

/\ That is ridiculous.

Our system wont let u book until the first day of new leave year. Manager keeps spread sheet though and will take reasonable requests

No you aren't being ridiculous.

You just have useless management.

I've had this discussion at places I've worked at. In short people who are organised and ask for leave as far in advance as possible outside known busy periods and known school holiday times are preferred.

I’ve had my “first choice” leave agreed up to Nov 2020. I can request “second choice” AL up to May 2020 (12 months in advance).

In this situation I'd expect a manager to keep a note of it and put it on the system once it becomes possible

Not at all ridiculous, I ask 18mths in advance due to DH only having a set 2wks off

It would depend how it's allocated I would think. If it's first come first served then it would be OK to request now, but if it's in seniority order then you'd need to wait until those ahead have chosen theirs presumably. DH's work uses the first method, mine uses the second.

Not unreasonable at all.

We've already booked a holiday for next May and have put in holiday requests.

My workplace is stupid like this.
Holidays run Jan-Dec but can’t be booked until January 1st.
We’re also expected to give at least 2 weeks notice, so nobody is ever able to take time off over those first 2 weeks of the year, ridiculous!

Gosh, no idea how I put so many faces on there!

seniority order? that's mad… unless juniors go first, that would be good leadership.

We used to have a system where everyone had to give a rough indication of vacation requests in January - and most people then put in a proper request right after, so they could book early and get a better price. One manager never gave them back until about 2 weeks before the requested holiday but amazingly always managed to get his sorted out early at a good price.

Massive global company, you can't book for next year, until next year...

But a good Manager will take notes of time required in advance and ensure requests are taken into account in order when the next year is released - if needed. It's only happened once when a team member was getting married and I needed to ensure they could have that time off the next year.

It's not unusual that they haven't got the system in place, but that can be updated. It's not difficult.

Management must make the entire team aware that the requests are now authorised though, so everybody can start booking if they wish.