No Annual Leave during school holidays

[Dodoluded]

I’ve just been told that because I don’t have a child I can’t take annual leave during school holidays as my line manager needs to take that time off for child care arrangements and one of us need to manage the team (I do this when she is not there).

Basically she’s taking a week off either side of Christmas and has worked one day per week over the summer holiday and taken the rest as unpaid leave.

There are already four months in the year when I am not allowed to take any annual leave due to my workload.

AIBU to not agree to the holidays leave thing? None of this was explained at interview or before my probationary period finished.

They have just refused a leave request for next year as it overlaps with school holidays by four days although she currently has no leave booked for this period.

Thanks everyone! Using my time here to hunt for jobs on hospital Wi-fi! Have updated CV this morning already...

Really good luck with the job hunting.

If you do leave, make sure they know that the annual leave issue was a major factor. Unbelievable that this crap still goes on.

I do suspect the original arrangement with this boss was only intended as a temporary solution, not a permanent change, but no one did anything to check up on it.

years later I found out the comprehensive report was published under her name, won a professional award and she used it to progress in her own career!! I found out after my new manager got sent a copy(!) and asked if I'd written it as they recognised my writing style. I couldn't prove a thing but it took a long time to get over the anger and bitterness - it was exactly what I'd written.

A similar thing happened to me - and the individual involved wouldn't have even qualified without plagiarising my work!

Proving it well after the event was another matter, however.

I still seethe with resentment, and it's been YEARS!

Gazelda I think you're very wise to be mob hunting.

I know this is a typo, but

Yup, OP needs to gather some angry villagers with pitchforks! That'll sort it.

Dodoluded - I too hope your "fruit salad" is sorted quickly and you are back to good health soon. Your line manager is looking like a right idiot now, I hope you've told the office you landed up in hospital last night so her call denying you leave to go to your urgent appointment was emphatically the wrong one to make. Good luck with the job-hunting, though from what you say, it sounds as if the directors have taken note of what's going on with your line manager and you might get a paid promotion within the company shortly. It might, in any case, be worth casually letting them know you are job hunting because your technical work for them is not being properly acknowledged or remunerated.
Good luck!

Wow that escalated quickly

scaden mine was I a uni department (so all had similar qualifications) and my person, I've recently discovered, opened a very successful business winning many business awards from my work as well as the award.

It's hard not to still seethe about it.

It's been almost two decades since it happened to me. The uni argued it didn't matter as all work "technically" belonged to them anyway and I'd no money to follow it up. I suspect she's still doing it possibly with the op

I've heard about it happening to others as well.

op hope you feel better soon and probably a good idea to look at other jobs. The fallout will be huge and there's likely to be a lot of resentment because apart from anything else there's no way this arrangement should still be in place and it should have been reviewed and, removed, some time ago.

Recently found out as in 9:30am this morning on Twitter which someone I follow retweeted, and it's not delibrate as there's no way the person who retweeted would know the situation, very few do, aside from those reading here of course! So feelings all flooding back again. So much for being over it!

@Becca19962014

Woah. Hope you are OK. I think this type of thing happens a lot in academia.

Fruit salad feels much improved, I’ve told work I’ve been admitted to hospital. Haven’t had a response from them but a couple of colleagues have text to see if I’ve quit!

Look after yourself Dodo. Interested in hearing what happens while you're away!

Wow, what an absolute nightmare op. I hope your appointment goes ok and that you can get this matter sorted, although it definitely sounds like you might be best continuing with your job search anyway.

I wanted to respond to a poster earlier in the thread who says this isn't discrimination as it isn't a protected characteristic. It is more complex than that, it depends where the OP lives and whom she works for. Eg, in NI there is equality legislation called Section 75 which contains a list of protected characteristics and one of which is;

• persons with dependants and persons without.

Unfortunately section 75 only applies to public bodies though.

However I just wanted to point out that it is too simplistic to claim that dependants or lack of is not a protected characteristic!

You may be interested in this petition for the government about stopping companies from forcing employees to work on Christmas day due to the huge profits they make on this one day
petition.parliament.uk/signatures/75297307/verify?token=sKc6iC8enPU1oShNOu

Sorry wrong link please see below
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/276093/sponsors/new?token=DLZEEafCJXvl2tDHHp7

Glad to hear the lump is not cancerous Dodo. Hope the peach is sorted quickly and good luck with your job hunting.

I can't see the details of the petition but do question why anyone would object to a company maximising their profits? If companies aren't successful then they won't exist so will not be employing anyone. If people don't like the terms, then work elsewhere but don't get the government to legislate against this. Find this very baffling?

This is very different to the Ops situation whereby they've imposed something after she has started rather than being up front before her accepting the role and it being contractually binding.

'It is discrimination."
I cannot see from the list that is is discriminating against a protected characteristic unless you are of male sex:
- age
- gender reassignment
- being married or in a civil partnership
- being pregnant or on maternity leave
- disability
- race including colour, nationality, ethnic
or national origin
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation

I think is very unfair for your employer to state this condition after employing you. If it is not in your contract I would speak to HR or seek advice from ACAS.

cassie I don’t get how that’s relevant here.

Yeah lets get the government to legislate against businesses operating on christmas day. Like that's ever going to happen.

Hope the hospital fix you up sharpish and you're not left with more pain.

My DHs work tried this until a new manager pointed out that that was discriminatory. So now it's first come, first served.

I can't see any law forbidding businesses to open on Christmas Day being implemented. The best thing those of us who object to people being avoidably forced can do is to choose not to engage where that's an option. That means not shopping on the 26th, for example, because people will have to come in on the 25th to set it up. I found out on here a while ago that someone was having to work Christmas Day because of people's online orders, so I shall be making sure I don't buy online on that day either. Often we can make choices as consumers.

Hope the hospital figure things out and sort out your vag nice and swiftly OP. Your line manager is a right pain in the proverbial and you shouldn't have to deal with those in both literal and metaphorical incarnations at the same time.

In unison with everyone else - it is unreasonable for you to be put at such a disadvantage because this line manager wants to grab all the flexibility for herself. That's not on, and someone who can't see that does not have the skills to be a line manager.

One time when I was recruiting, and the preferred candidate was clearly of an age where she might have school age children (I didn't know if she did or not as that's none of my business when recruiting) and I did say during the process something like "You do need to understand that October, February and May are our busiest times and it wouldn't be possible to approve any Annual Leave during school half terms, is that OK" and that was OK - and even though I had school-age children myself I never took half-terms off either because that's the nature of the business. That would be entirely different from just baggzeeing all the half-terms for myself!

Keep up with the job hunting but wait and see what happens with the line manager (Can we coin the term HolZilla?) - when you have a job offer in writing go back to the senior bod and ask if they are doing anything to make your working conditions bearable because you are on your way out if not. I expect you will end up leaving anyway, but at least that will hopefully improve things for your replacement.

She can take so many weeks off a year unpaid for childcare purposes its the law. I think its called parental leave. However it seems unfair that you cant book any holidays when shes off even if shes not booked them yet

Hope all is going well at the hospital for you. Can't believe she even tried to say no to an emergency medical appointment!!

It is encouraging that your directors at work seem more sensible than cheeky fucker manager. She needs to be stopped from continuing this piss-take. Only her 10 year old is still a child, but is nearing the age of being OK to be left, at least in the care of a 16 year old and an 18 year old.

Childcare should be much less of an issue for her now, but she has got used to having it so cushy and doesn't want to stop. She needs to be made to.