Colleague taking holiday

[WorkWalk]

Our holiday year end finishes at the end of March. I work as part of a two person team, which means that we can’t both be off at the same time as the other has to pick up the work.

My dear colleague who I actually like very much has left it so they haven’t used any of their annual leave. It now transpires that they will be taking three and a half out of the next four weeks off plus two weeks carried over to Easter in About pril.

We work in the public sector and the colleague has used flexi leave so far this year.

I’m very frustrated that it has been left to the last minute to use all the holiday and I am annoyed that for the next two months I can’t take holiday for most of the time and that I’m
going to be doing the work of two people for the next month.

Plus I’m moving house in the next few weeks and could do without this!

AIBU to think my colleague could/should have managed their holidays better? I hope I’m not being a non team player.

Maybe your colleague has managed her holidays in a way that benefits her rather than you. There is nothing wrong with that.

Manage your holidays as you so wish and let your colleague manage hers.

Your colleague and your manager are the ones not being "team players" (horrible phrase), they've both failed to handle the situation.

Have a chat with your manager, say you're not able to cover two people's workloads for that time and you'll need help. Also ask if this means you're now prevented from taking leave during that period, and state that this is all a totally avoidable situation. Tell them this is not a reasonable thing to have allowed to happen.

Communication! Some bugger's got to do it, since your "team mates" haven't.

That would drive me nuts. Any employers I've worked for wouldn't allow one person to take that much time off in a month, regardless of whether they need to use it up. If I haven't managed my holiday properly then I lose it and get told "tough".

Have you raised it with your manager? Maybe you could put it in an email if that helps you get your point across?

Your manager is poor.
I always had to ensure that leave was taken through the year.

I agree with you and wonder what managers have been doing to allow her to do this. Where I work we can accumulate flexi but we can only carry a maximum of 9 days over into the new holiday year, so in her position we would lose most of the unused allowance, for exactly the reason you state. Yes she may manage her leave to suit herself but actually being part of a team means managing it in a way that doesn’t dump on your colleagues! I would be bringing it up with managers and asking that she make better use of her provision in future. Also why is she allowed to accrue so much flexi that she doesn’t take annual leave? I’d be very frustrated in your position OP

YANBU, I think she should have at least run it past you since you'll be affected. It sounds like she's within her rights to do this but you should at least be considerate.

We have to have permission from the manager and a very good excuse if we want more than 14 consecutive days off. Leaving all of it until the last month is ridiculous!
I'd be annoyed too!

I'd speak to your manager and see what they say

Our manager is a lovely woman who has been doing the job for a very long time (jobs don’t come up very often in our team) but I think I am going to struggle for the next month.

I think I’m going to have to have a word with her about the expectations for when my colleague is off.

My colleague is also a very nice woman but she is so very disorganised!

I did this. Not because I wanted to but there was no one to cover for me.

Your line manager is to blame here. I track my team's holidays throughout the year and if someone is accumulating days then I prompt them to book some leave. Part and parcel of workflow management is to make sure that planned absence is managed smoothly so as not to impact service delivery. Also in my organisation you are not allowed to carry forward more than 5 days and they have to be used within the first quarter of the year unless you have permission from HR.

I thought there was a limit on how many consecutive weeks someone can take annual leave for? I know people who have got married them went on a longer honeymoon so wanted 4 weeks off had to put in a formal request. Public sector also.

How much time has she been able to build up on flexi? Was she taking proposer holiday throughout the year using it?

You wed a rule that AL must be used before flexi / only a certain amount of flexi can be accrued.

We have to use purchased leave before AL.

Your manager is the one at fault. Your colleague can take their annual leave in whatever way suits them best, as long as their plans are approved. She should have been monitoring annual leave through the year in order to prevent this kind of situation. Hopefully, she will learn from this and do things differently in the future.

AJPTaylor , totally agree. Poor management.

Can you check with HR about the amount of time you're allowed off in one go? Some places won't let you take more than 2..

Your colleague has taken the mick! And your manager should be on top of your team's holiday usage. We're given reminders to use ours up, especially coming towards the end of the leave year.

2 weeks I mean.. must proof read.

I think she carried over ten days from last year. She is also always quite careful to book days off around bank holidays so as to maximise her holidays. I don’t mind her looking out for her own interests but feel like I’ve just been landed in it a little bit!

Definitely definitely definitely have words with her. Do not doormat over this.

What happens if you are sick?

Just think though most of year previous you haven't had to cover her.

I agree poor management. I’m in the NHS and our workforce system shows what percentage of leave you have in each quarter with three aim to spread it out evenly. We are only allowed to carry leave in exceptional circumstances. For you to be expected to cover for this length of time you should have been consulted and the manager put in a plan to support you. I covered my manager for this length of time for a trip to NZ but it was planned months in advance and she checked e-nails while away.

Your manager is a fault here so I'd be asking them what plans they have in place to support you with your workload over this extended period. Rolling over leave every year shows there is a problem with time management in my experience.

You've taken your holidays when you wanted and now she's taking hers"
You could have done the same if you wanted to.
As long as she is within the rules it's fine.

Incidentally I am about to have 3 weeks off in March and I am not feeling the slightest bit guilty and if anyone moans they will be reminded I covered for them when they wanted time off for festivals and parties last summer, incidentals days at shirt nitice , the days between Christmas and New Year off and other occasions and I covered for them without a complaint!

When you were off throughout the year did your colleague cover for you?
Presumably you both have the same amount of leave so you are only doing the same as her, it's just hers is all concentrated into one time period.

I'm public sector and we're aren't allowed more than 10 days/2 weeks consecutive because without managers approval.

I would 100% complain to you boss and ask what cover there will be so you can cope with the workload and also use your annual leave to move house.

If the colleague loses some of her holiday then so be it. She should have used it earlier!