Working all Christmas

[Reallyneed]

DH works nights in a warehouse/retail job.

This year Christmas eve, Christmas day and boxing day fall on days that he will be due to work.

Last Christmas he worked all through and it was miserable, me stuck at home on my own with two tiny toddlers watching daytime tv whilst he slept through the festivities.

This year we are due to have his three eldest (my step kids) over on boxing day for the whole day which just won't be able to happen if he's working then sleeping then back to work again.

Do we need to 'suck it up' or should he be entitled to spend the Xmas period with me and the children.

I was so looking forward to Xmas for once now I'm feeling disheartened.

Not all employers are offering to carry leave forward for two years,entirely discretionary

I'm working over Xmas this year and I'm not happy about it but I need the money. Ill be nightshift Xmas eve and Xmas night. So I think we will have our Xmas dinner on boxing day. I'll watch dd open her presents on Xmas morning then ill go to bed.

Why would you not contact HR if you haven't been allowed to take any annual leave since at least March?

Considering everything that's been said I'd be bloody tempted by an isolation period over Christmas.

*I'm not axtually suggesting it but it would be very tempting

He is legally entitled to holidays. He needs to phone acas

I work retail and no one is allowed to book leave in December.
But they do allow us to swap shifts with each other.
This year I am lucky as both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day falls on days I don’t work but I will probably do a swap for Christmas Eve if requested by someone with childcare issues.

The current law says this:

The 5.6 weeks of statutory holiday is split into 4 weeks and 1.6 weeks, and there are some differences in the rules that apply:

the 1.6 weeks can be carried forward into the following leave year if a written agreement exists between the worker and the employer

generally, the 4 weeks cannot be carried into future leave years, so employers must facilitate these weeks being taken within the relevant leave year

However under certain circumstances employers must allow the 4 weeks to be carried into future leave years. Where a worker cannot take annual leave due to them being on maternity leave or sick, employers must still allow workers to carry their annual leave forwards. These rights remain unaffected by a worker being furloughed.

Only OP and her husband know the details of his contract, his annual leave "year", how much he's taken etc.

@Reallyneed Your OH isn't entitled to decide he's taking Christmas off, or indeed when he takes any days off. His employer can dictate which days are holiday. However, he must take the legal statutory minimum off work each year.

Now, his employer might turn around and say he's taking all of March off to use up his annual leave given he has a March holiday year and not a calendar holiday year - but he needs to get his minimum off.

As requests have been made for leave, there is a pretty clear audit trail that your OH has tried to book leave! This shouldn't be hard to fight with a large employer.

How long has your OH worked for his employer?

On a slightly different note, has your OH tried booking leave at busy times of year, or have his rejects been rejected at quieter/normal times of year?

I don't work for his employer but I do reject annual leave requests made at our busiest time of year unless there's a damn good sob story to go with it. In my line of work, you know upfront when the busy period is (just as retailers know about Christmas!) so I don't give any leave unless there are extenuating circumstances, or we unexpectedly manage to finish all our work early.

There should be triggers being raised at HR level, especially for a company the size of Sainsburys, that leave is not being taken. I would be very surprised if HR are not already looking at why so much leave is left because as others have posted not all leave can be carried over due to covid

@Reallyneed - I think you're focusing on the wrong things- he only works Christmas/ new year when his shifts fall on that day- so there will be several years he doesn't work them and someone else does. Accept that every few years this happens, and then you get several years it doesn't.

Any update?

He should go to hr, tell them he wants days off as he's only had one day off so far this year, has had every other holiday application rejected for no reason and is fed up of it. He wants two weeks off over Christmas. They should sort it out.

Really hoping for an update on this

I think it's so shocking not to be able to take statutory holiday