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Original poster

Annual Leave martyrs

268 replies

LittleMissUnreasonable · 09/02/2022 13:06

Am I being unreasonable to be really fed up of constant bragging from friends, colleagues etc about how much annual leave has got left at the end of the year! It's normally always said with a undertone of martyrdom as well;

"I've had to ask my boss for special permission to carry my leave over as I havent managed to use it all"

"Oh I've got 20 days leave left and I've got to use 10 up before the end of the year insert Mumsnet tinkly little laugh"

As an aside all of these people are in jobs where taking leave is encouraged and you're very flexible at getting time off. It's just strange when people seem to see it as a big competition about how much annual leave they can have left at the end of the year but then panic when they're expected to use it or lose it Hmm

OP posts:
icannotbebothered · 11/02/2022 14:02

It annoys me more because I get the bare minimum annual leave days, and most of my friends get between 25 and 30 days, if I had that I WOULD USE IT. My annual leave days are sacred and I save them for special things and other people are just out here wasting their days!

TheOrigRights · 11/02/2022 15:42

@Florenz

Being unwilling to use Annual Leave is a key indicator that fraud is being committed.
Only in certain industries, surely.

I am in academia - I can't see how not taking your annual leave could be connected to any sort of fraud!

doadeer · 11/02/2022 16:28

Soooo annoying!

Obviously the implication is they are so invaluable nobody can bear for them to be off for more than a day, yeah right! 🤣

oopsIdiditagaintoo · 11/02/2022 17:01

I also hate the childcare martyrs. 'I don't get holiday, it's just for my kids'.

Yeah, I know. The kids they chose to have.

Dyrene · 11/02/2022 17:09

I am in academia - I can't see how not taking your annual leave could be connected to any sort of fraud!

I think in academia it’s often related to there being hardly any time it’s reasonable to take your leave (can’t do it in term time, can’t do it while there are hundreds of essays to mark, can’t do it when there are exam boards, can’t do it because the university have decided to insist you are available in august for admissions and resits) and during the times when your life isn’t revolving around teaching, you’re desperately trying to squeeze in some research and publish something.

No wonder everyone ends up with weeks of it left at the end of the AL year.

TimBoothseyes · 11/02/2022 17:47

I'd love to be able to take all my A/L. In fact I have time off booked at the end of the month. it was held over because I was persuaded to cancel my week between Christmas and New Year due to someone having "childcare issues". The week I'm due off is apparently, half-term, so once again the "can you change it as xxx is having childcare issues that week" conversation is happening.. Any held over A/L has to be taken by the end of February so if I give in then I lose that week. I have also booked 2 weeks off the last week of August/1st week of September. No doubt I'll end up being badgered to give up the august week due to someone having "childcare issues". Having read this thread I'm going to stand my ground and bloody well take the weeks I've booked and other people's wants can do one.

TheOrigRights · 11/02/2022 17:53

@TimBoothseyes

I'd love to be able to take all my A/L. In fact I have time off booked at the end of the month. it was held over because I was persuaded to cancel my week between Christmas and New Year due to someone having "childcare issues". The week I'm due off is apparently, half-term, so once again the "can you change it as xxx is having childcare issues that week" conversation is happening.. Any held over A/L has to be taken by the end of February so if I give in then I lose that week. I have also booked 2 weeks off the last week of August/1st week of September. No doubt I'll end up being badgered to give up the august week due to someone having "childcare issues". Having read this thread I'm going to stand my ground and bloody well take the weeks I've booked and other people's wants can do one.
This issue isn't anything to do with being a martyr but one of poor management.
llansannan21 · 11/02/2022 18:17

I'd hate such people were I in your shoes, OP. I'm glad none of my colleagues are like that.

EthelMerman · 11/02/2022 18:25

I’d really like to have been able to use most or all of my leave this year but colleagues off sick and poor to no cover meant I didn’t. I could have said f*ck it, I’m going away but then I’d have just had to clear up the mess on my return so it was less stressful not to be off.

Yes, I’m moaning now they want me to use my leave by year end because I worked fecking hard to keep the wheels from coming off and am on a new project so probably can’t fit it all in. Mgmt owe me and I’m fighting back.

hibbledibble · 11/02/2022 18:27

I'm a doctor. I really struggle to book annual leave due to short staffing. I don't want to be a martyr. It's not always a choice.

Darbs76 · 11/02/2022 18:27

We allow 9 days max and every February we have hardly any staff in as everyone uses it up before 28th Feb. It coincides with Feb half term and means no-one can take emergency leave so means it’s an absolute nightmare for those who work it. I don’t get it, who wants 3wks in February off?

TheOrigRights · 11/02/2022 18:31

@hibbledibble

I'm a doctor. I really struggle to book annual leave due to short staffing. I don't want to be a martyr. It's not always a choice.
Then you are not the sort of person OP is describing.

This thread isn't about people who don't take their AL, it's about those who don't take it and then brag or being a martyr about it.

JuergenSchwarzwald · 11/02/2022 18:55

[quote irishfarmer]@GreenDressRedWine I worked in financial services after uni and we had to take 2 weeks continuous holidays together. My friend who works in the bank has to do this as well. It is apparently a good way for spotting dodgy dealings.[/quote]
I'd hate this, not because I am up to anything dodgy :) but you only get 5 weeks so if you have to take 2 together you've lost a week you could have used elsewhere in the year. Especially when you've got kids and you need leave for various school events etc. DH's work don't like you taking random days but I don't know what they really expect - life doesn't happen in neat one week packages.

I have to confess I didn't use up all my leave last year though - nothing to do during covid and I work part-time so I can fit in a lot of appointments outside my work time anyway.

MabelsApron · 11/02/2022 21:22

@TimBoothseyes

I'd love to be able to take all my A/L. In fact I have time off booked at the end of the month. it was held over because I was persuaded to cancel my week between Christmas and New Year due to someone having "childcare issues". The week I'm due off is apparently, half-term, so once again the "can you change it as xxx is having childcare issues that week" conversation is happening.. Any held over A/L has to be taken by the end of February so if I give in then I lose that week. I have also booked 2 weeks off the last week of August/1st week of September. No doubt I'll end up being badgered to give up the august week due to someone having "childcare issues". Having read this thread I'm going to stand my ground and bloody well take the weeks I've booked and other people's wants can do one.
Same boat - though at my place you can’t book those times to begin with unless parents have had first refusal! One of my childless colleagues had her August leave cancelled once, to benefit someone with childcare issues.

Hence why I’m off in February - I don’t want to be, it’s rubbish, but I’m already losing some of my allowance as I do every year, so trying to minimise how much I lose.

I wish people without kids had some sort of way to protect themselves against this shit - it drives me mad.

stayathomer · 12/02/2022 10:57

Well, great thread, is there anyone out there who doesn't feel shit or guilty after it? I have kids and they like hell to not let it impact others but yes they get sick and minders don't take them when they do. In the same vein I'm sure people who have tons of annual leave feel like rubbish now.

oopsIdiditagaintoo · 12/02/2022 11:41

I wish people without kids had some sort of way to protect themselves against this shit - it drives me mad.

This is really unfair, I agree. I'm appalled that your colleague had her leave cancelled due to someone else not being able to manage childcare for their own children. There are some self entitled parents around.

Cornettoninja · 12/02/2022 16:02

@stayathomer

Well, great thread, is there anyone out there who doesn't feel shit or guilty after it? I have kids and they like hell to not let it impact others but yes they get sick and minders don't take them when they do. In the same vein I'm sure people who have tons of annual leave feel like rubbish now.
Nobody should feel bad off the back of this thread, it’s no one else’s business really.

Most of it, as usual, comes down to an ineffective or weak management chain. The majority of concerns on here should be aimed at them not each other.

Carpedimum · 21/02/2022 00:18

We’re suddenly not allowed to carry over any this year, previously it was 10 days or more by negotiation. I had previously bought 10 days extra leave on top of my allowance and had no problem taking leave whatsoever. I’m now in a weird position of taking a lot of leave between mid Feb and the end of March. No-one fills in for me while I’m off & I’ll probably need to work under the radar when I’m officially on leave, (due to immovable deadlines). It’s a shit situation brought about by the pandemic. Have I moaned about this? Hell yes! I think taking away the carry over is terribly unfair to those of us who worked throughout & didn’t get any furlough.

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