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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:
stayathomer · 09/02/2022 19:02

OrangeShark27
When I was single I still treasured those days just because I knew wasn't the weekend! But yes, totally fair enough!

notanothertakeaway · 09/02/2022 19:04

@Anyonebut

I have seen someone mention here that a lot of workplaces are suspicious of people not taking leave as it could indicate they are doing something they shouldn’t and they don’t dare be away for too long in case it all comes light while they’re not there. Maybe you should ask your coworker what exactly they are doing during work hours Grin
@Anyonebut My cousin works in financial services. They have to take minimum two week breakfast least once per year, so that if they were on the fiddle, it would be spotted in their absence
Crimesean · 09/02/2022 19:16

@Whelmed

I'm guilty of this and so is everyone on my team. It makes our manager's life tricky and she keeps having to remind us to get it booked but I think because spring and summer are busy for us and leave is restricted so it really just leaves winter and autumn and kids are in school so can't do much anyways.
What about school holidays? And presumably at least some people can take leave in peak season?

Where do you all work, that you love your job so much?! I enjoy my job, but not as much as I enjoy annual leave!

CharityDingle · 09/02/2022 19:26

@CruCru

What used to irritate me was when someone would, on being told that I would be holiday over {dates}, say “Oh, it’s alright for some!!!”

Everyone got an annual leave allowance. It was weird

Oh yes. I used to get that spiel from a shit boss.

'Ooh I would love a week off' um, you have an AL allowance same as everyone else. And she did take her AL and have very exotic holidays so tbh, I don't know why she used to say that.

Baystard · 09/02/2022 19:28

I'm fortunate to be in a leadership position in an organisation which encourages people to use their annual leave - however busy we are I reckon I'm duty-bound to set a good example and take leave Grin

Nat6999 · 09/02/2022 19:48

We had them when I was in the Civil Service moaning they had too much leave & flexi credit, when the rest of us used our leave up in the first 6 months of the leave year & had to work what felt like 23 hour days for the last month of the flexi periods to sort out our deficit. They were all saddos with no life when I was going out Thursday night, crawling home at 4.00am, being at work by 7.00am absolutely hungover & working.

AuntyJanet · 09/02/2022 19:50

It’s the same as people who take weird pride in staying late. It just means that you’re unproductive during the day.

BoredZelda · 09/02/2022 20:06

It just means that you’re unproductive during the day.

Don’t judge everyone by your standards. If I’m working late it’s because I’ve been handed a weeks worth of work with a three day deadline.

OrangeShark27 · 09/02/2022 20:12

To be fair as well I've definitely worked in places where actually it does crumble when certain people are off. Yes it's probably bad management rather than a unique skill set but they do exist

I think as well "God I'd love a week off" or "it's alright for some" are just small talk aren't they? Like it's just making conversation, someone elses holiday isn't that interesting and it's often hard to know what to say once you've said sounds lovely.

scaredsadandstuck · 09/02/2022 20:14

YANBU

OrangeShark27 · 09/02/2022 20:15

I also think all the comments that are like "these people have no life, these people are saddos etc. just sounds like children in a playground, it's something I haven't thought about someone else since I was about 13. Lots of people don't have a lot of friends or a massively exciting life and its not really any of my business. Its their life not mine

Casheeeew · 09/02/2022 20:17

@BrightYellowDaffodil

There is absolutely a correlation between the "I can't possibly take holiday" brigade and the "I will struggle in when I'm ill, even though I get paid sick leave, and then I'll infect everyone else and complain (but secretly be thrilled) that I'm left to hold the fort when they're off sick" lot.

I've rolled over holiday for the last few years because Covid has meant I haven't needed to use it and I'd rather save it for when I can have an actual holiday. I also get quite a large AL allowance But I'm sure as hell not losing it!

Are you definitely accumulating that leave though, and not just rolling over 10+ hours one year and then not using it and rolling it over, so actually losing hours.
SilverGlassHare · 09/02/2022 21:04

@Nat6999

We had them when I was in the Civil Service moaning they had too much leave & flexi credit, when the rest of us used our leave up in the first 6 months of the leave year & had to work what felt like 23 hour days for the last month of the flexi periods to sort out our deficit. They were all saddos with no life when I was going out Thursday night, crawling home at 4.00am, being at work by 7.00am absolutely hungover & working.
I know you think this reads like you’re very popular and exciting but it really doesn’t.
TheOrigRights · 09/02/2022 21:11

@OrangeShark27

I also think all the comments that are like "these people have no life, these people are saddos etc. just sounds like children in a playground, it's something I haven't thought about someone else since I was about 13. Lots of people don't have a lot of friends or a massively exciting life and its not really any of my business. Its their life not mine
But this is not what the OP is having a moan about. She's fed up of people being martyrs about not taking leave. They are making it other people's business, especially if they are colleagues.
TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo · 09/02/2022 21:24

@BoredZelda

It just means that you’re unproductive during the day.

Don’t judge everyone by your standards. If I’m working late it’s because I’ve been handed a weeks worth of work with a three day deadline.

Exactly.

I work evenings because my workload amounts to 50-60 hours per week (and that's without all the meetings that should have been an email) and my company won't stretch to the expense of another member for my team so guess who has to pick up the slack.

I just love it when I'm still working at 9pm and someone suggests it's because I didn't do enough during the day.

Nat6999 · 09/02/2022 23:51

SilverGlassHare some of them lived for work, one woman was sat at her desk working at 6.30am when we didn't get paid until 7.00am, she worked until 6.00pm every day, she was making at least 20 hours flexi credit, never took her leave or flexi time unless she was forced to because in her own words "she didn't trust her team to work to her standards if she wasn't there" She was even known to eat her lunch at her desk so she could make sure her team weren't talking. I can kind of understand why her husband ran off with someone else from work a few years later, she was a control freak.

00100001 · 10/02/2022 07:59

@Monopolyiscrap

Along with people who never take their lunch break when they can, as they are just so busy. I used to work with people like this. I always took my lunch break and still did more than them.
Yep, something wrong if you can't be away from your desk or wherever for 30 minutes!
00100001 · 10/02/2022 08:01

@BoredZelda

It just means that you’re unproductive during the day.

Don’t judge everyone by your standards. If I’m working late it’s because I’ve been handed a weeks worth of work with a three day deadline.

So why are you expected to do this? How has it got to this point a d why is it your problem to solve? Why aren't others being used to deal with this mismanagement?

What happens if you just stick to proper working hours and don't get it done?

lapasion · 10/02/2022 08:27

If you’re the one always picking up the slack, then what motivation do the business have to hire someone else? Why would they bother? A few missed deadlines might help them realise the extent of the problem.

BeyondMyWits · 10/02/2022 08:28

You do get the opposite too though. I get totally cheesed off getting asked to cover, to swap shifts, to stay a bit later because x isn't in yet. (Always the same 2 or 3 people who don't want to work the trickier shifts).

There is a balance between work and not-work and I think that for every person whinging that people are annual leave martyrs there is another whinging about people slacking off and not pulling their weight.

TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo · 10/02/2022 08:29

Not even possible @lapasion

I'm a payroll manager - we don't do missing deadlines. We just work until we fall asleep instead 😂

Allergictoironing · 10/02/2022 08:30

@Nat6999

We had them when I was in the Civil Service moaning they had too much leave & flexi credit, when the rest of us used our leave up in the first 6 months of the leave year & had to work what felt like 23 hour days for the last month of the flexi periods to sort out our deficit. They were all saddos with no life when I was going out Thursday night, crawling home at 4.00am, being at work by 7.00am absolutely hungover & working.
I was one of those in the Civil Service who had more leave & flexi than I could use. We were working on a high profile project which meant lots of time away from home, and lots of weekend & evening working.

Luckily there was a certain amount of overtime available, but we kept getting pressured to book the time as flexi to save money. That came to an end when senior management also asked that we try to take all our built up leave/flexi before the end of the year - our response was "OK, early October now so we'll see you after XMas". This was at a critical stage in the project, which was the pilot for an entire Department rollout. We got our overtime pay.

CruCru · 10/02/2022 08:56

From a company perspective, it looks terrible on the accounts if loads of people have masses of holiday owed from a previous year (it shows up as a company debt or liability). So it shouldn’t be something the company itself would want to encourage.

Monopolyiscrap · 10/02/2022 10:27

We just lose ours if we don't take it, unless there are exceptional circumstances. I agree with this. Use it or lose it.

restingbitchface30 · 10/02/2022 17:55

Yanbu! I get mine in jan and usually most of it’s gone by September! I can’t wait to get them days booked in! But some people live to work. It’s sad.