Employer asking me to cancel overseas holiday

[chedderandport]

Hello

Booked and.paid for a 2 week break in the sun , leaving in a week

Due to other members of the team being off sick been asked to cancel my.holiday

Has anyone else had this ever?

"No" really is a full sentence!!!

Echoing others - definitely say no!
I’d actually complain about this. They’re trying it on and I bet you’re a soft touch. And they know it.

I’ve been asked before and gave a hard no. Didn’t face any consequences other than a few rolled eyes and huffs.

Only way I would agree is if compensation was way more than the holiday. £2k holiday I want £5k plus an extra 2/3 days holiday entitlement. Otherwise no way I would agree to this

Speaking as a manager of a team currently that is low on resource for lots of reasons (sickness being just one) I wouldn’t ever ask someone to cancel their leave. Not a proper “booked it packed it” one. If they’ve booked their leave using the proper process and I’ve approved it then they will take it. If it’s just an odd day off booked and something came up that might require me to ask if they wouldn’t mind swapping their day, I may ask but I wouldn’t expect them to say yes and I wouldn’t be horrid about it. They are entitled to their leave and as a manager it’s my problem to deal with whatever it is. Mostly for me right now is workload and when i get requests for my team can do x or x I’ve been saying “no, nope, NOT on your Nelly, find someone else to do it”

So in my eyes, what I’m doing should be what your bosses should be doing. If they haven’t got the staff it’s entirely unreasonable to expect you to cancel a booked holiday with all the associated costs with very minimal notice. If they kick back stand firm, don’t let them threaten you and get yourself signed up to a union and get some union support. Unite and Unison are both excellent. Good luck and ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY!! 😎

I'm sorry, did you say 17 DAYS UNPAID OVERTIME?? Why the actual fuck are you doing that? They are taking the absolute piss! No, don't cancel your holiday, no don't continue doing UNPAID overtime and no, don't take your laptop on holiday! Jesus!

Bosses like that will take and take and take until there is nothing left and then they won't thank you, all they'll do is moan that you haven't given more. Nip it in the bud NOW.

And sounds like this isn't an immediate, temporary problem. If you rearranged your hol for next month, they'd have the same problem, then again and again.

If you were just going on your own you could have contemplated it, but when you are going with others it's not just you to consider. Other people ie dp will also have booked time off to go.
I'd say due to the fact it's a 'family/group holiday' there's no way you can't go due to negative impact on the rest of the parties.

Nope you need to go on your holiday. I understand if it was absolutely necessary and they weren’t aware of any plans and it was a case of “is there any way you could come in for x days and reschedule?” And no pressure if you couldn’t

(I’ve been called in whilst on annual leave by an old manager and her words were you absolutely do not have to but is there any way you could pop in for x day”

Secondly stop the extra days. If they ask you to cover I would be asking and getting confirmed in writing whether this will be paid or TOIL and make sure if it’s time of in lieu then you book in for a day off the following week to take it back.

So youve done 17 days unpaid overtime and they're asking you to cancel your holiday at 1 week notice... Are they're offering you a nice bonus and covering all the fees you'd loose?? If not then the brass neck here is absolutely outstanding

Ask what they are going to do for your out of pocket costs. If the response is nothing then go on holiday.
Otherwise you could say it's too close to the holiday to get a refund and you would be burdening others with costs you were sharing.
You're nit required to cover sick leave.

17 days unpaid overtime! Why? Stop doing it it's unacceptable

Its a big NO from me

Time to assert your professional boundaries

@SarahBellam

OP, I survived a massive round of redundancies last year, in the middle of COVID, in an industry that wasn’t unduly affected by COVID and ‘could’ have been much more gentle. We lost some very good people and the workload doubled for the rest of us. It taught me two things. 1. A company will throw you under a bus if it wants to with few qualms. 2. Work hard and be efficient and willing to work hard within your job envelope, but don’t work to disadvantage yourself. Don’t bend over backwards so far you’re on the floor. Supporting them should not have a negative impact on on you, because you can bet, if the tables were turned they wouldn’t return the favour. They can ask, but you can absolutely say no. You have made plans, expensive and much anticipated plans, at it would be unreasonable to expect you to cancel them at short notice, especially since no compensation, and time off in lieu has been offered. A bright, breezy, ‘I can’t but hope you find someone’ should do. Don’t bargain, say, ‘sorry but…’. Don’t create an opening for bargaining. It’s better to let your employer down than your family or friends.

This. 100%

Word hard, be a great employee but be under no illusion that a company will and can lose you if needed.

Family & Friends 100% come first.

Agree what others say also about the 17 days unpaid work. This is unacceptable and you can’t continue this without compensation.

You don’t mention the industry you work in but I know that for most, it’s a candidate driven market out there, so employers are chasing a much smaller pool of new employees. So if you love your job - negotiate your t&c’s but if not be confident you could apply for a new one.

Now go and enjoy your holiday!

I’ve had this happen to me. My ex boss was awful put politely. If you can’t get paid for overtime at the very least should give you TOIL. But be careful and set a limit with them/ for yourself if TOIL is agreed and most importantly make sure you log it formally.

As for holidays, I had 2 weeks 2 days booked. He asked me to cancel with short notice, I refused and said he had to give double notice, what he did was give me two days notice for each individual day because he’s very petty, I checked with ACAS and apparently they can do this!

Brian Blessed in Blackadder:

"Do you want me to be honest or tactful?"
"Er - tactful, I think"
"Tell him to get stuffed!"

Did they ask nicely? Are they generally a good employer.
In which case, say let me look into the costs I can't recover , (including the increase that will come from booking later). Then figure out the true cost of postponing, and the level of grief / costs for others then say , sure , I'll cover, but it will cost X.
How much you inflate X would depend on how likely they'd be to let you book a last min hol to suit you.

17 days unpaid overtime?!
Well your firm have no incentive at all to get any more staff have they?

Say no, I’ve booked to go away and can’t cancel.

Have a lovely rest, and when you get back, start taking back these 17 days… do you have proof of the hours you’ve worked? I would talk to ACAS about the correct way to do it, but make it clear to your firm that you will not be doing unpaid overtime again.

No u haven't had this before. I am not sure but I don't think they can ask this if you as it isn't your fault they are understaffed. I would speak to HR

Sorry typo' I not U

Yes, I've had it. It was a request, and I refused, as they were not going to compensate me for cancellation, which would have been substantial (and a lot of work, because it was a multi-centre holiday with lots of travel with different companies and different hotels). I work in local government and was a member of a union, so the chances of me getting the push as a consequence were commensurately less.

To be honest, my old boss hated me ever taking any leave at all, so this was par for the course.

I do know someone who said yes, but that was only because his employers offered to pay (and organise!) ALL his costs, AND gave him money and additional leave on top.

@chedderandport

Only.been in job 2 years and because we all WFH for a large period of that people have got used to being on call 24/7

That actually means you are covered for unfair dismissal

You absolutely shouldn't cancel your holiday. Do they not realise that you'll be far more productive after a break than you would during 2 weeks when you are seething at having to miss a holiday, it's their problem, caused by their poor planning, not an emergency. Don't feel guilty.

not unreasonable for boss to ask; not unreasonable to say no this