Should you consult with the whole team before booking annual leave?

[Arlah]

Interested to hear what's normal. I overheard two colleagues at work having a conversation and they were annoyed that certain team members don't consult with the rest of the team before booking leave. People just book their leave and put it on the calendar, these colleague think that people should check it's ok with the rest of the team first.

I was surprised that people think like this, I thought it was up to the manager to decide.

No chance.Noone else's business.

I’d check with the other two members of my team because of cover, but that’s it.

We are a team of 4 and we talk about it before booking leave. Basically a group email with the dates and our team head keeps track of replies.

We have a calendar so normally check if someone is off but if it clashes you need a good reason to ask for leave or if you want to block some time but can't confirm until later because you are still waiting for something like I had when I didn't know when DD had mocks.

It may depend on your group, we work together for nearly 15 years and don't mind talking about it.

We use a spreadsheet and that's where leave requests are put. The request is put in a colour when it's at requested stage and turned black once approved. When a request is put in you email to say it's there. It's first come first served but we'd often check within the small team if you're requesting something someone else often tends to take but it's not in there. We've a small team though and we often tend to take the same holidays broadly every year.

What used to infuriate me was when I worked in a very large team and one guy requested the week before Christmas every year before anyone else has a chance as he was responsible for setting up the leave spreadsheet and every single year he would come in as he was "too busy to take the leave". Others would be sitting there furious as they'd have used the week or days but didn't have the opportunity. After this happened a few times the manager said to him that next year others needed to get a turn at that week, others who actually need it and use it and if he continued to book leave and come in he'd lose the day. This wasn't unique to Christmas week where he book leave then come in. Despite the huge team only one or two were ever allowed off at a time which made taking leave very hard and when he came in when supposed to be off it was like a kick in the teeth.

I’m part of a leadership of three in my team. Our process requires that work is signed off when complete, so we ensure that one of the three of us is always around, or that there’s someone else who can cover from another team if needed. But those of us who do the same job as each other don’t check - that’s the team leader’s job, when they receive leave requests.

@BeyondMyWits .. does that mean you don't actually get holiday... you just shift your hours around? That sucks..

My boss makes me check with the team, but doesn’t make my colleagues. I’m the only female team member and the only part timer 🙄

Anyway you have this in writing? I'd be going to HR.

No, that would be ridiculous. It’s up to the manager to manager peoples time off to ensure that there is cover and they either approve or decline the leave request. They can’t expect others to do their job for them and check with everyone else before even requesting leave.

I'm a manager and my team only check with me or their direct supervisor if it's not me (as there's more than one reporting level in my team). Similarly, I only check with my boss. It's the manager's job to keep an eye on what else is going on before they approve the leave request.

Surely it's up to the manager?

I agree that if parents need to cover school hols then it's good to try and share it out though.

My leave request goes directly to the manager who checks if anyone else is off and if they aren't, grants my leave.

Why would I consult the whole team? I imagine if everyone on the team had kids and wanted some school holidays off, and we were only allowed 1 person off at a time, that the manager would put a rule in place for how these are booked so it's fair - eg everyone books a week, then the remaining weeks are first come first served.

We check the calendar to see who else is off and put in a request for approval along with any notes about what might be onand need covering etc for context.

Yep. But generally lots of people in retail, hospitality or service environments have these sort of conditions.

As a part timer, if you have to cover hours that you don't normally work, (even when paid for it) annual leave is a myth. You work the same number of hours, but get to move 25 shifts worth from when you want time off to when someone else wants time off.

It's depended on the team.

Smallish team in which someone is going to need to cover me while I away? Yes, I would always do a quick 'do these dates clash with anyone's plans?' check first.

Larger team and/or a role in which direct cover is not required? No, I'd just book it.

We do bit of both. I book my leave for the year in april but make it clear I can rearrange if other people in team need as I book all the school holidays off.

In terms of the manager's role - again I think this can vary. Some companies and roles are more autonomous so the managers don't really do a lot of direct people management. In jobs like that, individual employees can be expected to just manage their role and arrange for cover with colleagues.

In others, managers are much more involved in the day to day and so may expected to aprove leave so that cover is always available.

We have a calendar that everyone can see in our team but we check before booking verbally (we sit in close proximity) just in case anyone has a pending holiday waiting to be confirmed etc.

Or in case there's a big project / deadline that will fall then

Put my request in and my manager decides usually by checking in with the rest of the team. We do talk about it though, as in if someone wants a popular week they’ll usually just flag it.
I wouldn’t just put it on the calendar without getting it approved.

This is the manager's issue to sort out and if the current system isn't working they need to change it.

First come first served isn't always fair. e.g. some people with few commitments and ties might be able to make plans far in advance, whereas other workers need to wait until they know what their spouse's shift pattern will be before they can book leave.

One place I worked had a system that you put in your requests for each 3 month period, 2 months before the start of that period (e.g. you put in requests for any leave in April, May or June before the end of January) and the team leaders would then check whether there were going to be any under-staffing issues if all requests were granted, and might decline some requests to keep minimum staffing levels, but would keep records of whose requests were declined to ensure they weren't selected for disappointment too often.

It's an unreasonable burden for staff to have to negotiate these things themselves with their peers. Too much opportunity for a queen bee to always get their way and for a less assertive colleague to be sidelined

I managed a team and was responsible for leave arrangements. I can't stand first come first served as a way of organising leave. It creates unnecessary tension and isn't fair on any new joiners. The times most people want leave are school holidays, so the team discussed times when there might be clashing demands, and found a fair solution between them.

I always put my annual leave in at the start of the year. Or as much as I'm certain of anyways. So I always take DSs birthday off which feeds into my Xmas holidays and so on. If other people don't plan in advance and take last min holidays it's on them to check availability, not me to ask in advance

Depends on the management structure and who has oversight and responsibility of ensuring appropriate staffing levels. Usually this would be a manager but not always if management functions are devolved across a team.

Things have definitely changed since I was at work.

You told whoever your manager was when you were going on holiday. You didn’t ask.

I booked one holiday Friday lunch hour and told manager after lunch I was off to the Maldives for a week.

I don’t think it crossed anyones mind to ask however far up the food chain you got.
DH was definitely at the top end and I called him to say where we were going and he just told HR he was off for a week.

Apart from very small teams this is bonkers and how would it work? You email everyone and say I want to book 1-14 August and somebody replies, oh no I want those weeks? Surely it's first come first served? (Apart from Xmas which has always been treated differently ime)