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.

@Kennykenkencat I would be interested to hear what line of work you were in. I started work in the 1970s and have always had to book. What if the whole office booked a last minute holiday on a Friday and noone was in the following week?

I run a small team (6 people) and always check who is off before booking holiday/ approving holiday. I don’t think I’ve declined holiday yet but certainly moved my own to ensure there is enough cover.

@saveforthat.. exactly.. .. if everyone starts thinking about it.. it's bound to trigger thoughts that a holiday that week would be good.. it's like saying.. don't think about a pink elephant..

First come first serve... holiday calendar available for everyone at the same point in time. If it's a small team and cover is required, it might make sense to sit down and discuss holiday plans, but only in a supportive, collaborative environment where no one feels coerced.

@Rrrunrunrunrunrun But checking who else has already booked is standard. Checking who hasn't (but may want to) is bonkers.

I'm self employed now but no, I never checked with anyone except my manager.

You snooze, you loose!

It will depend on the nature of the job eg if cover is required. Also on the management practice.

That being said you do also sometimes get office busybodies who think they should be consulted at every turn.

@MrsAliceRichards depending on the job, some companies/organisations should (though often aren't until too late) be suspicious of employees who are 'too busy to take leave'. It can be a sign that they are concealing incompetence or fraud.

I work in a small team - I'm the manager - and there are problems if certain of us are off at the same time. We always discuss leave between ourselves to ensure we all get what we want at the best time for us. When that is done the leave slips are put in and I sign them off.

as a manager I try to ensure the school holidays are consulted about so everyone has a chance to take some. When there’s a discussion it’s often the case that someone doesn’t really mind which week they take or have a couple of options whereas someone else is fixed to dates so we can work it out. However if there was a clash it would be first come first served. We have a policy stating how many can be off in any one time at what level. We also don’t release Xmas holiday dates until we have enough skeleton cover volunteers.

completely an organisation culture thing: at my last job you had to check with team first before booking with manager as only the team knew busy periods etc - manager approving was a formality. New place, nope, just book directly with manager

i think it depends on what type of job you do - if it's the sort of team where someone always needs to be working in order for the business to still function then there probably needs to be some discussion, particularly if people all want school holiday dates off. But no one does my job if I'm not there so I just put in a leave request and it's never been refused.

I mange three teams of 5. I have expectations that the teams always have specific cover. I expect the teams to manage their a/l accordingly. If they don't, they know I may decline a request.

If it’s free I book it, if it’s important you should get it booked. I worked with a woman who always wanted to discuss who was thinking of doing what but personally as soon as DH leave request form is agreed I’m booking the time off. Discussing it leads to grief as people with DC begrudge those without any school holiday time or Christmas and why am I more entitled because I have DC and my colleague doesn’t?
I used to be more selfless but in a previous job there was an unwritten rule that had always been used that if you were getting married regardless of your place on the list (which was ordered by length of service) you got first choice. The year I got married my supervisor made me ask everyone before me on the list and one person told me that they would have to check and get back to me. Thankfully she didn’t want the same dates but it was so stressful as technically she’d have been entitled before me. The rules changed to first come first choice a few years later and I was always in like Flynn with my requests.

We have a sheet so you can see what other people have requested. I think it's courtesy to make sure loads of people aren't out the same time but i am pretty flexible with my team.

We are only asked for our opinion on this if a colleague has requested more than 2 weeks leave at a popular time, for example 3 weeks in August to go to India, as we need at least 4 other nurse specialist nurses to meet our clinical commitments. We have to agree, as it affects our own ability to request any annual leave during the time they are off. As a rule, I’ve never said no, as I feel that my colleagues who are far from their families need to see them, and it’s not an easy trip.

That's my line managers job to do that. In practice, I only "clash" with one other person. I have kids and want school holidays, he doesn't and would prefer term time so we don't have an issue usually

It depends on the situation. Where I work we used to be a team of five but it's been cut down to two of us. When the team was bigger it was first come first serve and we didn't really consult one another. Now it's just the two of us we do check with each other before requesting leave.

This is one of the reasons I don't work well in teams. I don't understand why anyone would think it's any of their business or why it should be agreed with them first if my superior has ok'd it. You want holiday, book it. If you don't and someone else gets those dates before you, tough shit.

No. The managers have nothing to do with organising leave anyway. There’s a graph we can all see that charts the amount of leave requested or denied with a threshold line showing how much availability there is to get leave on that day. It’s basically first come first served, apart from a six-week leave blackout over the busiest time of year, which is organised differently.

Christmas and Easter we’ll probably have a chat, and Christmas priority gets alternated. School holidays aren’t an issue, as only two with school age children. Rest of year, first come, first serve.

Fortunately, everyone checks cover before booking.

Absolutely not. The fair way to do it is first come first served, except for popular times like Xmas.

For times like Xmas, everyone gets given the opportunity to say what they would like to book, and the manager works out a fair allocation (taking into account things like who had most time off at Xmas in previous years).

We have a conversation as team about Christmas leave but otherwise no, manager checks.

Nope never had this wherever I've worked. Often have a shared calendar so can see when others are off, if say 10 are already off the date you want gives a heads up that less likely to be granted. But ultimately only the manager approval needed.

I don't consult the whole team, but there are one or two people who are more affected by when I'm off so I'd check in with them. Our work is project based so it's more about timing it so I'm not away for deadlines. I'm senior enough now to manage that myself and only request leave that wouldn't cause a problem. More junior staff working on my projects would generally check in with me that their proposed leave wouldn't cause a problem before formally requesting it with their line managers. If they needed leave for something critical/unmoveable (wedding, school hols etc.) then it's more about giving me as much notice as possible so I can make sure they're covered. It's mostly just about good manners and being part of a team.

When I had a job when there was only one other person to cover me, then I would check with that person. Other than that I would just put the holiday request in.

No, it's generally for the manager to approve or not and we wouldn't check with each other.
The only exception is Xmas, where there tends to be a discussion about what people would like and it's worked out as fairly as possible while still giving cover.

When I was a line manager, holiday for myself and my boss would be discussed just so there was someone available for people to go to if necessary and because there were some systems with very limited access so not ideal for our holidays to clash.