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.

The fair way to do it is first come first served
No it isn't at all. Some people don't have the same flexibility and this leaves always the same ones to have the 'best' time like around BH.

We always discuss it with those who would need to cover us. We really make a point of being fair and compromise and it works brilliantly. There are never arguments or resentment as there was, constantly where I worked before and went with the first come first serve.

It depends on your role surely? I’m currently in a role where there’s only actually me, some dates I absolutely can’t take, other times I have to check with a series of people that it’s ok to book. My line manager signs it off presuming I have cover arranged. In previous jobs I’ve consulted the team or checked the team diary or just put in a request for the manager to assess if it’s suitable or not. In my line of work more senior roles would need more consultation with others.

The only consultation we have is over Christmas/New Year leave. As a team less than half the members have school age children, which probably helps, as those without actively avoid school holidays for leave so they can pay a lot less!

In all my jobs it’s the person managing who decides not team

We don't. I check with the project manager and whoever is heading up my current project team. Then I go to my line manager and say that I am taking x days off and that confirm that it has been checked with the project team. Its just formality though, since we're all working on individual tasks for our assigned project the only person picking up the missed work is yourself when you get back so as long as you're not trying to go away when there's a deadline or deliverable to meet, it's all good.

Exactly. One of my colleagues has a child whose birthday is often in May half term. Yes, we all understand that she wants to spend the day with the child but we have two others with school children and would like to take May half term off every now and then,

it needs to be fair. Luckily we do get along very well and talk about this.

Not in so many words no. I just realised it’s only ever me checking with the others. I have quite a flexible arrangement and I don’t think he likes it. But he’s a partner unfortunately so what he says goes. He never wants to make decisions though. The other day I forced him into a metaphorical corner and he agreed to all the leave I wanted so I can’t complain just yet.

Nope, i wouldnt check
I wont plan my life around people i work with. If i want leave, i will only ask the person who will grant or deny.

why would you check with the team? If that date is free book it 🤷🏻‍♀️

imagine ‘I am putting in holidays for w/c 23rd June..’
‘Eh I actually might want that week!’

1980s and usually large offices. (Although I did work for some tiny businesses and again didn’t have any issues booking time off)
If everyone booked the same week off from your department then your work predominantly didn’t get done. Some people from a different department who ideally had worked in that department previously would come in and answer calls and do the bare minimum and their normal work would be divided up between their own department.
I was, a couple of times moved to different departments I had worked in to cover staff absence, holidays etc

It seemed to work out well and there was no negative issues. Everyone was very flexible
Of the 3 major companies I worked for, only 1 company, which was a large off shoot of a multi national company seemed to waste so much time trying to organise and control its staff. Any request for holidays, phone calls for sick leave or any little thing that deviated from the norm would send management into a mad panic which seemed to breed a hostile and bullying environment

All of the 3 were global brands. The only one that went bankrupt was the company that was so busy in managing the minutiae and making sure everyone was kept in their own boxes they missed a glaringly obvious problem.
Which I did point out about 9 months before the bankruptcy to my supervisor, then my manager and then the FD who all said pretty much that I should just concentrate on my own work and I wasn’t qualified to talk about the workings of the company.

No it's up to the manager. If you need to arrange cover it's different though. In my job only a limited number can be off but its first come first served and up to manager

When I worked in a very small team we always used to discuss school holidays and share them fairly between ourselves. Larger teams it has always just been submitted for the manager to agree. Sometimes it wouldn't be a case of first come first served when it came to popular weeks but in a large team it would be a case of the manager figuring out how to make it fair, and not down to us to discuss between ourselves.

I had a similar issue, I started a new job and was asked/told to cover someone else’s leave. They were really put out when I said I had no intention of doing that….

i had an interview for a part time job and they said i needed to cover leave, i said No and said I needed to organise child care but I wish i had said yes , and then just said No once I had the job - i cant believe someone would employ you with that proviso, part time but full time when required