To think that with enough notice, he shouldn't have to give a reason

[ifwetookaholidaaay]

DS17 started a new job about 6 weeks ago.

He has told me today that he has put in a holiday request for next month, and that it has been declined as he didn't give a reason for it. He put this request in a few weeks ago, giving about 6 weeks notice in total. He gets his shifts only a week in advance.

There's been a few issues with this job and I've already told him he should start looking for another, but I've never worked anywhere where I've had to give a reason for taking a holiday with so much notice. Is this something which I should be making him aware is quite normal practice?

Thanks.

That's not normal practice at all.

I’m sure it’s none of their business the reason why! He could just make something up I suppose, but I’m with you in thinking he should look elsewhere, they sound a nightmare to work for.

How much holiday did he want? We have to give a reason if 3 weeks or more.

The only times I've felt that I had to give a reason have been for very last minute requests.

He needs two days in a row, but for different reasons, so I think he had booked them separately. He's not sure of the status of the other request, but is going to check. (It's the most important of the two, by far)

Hugely unfair in that case!!

There is apparently a box to fill in when booking the holiday. His friend told him he doesn't always fill it in, so DS didn't.

I've told him to put the request in again and give the reason, but it's not a very important reason, so I can seen them declining it again. And I've told him not to lie as it's a big event in our town, so no doubt he'll be found out .

I don't think you have to give a reason. For a holiday request unless it's at notice or at a time leave wouldn't usually be granted, it's none of their business what he does in his time off and they're legally required to give him a set amount of holiday.

There should be a holiday policy he can look at, which will say what the process is for booking.

In my experience, bookings where a reason is required come under a few rare scenarios. If it's very short notice, a very long time (more than a couple of weeks), comes in a very busy period, or the company is very understaffed at that time, eg other people already on leave, then a manager might reasonably ask what the leave is for, but really the employer doesn't have a right to know what you're planning to do in your time off.

Check the holiday booking policy, and if he's followed it correctly, get him to politely query the declined booking with someone who has the authority to make decisions on his leave.

It really is non of their business. Like you op I would only expect to have to justify very last minute holiday (within a week) as planning is usually done by then and your potentially causing a problem.

Definitely not normal.

It's none of their business why he wants a couple of days off.

Hard to say anything when you're 17 years old so I would help him to get another job.

My partner worked for a company for years. They had a change in management and the manager questioned staff as to why they wanted time off. He was checking whether he thought it was a good enough reason to have time off. My partner told him that it's not actually any of his business and ended up moving to another job within a couple of months.

If it’s a big event in the area could it be that there are already the quota booked it off so anyone else off would be an issue - hence wanting to know if it’s important. (Should have been explained to him that way if so)

I should say, he has already had a couple of days holiday that he told them he needed before he started.

But yes, I will sit and look over the policy with him, and look at his booking in case he's misinterpreted something.

This was for two days? 😲

He needs to find another job. And the "reason" for taking holiday is "holiday", no specifics should be required.

Is it a small company and if so, do they have an actual HR department?

Perhaps, but he says he put his request in within minutes of hearing the event was going ahead.

Employees have a legal right to time off even if all they do with it is sit at home in their underwear, eating ice cream from the tub and watching Gogglebox repeats. Employment rights aren't dependent on the employee having a good reason.

Bear in mind as well it might be an auto decline by the online booking system if it has a mandatory requirement for the 'reason' field to be completed. I've seen annual leave systems where that is the case. In which case if I was him I would put the reason in as 'wish to take annual leave' or something equally generic.

What kind of work is it? Is it for a time when they need 'all hands on deck?'

I work in hospitality and wouldn't approve holidays at certain times of year, unless they put a reason like family wedding or something, then I would do my best to fit it in.

Other than that though I wouldn't expect people to put reasons down for their holiday.

There are some exceptions. E.g. I worked a job where January was our busiest month of the year. For that reason, leave was only approved during January if you had a really, really important reason. Feb-Dec was fine though.

Some employers require long lead times for annual leave without a reason, check the policy. Also some places have a bar on certain periods of the year or 2 people off at once

They don't have a legal right to choose exactly when they take it though.

There was a 'reason' box at my last employer - I just filled in annual leave and that was good enough.
Another former employer had separate registration for medical appointments and family emergency so it wouldn't come out of your annual leave, so that might be why?

Will he have earned enough leave by then, if he's already taken several days that were prebooked? It's probably automatically declined because he won't have accrued enough.

If he has already had a couple of days off, has he 'earned' enough leave yet?

xpost!